Actually I live out in the country and have 7 rescue dogs. They live outside and are not allowed around children without a muzzle because I KNOW what they can do and I know better than to just trust them. If they were to hurt someone it would be my fault for not taking the right precautions because they don't know any better. I have 5 acres of property fenced off so that I can prevent them from being where they don't need to be. Keeps them safe and everyone else safe too. Everyone is quite happy with the situation. They are also working dogs that have a purpose and do their job well. Where I live, if they were to severely injure someone the authorities would shoot them or have them put to sleep. If I really didn't care at all I would just let them do what they wanted and assume that if they never bit before that they wouldn't bite in the future... but I know better and do what I need to do to keep them and everyone else that comes around safe. They don't know that the baby isn't a little rabbit like they chase in the pasture. I would never give them the chance to even get that idea in their head though because even if I were standing right there one could kill a baby before I have time to react.

And I see that huge dog in your profile picture by the way... would you ever be able to even look at him again if he got excited to see you and accidentally stepped on your baby's neck or knocked over the bassinet and caused major injury to your newborn? It happens all the time. Don't you you think it would be safer for baby and dog both to just not give them the chance to do something like that?

I totally agree that children/babies/people should have priority over dogs, n that you never quite know how they will react in every situation (sorry, that didnt come across in the post!). I shall be taking precautions when my dog and baby are together! I just dont think it has to be one or the other!

Ive read the next reply to the post too, and now realise that the poster was not referring to choosing one or the other because that would have been sad

How would you do that? ( Im asking because i dont want to jump to conclusions again...)

By not allowing the dog free roam around baby at all. If baby isn't in arms, then dog shouldn't have access to the room they are in. Once baby is big enough to not be hurt by being knocked over or stepped on then a muzzle prevents most potential harm. It may sound super inconvenient but I know that any one of us would want to die ourselves if something happened that we could have prevented.

Studies of dog bite injuries have reported that:

* The median age of patients bitten was 15 years, with children, especially boys aged 5 to 9 years, having the highest incidence rate
* The odds that a bite victim will be a child are 3.2 to 1. (CDC.)
* Children seen in emergency departments were more likely than older persons to be bitten on the face, neck, and head. 77% of injuries to children under 10 years old are facial.
* Severe injuries occur almost exclusively in children less than 10 years of age.
* The majority of dog attacks (61%) happen at home or in a familiar place.
* The vast majority of biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim's family or a friend.
* When a child less than 4 years old is the victim, the family dog was the attacker half the time (47%), and the attack almost always happened in the family home (90%).

Also : http://www.keanelaw.com/practice_areas/dog-bites4.cfm has a lot of information on dogs and kids and important things to teach kids about dealing with dogs.

I have a 'huge' dog and 4 children. Would like to see evidence that they tread on children and break their necks 'all the time'. Rubbish

I wont be excluding my dog from the room my child is in, and i wont be muzzling her each time she is near the baby. I understand that it is best to take measures to prevent accidents from happening, but a line has to be drawn somewhere or we'd all need to wear bubble-wrap suits! eg one would feel horribly guilty if baby suffered in a car crash, but it does not mean im going to stop him getting in cars!

i think this thread has got a lil out of hand, i really dont believe that the lady who started this thread has made the decision easily, i believe that its been a long and hard decision for her to make, and although some people dont believe what she is doing is right, maybe we should just give her a break, she has clearly done a wonderful thing takin in her dads dogs when he passed away, many people would have just seen it adopted straight away, she has given 4 years of trying and now she has a baby on the way she feels that she cant try no more.....

now maybe its just me that thinks this but she didnt go out, buy a dog and when she got pregnant decide to give it up, she took the dog in out of the goodness of her heart and now realises she cant do it anymore, i for one take my hat of to her, she is doing whats best for both the dog and her family.

sorry if i offend anyone with this post, i just dont like to see people judge someone for something that is obviously a hard decision for them to make. xxxx

i think this thread has got a lil out of hand, i really dont believe that the lady who started this thread has made the decision easily, i believe that its been a long and hard decision for her to make, and although some people dont believe what she is doing is right, maybe we should just give her a break, she has clearly done a wonderful thing takin in her dads dogs when he passed away, many people would have just seen it adopted straight away, she has given 4 years of trying and now she has a baby on the way she feels that she cant try no more.....

now maybe its just me that thinks this but she didnt go out, buy a dog and when she got pregnant decide to give it up, she took the dog in out of the goodness of her heart and now realises she cant do it anymore, i for one take my hat of to her, she is doing whats best for both the dog and her family.

sorry if i offend anyone with this post, i just dont like to see people judge someone for something that is obviously a hard decision for them to make. xxxx

Yes, dogs bite children. Children also hit their heads on table corners, fall off playgrounds, or get killed in car accidents. Things happen, always preventable.

I have worked in emergency services for many years, and crappy parenting is the cause of nearly all these injuries (except the occasional clumsiness, which we have all experienced).

Anyways, I think the OP has made the decision to rehome her dog (which seems to be right for her situation), so it is settled