Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
Hear, hear.

I don't think the response to stories like these should be "keep your child away from dogs" any more than the response to stories about bicycle injuries should be "keep your child away from bicycles."
hmmmmmm, I think that there is one major difference here...... a child is unlikely to sustain an unprovoked bicycle attack..... with a kid and a bike there is one set of judgment - the child's and yes if they do something they can fall and get hurt (and yes, a child judgment is not always sound, nor perhaps are their physical capabilities), but with a dog there is the dog's judgment and sensibilities as well. The child can be doing nothing and still be attacked. (I don't know about you, but I've been lunged at by people's dogs before when they've just been walking by me on the street....)

The lesson definitely should be don't leave your small child unsupervised with a dog, even your own dog (would you allow them to ride a bike unsupervised?) Don't allow them around dogs that you don't know at all - who knows how they've been trained or how tolerable of kids they are.

I know it would be impossible to shield a person from all dangers - you wouldn't want to raise your kids in a bubble. That wouldn't be very good for them either, but it seems reasonable to me to take precautions. Being careful around dogs is like putting a helmet on them when they ride a bike or putting a seat belt on them in the car.