A Dog / Kids Dilemma: What about Boone?
Posted on 04 04, 2008 under Master Debaters by wahoodad | Comments
So I visited my friends Wally and Jen the other day to see their beautiful new baby girl, and they asked me my thoughts on a disagreement/issue they were having concerning the family pet. I thought I’d put the scenario out there to help them get some unbiased opinions from noodad readers. Here’s the dilemma:
A few years ago, before they had children, my friends picked out a spirited black lab/chow mix pooch from the local kennel. They named him Boone. Boone hasn’t been the easiest dog. He’s a prolific barker, jumps on guests, and he gets carsick. My friends hired a professional dog trainer and Boone’s behavior is improving, especially when there are no visitors in the house. Although Boone is challenging and willful (as my friend from Ireland would say), he’s never hurt anyone. He’s just kind of an excitable dog and they love him.
Fast forward to last week. Wally and Jen have two kids now. Their boy is about 16 months old, and his sister is a few weeks old. Boone has been fine with the boy, but last week something happened. Their sister-in-law was keeping an eye on the boy in the kitchen while Jen fed the newborn in a bedroom. The boy apparently kept poking and prodding Boone, and the dog snapped at him. Boone made some horrific growling noise when he snapped that Jen heard from the other room and it scared her quite a bit. So, now Wally and Jen are at a crossroads as far as Boone is concerned.
Jen thinks that Boone could be a danger to the kids. She wouldn’t feel comfortable hosting play dates with Boone in the house. Jen doesn’t want to be that person on the news professing how her dog never hurt anyone before after he’s attacked her kid or someone else’s. She isn’t on the verge of kicking Boone to the curb, but, at the same time, if there’s even a remote chance that Boone will take a chunk out of a kid, she’s reluctant to take that risk. Finally, Jen understands that Boone is a dog, and as loving and happy as dogs can be, every dog has that primitive instinct buried somewhere in its brain.
Wally has a different view. He grew up with dogs as part of the family and believes that if handled properly, it’s safe to have a dog. The incident with his son was an isolated one. Boone is very patient with Wally’s son, but adjusting to another kid into the family might be stressing Boone out a little, just as it can with people. His son wasn’t hurt, and there’s also a possibility that he learned something in the process about not harassing the dog. Wally is very good when it comes to introducing Boone to kids who might be a little nervous about dogs, and he makes an effort to keep Boone away from kids who are just plain afraid of dogs. With the proper precautions, Wally believes that incidents like this can be avoided in the future and there’s no reason to fear Boone’s presence in the home.
So, what do you think? With apologies to The Clash, should Boone stay or should he go? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of doggie dilemma?
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