Dog hugs baby (super CUTE)

[paularoid]

From the 'New York Nerd' blog comes this:

http://www.nynerd.com/dog-hugs-baby-photos/

FYI, that's a Neapolitan Mastiff.

http://nynerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/dog-hugs-baby.jpg

http://nynerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/dog-hugs-baby2.jpg

http://nynerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/dog-hugs-baby3.jpg

http://nynerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/dog-hugs-baby4.jpg
.

[paularoid]

http://nynerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/dog-hugs-baby5.jpg

And by the way, at the end of the pictorial (link in first message) there were a bunch of comments both postive and negative. The last comment of the bunch is this:


The Company for which I work as an animal behaviorist, does much to educate people about animals. It is a defining characteristic of human kind that we fear what we don’t understand. I, in no way wish to cast aspersions upon some of those who made comments, but many are fundamentally flawed. A dog is the only creature on earth that will love you more than it loves itself; the evidence of this is legion. Whilst it is true that dogs have attacked people, when you consider ratio demographic in this equation, it is apparent we face a greater threat merely crossing the street than a dog attack. Certainly, when an attack occurs it is reported in the media, often quite graphically, but that is the nature of the news, if its not sensational it won’t sell. The unfortunate repercussion of such an instance however, is to paint all dogs the same colour. I could continue this dissertation in defence of dogs but I think I have made the point I set out to establish, and I appreciate the time you have taken to read it; now I ask that you consider it before drawing a woefully erroneous conclusion.
I think that pretty much says it all. ;)
.

[Eva]

Very cute. But I still wouldn't leave a baby alone with a dog. For many reasons. And most of those reasons have nothing to do with dogs supposedly being agressive creatures or whatever.

Eva

[Darlene]

Aaaahhhh I love all the dogs I have had including two chow chows and a rottweilers and various mixed breeds. I have also had my babies with the dogs my chows grew up with my twins and the twins were not very easy on my dogs. But boy, did those dogs love them! I had no fear that the dogs would hurt them. They were very funny rolling around the floor together. We also had a goat when my kids were about three or four and they would pull the goat out the door by the horns. The goat wanted in the house because that's where we kept the dog food (yes the goat ate the dog food with the dogs). I really loved the last picture it just shows how children feel safe with a well trained dog. I loved it!

[paularoid]

Very cute. But I still wouldn't leave a baby alone with a dog. For many reasons. And most of those reasons have nothing to do with dogs supposedly being agressive creatures or whatever.

Eva
Did anyone say the baby was left alone with a dog? Who do you think took the picture? Did the picture just "emanate" from the ether? :p FYI, -I- wouldn't leave a baby alone with any animal but this one obviously is not alone as evidenced by the fact that there even -is- a picture.
.

[SongDragon]

Oh my! I wanna go cuddle with that dog! My dog is smaller and a bit more hyper, but she is the same with children. She gets led around and around in the house at the end of a leash looking pathetic (though she pulls me off my feet) to please the children. And then there's my cat who is a real people pleaser. He doesn't bite, hiss, or scratch and all the kids I've ever met love to try and pet him. Sometimes I think he's just a little irritated, because all the kids want to pick him up as all the adults do and they don't have the arm support to do it with.

Big dogs (and horses) that I don't know do make me nervous, but usually I learn to get along with them quickly and they're my best friends. Yet there are some dogs that, although sweet, I would not put near babies because they play rough. My other dog that I lived with, Ty, for instance, is a border collie and can get nippy and bouncy around children. Yet once he settles down all the kids love to sit there and stroke his fur. He just rolls his eyes... I think he got that trick from me.

~Song

[DaveM]

The baby certainly seems to be enjoying it! I'd be very cautious, though, with such a small child and such a big dog. A big dog I think I'd like to play with, mind.

[Wildflower Fever]

Dogs are astonishing creatures. It's amazing how often dog-haters will point out so cynically how dumb they are and how they are so easy to break, and show false affection and so on and so on. The bottom line for me is no matter how/when/where/why, they truly do seem to show more love for their owners than for themselves. I like most dogs better than most people. People who loathe dogs for these traits are likely to hate happy people as well, at least in my opinion.

[sky]

Ah that was cute! The dog looked very loving and protective of the infant. And the infant looked in love with the dog as well.

I'm sure who ever took the picture new the dog very well and had seen the 2 of them together many times before and new that they got along just fine.

It reminds me of a friend that was worried when she was pregnant that the dog would be very jealous--and how it would react to the new baby because the dog and been the "only child" so to speak. She had been the kind of dog owner that took the dog everywhere she could with a special "dog seatbelt" in her car for safety, and she would actually brush her dogs teeth and she even set up "playdates" for her dog. She had been a very doting dog mom to say the least. but when they brought the baby home the dog slept under the babies crib every single night and would alert my friend when the baby stirred or was awake-before it even cried. The dog turned out to be very protective of the baby.

[ponytail]

Thanks for sharing those pictures, Paul.

They remind me of Murph, a boxer owned by my aunt and uncle. When I visited them I was really there to visit Murph. I loved that dog, and the feeling was very mutual. Murph had a whiffle ball which I would throw. He'd chase it, and then I'd have to catch him and play tug of war to get it back so I could throw it again. This would go on literally for hours. They had hardwood floors, with the occasional throw rug, and Murph and I would go sliding across the floor wrestling together. Invariably at the end of the afternoon my aunt or uncle would find us on a bunched-up rug in some corner of a room, all cuddled up together, sound asleep.

Thanks for bringing back one of my few sweet memories from childhood.

[Agnes]

Loved it! Got a tiny bit anxious at the third pic, but that dog knew what it was doing apparently :) Aren't they great?!

[paularoid]

Charles DeGaulle, former Prime Minister of France once said, "The more I get to know people, the more I like my dogs." or something to that effect. :p

I would include cats, ferrets, birds, and any number of other or perhaps all animals in that statement as well.

[dragonlady]

The child obviously know the dog and is delighted with its attention...you can tell from its facial expressions! The third picture would have scared me too except my dog and my cat are relative in size to the baby and the mastif and when they lay down together Rika (the dog) looks like she's going to crush the cat..They never do because they move too fast.

The person at the camera could ahve stopped the whole thing if it wasn't normal behavior or if the child was in danger...

Besides neoploitan Mastifs are very attached to their people...very protective. The baby seems to be one of its people to me.

It is quite beuatiful to see them together.

-di

[Rkitko]

Interesting people should mention the topic of dogs left with children:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070223143559.htm

Children should not be left unsupervised to play with a dog, say experts in this week's British Medical Journal. Their advice is part of a review aimed at doctors who deal with dog bites.

Dog bites and maulings are a worldwide problem, particularly in children, write Marina Morgan and John Palmer. Every year 250,000 people who have been bitten by dogs attend minor injuries and emergency units in the United Kingdom, and half of all children are reportedly bitten by dogs at some time, boys more than girls.

(Just an FYI link; I'm not opining on the subject. But very cute pictures, indeed.)