That poor little dog

[Gempress]

I made a quick trip to the laundromat, since our washing machine is dead. There was a family just finishing their laundry: mom, dad, three children, and even the dog. Their dog was a little tiny chihuahua.

Mom and dad were busy loading the clean laundry in the car and the two older kids (probably 5 and 7) were playing. The youngest kid (probably 2-3) was DRAGGING this poor chihuahua around on a leash! The dog was obviously scared to death of the toddler, and was crying and yiping to get away. The toddler was screaming angrily and yanking sooo hard on that leash every time the chihuahua tried to run the opposite direction; so hard that the chihuahua was being yanked off its feet thrown on its side.

I said "Excuse me! Your son's hurting that dog!"

The parents looked kind of annoyed, like I was butting in. The mom said "Oh, he does that all the time. The dog can take it. Besides, that dog's too small to really bite if it gets mad or anything, and that's all I'm worried about." Before I could say anything further, they loaded the dog and kids in the car (no seat belts for the kids, btw) and drove off.

WHY DO PEOPLE LET THEIR CHILDREN DO THIS??? I am a firm believer that teeny-tiny toy dogs do not mix with most toddlers. I feel so bad for that little dog. I hope that one day they leave the door open, and that dog can make a break for it.

 

[bubbatd]

Agree !! Bad parents and owners.

 

[juliefurry]

yes a chi is DEFINETELY too small for a toddler. I wouldn't even think about getting a small breed dog like that around younger kids. I think parents now are only worried about the dog biting their kids and they figure the smaller the dog the less damage it can do to the children if it does bite. I somewhat feel that way but I feel that my lab is better at handling the roughhousing that kids can dish out and is better suited to be around toddlers and young children. Parents really need to teach their children respect for animals at a young age, which is what I am doing with my daughter and trying to do with my stepsons. If those children think it's ok to treat their dog like that then they will think it's ok to treat EVERY dog like that and that is when they are going to end up getting hurt. I wouldn't hope that the chi can get out the door though because the streets is no place for a dog, especially a chi. I do hope something knocks some sense into the parents though.

 

[smkie]

makes you wonder what happens behind closed doors doesn't it? and the woman should know that a small dog can bite a lot harder then people realize..the dog was just being a good dog and not biting..i had a small dog that came up to drink from my hose oneday when i was watering the garden..i reached for his tags to see if there was a phone number, he had seemed friendly enough right up to that moment when he bit clear through my thumbnail into the bed ..and hung on. He would not turn loose for anything. So she is deffinatley wrong there. It is my opinion that no child should be unattended or have sole control of an animal until at least the age of 6 or 7 preferably older then that. I had two boys my boss let in to see the puppies..one was 5 the other a bit older. They handled the puppies roughly and squeezed my first labrador puppy ever too hard breaking it's ribs into the lungs..i raced to the er vet but he would not treat without a down payment of 50 dollars..wouldn't even put the puppy down for me. I bawled all the way home where it died in my lap. Shame you couldn't get a license number and report them for not confining their children in the seat belts anyway..they should have been in a toddler seat and i do believe that is the law.

 

[Rubylove]

I hope that dog bites one of their ears off. Unfortunately, if it does, they'll probably kick it (or worse) and dump it. Poor baby, some people should be shot in the kneecaps

 

[yoko]

i can't believe their mom allowed that' other than worrying about the dog think about how those kids will turn out being raised that it is ok to treat a living animal like that

 

[DanL]

Nothing peeves me more than seeing parents load up their kids with no restraints. I always feel like saying, "oh, I see you don't love your kids" and when they ask why, point out the lack of child restraints. Even worse is when you see them on the interstate and the kids are bouncing around in the seats playing.

 

[Amstaffer]

Sorry to say, for every Chazhounder type who loves and takes good care of their dogs the are at least 5 people who abuse or neglect their dogs. The Dog and Human love affair has been like a Shakespearean love story .

 

[Fran27]

I agree with Amstaffer, but it's not just about not caring for dogs, but also about really bad parents. There are TONS of those out there. It seems the generation that started saying that kids should not be hit decided to go the totally other way and are just way too lenient with their children. I see that every day.

 

[tyrantgi]

agree. i dont think however ears need to be bittin off or knee caps need to be shot lol. how about rubber bullets?

 

[Renee750il]

What they obviously aren't thinking about is those children are learning it's all right - safe, even - to maul a dog. What happens when they try it with a larger one?

 

[tintinabulation]

it's awful that kids do that to such sweet dogs. personally, I don't let my niece and nephew to touch Coco unless I'm there watching them, and making sure that they are very gentle with him.