A couple of weeks back my son-in-law went out-of-town for the weekend and I told my daughter I’d take the grandchildren for the day.
My grandson is five. He’s just getting into the video games and me, I’m a big fan of Mario, so I figured let’s see what he can do. Turns out pairing a competitive player (me) with a kid who only wants to make his character run fast and burn his ass on lava isn’t a great combination. Still I tried.
Me: Grandson we’re going into the castle now, do you have this?
He nods his little head.
Me: Let me hear it.
Grandson: I got this Mimi.
I can get pretty involved with Mario, so it’s probably not a good thing, kids + dogs + Mimi playing Mario. We were all in the same room, so I figured it was okay.
Mostly my dogs just avoid the kids if they get too grabby or make them uncomfortable and I am right there explaining to the kids the best way to interact.
But I was distracted by Mario and the demon who kept throwing Luigi into the lava.
All of a sudden I heard “WOOF!” and my granddaughter started screaming. I looked over, she was sitting on the floor in front of Delilah.
Jesus! Please don’t let her have bit her was my first thought.
I snatched my granddaughter up and checked her over, no blood or marks. Thank you Jesus! I hugged her. “What happened?”
She’s two and a half but can carry on a conversation, “Yiyah WOOF.”
“She barked in your face, huh? That scared you didn’t it?”
She nodded her little blond head. Then being the caring grandmother that I am I said, “What did you do to her?”
Blue eyes looked at me. “Did you do something to her?”
“I pull tail.”
“Well there you go, she doesn’t like that. You should never pull the doggie’s tail.”
See how I roll?
What? I don’t like my tail pulled. You wouldn’t either.
Actually, I think it’s highly doubtful that she actually PULLED her tail, I’m sure she reached for it, but Delilah has a thing about people coming at her feet and I suspect it was more of my granddaughter reaching and Delilah responding.
It was my fault. I should have been watching my granddaughter instead of playing video games. There are so many things that COULD have happened and I’m thankful they didn’t.
Still it was a good lesson for me. Even if I’m right in the same room, I should never take my eyes off the prize. The stakes are a lot higher than a burned ass.
I’m glad you posted this. People need a reminder about kids and dogs – we get too comfy. I’m guilty of it – I left the room for 3 seconds and haylie walked to close to the baby and her nail scratched the baby. Woke me up!
It’s almost impossible to watch over them all the time. A good bark from Delilah was probably a good thing for the little one – she may think twice about how she approaches a dog. Horrible fright though!
They say never leave a young child/baby alone with a dog. But it sounds like you have very trustworthy dogs, I probably would have trusted them too. I know I left my daughter and our dogs alone in a room more than once during her childhood. But listening to the stories on the news, I know I was lucky.
Good control from deliah…and i learned the hard way too…never take your eyes off…even the best dog, when children are involved…accidents happen.
Oh boy, that must have been scary 🙁 Lessons for everybody right?
I would have said the same thing as you though, thankfully all was ok!
Little hands and little feet…..lol thankfully we don’t have that problem but we do watch like a hawk when little ones are around. Mind you not so easy when you have them there often. Easily distracted. So glad nothing bad happened. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Best wishes Molly
Okay, now lesson has been imparted (good girl, Delilah!), hopefully all involved have learned from it. Our grandson is about the same age as your granddaughter, and ALL boy. The last time they were here, he was fine with the dogs for a little while, but he moved a little too quick for Ducky’s liking and she barked at him, so we had to put the gates up. Now we meet at the Cracker Barrel half way between our homes, or we go up there. Probably best for now since our house is so small. We have a great pet sitter, so I don’t have to worry.
PS. I didn’t mean to sound flippant — hope it didn’t come across that way! I’m very happy nothing bad happened! And I know my own reaction would have been similar to yours. But — as you know — our dogs give their own warnings and move on (unless they can’t for whatever reason), in an attempt to limit the chances of real confrontation. You handled it well. 🙂
You need to lay off the Mario games 😉 Kids think I am cute but they are scared of me because I jump up and kiss them and if they are small they fall over, so mom tries to keep small kids away from me but I want to play with them so bad. My sister, the viscous Kuvasz guard dog lets kids pull her hair, sit on her, anything, she just sits that like a stuffed fluffy dog! No matter, mom is always paying attention if little ones are around but she doesn’t like video games, so that is not an issue!
Gizmo loves kids and I’m always being asked if the children can pet the dog…I almost always say “yes” then stand close and monitor the interaction…You can never be too careful
p.s. Kathleen at All Things Collie also wrote about this today and has 3 great infographics posted to share http://www.bloglovin.com/frame?post=1169815651&group=8776&frame_type=g&blog=4645971&link=aHR0cDovL2NvbGxpZTIyMi5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20vMjAxMy8wNi9ub3Qtc28td29yZGxlc3Mtd2VkbmVzZGF5Lmh0bWw&frame=1&click=0&user=0
This is such an important topic Jodi and I’m glad you posted about it. I think this happens to the best of us at least once and it’s a wake up call. I am constantly reminding the kids about respecting our dog’s boundaries, especially Gracie who likes to cuddle up with them. One time she grabbed Sherman’s ear while he was sleeping and she startled him and he turned and bit her face. I don’t think it was an actual bite, I think he turned with his mouth open and his tooth made contact with her cheek, because if he really wanted to bite her there would of been more than tooth scratch. It was a lesson learned for all of us.
I’m sorry but I did bust out laughing at your story and why she said she pulled her tail. That really wasn’t funny and yes one should teach children that pulling fur isn’t good and you can’t trust any animal. Glad all was well and nothing happened. Sounds like you had a great visit.
I’m usually okay with kids. I love people more than dogs. But, when little kids come at me quickly and from behind, I get scared and turn my head quickly. I don’t bite, but I let them know it’s a no no and the kids pull away fast and sometimes cry.
Mom watches me but I’m fast when kids scare me. So, moral of the story, make sure kids know how to pet a dog and have mom keep an eye out. Both moms. Moms need to teach kids the rules.
Hugs and licks, BJ Pup
Your grand daughter screaming probably scared Delilah as much as the Woof scared your grand daughter!! I’m glad all involved were okay – it’s hard to watch them every second (especially when you’re trying to beat a 5 year old at Mario carts!!)
This has probably happened to all of us who have dogs and grandchildren. The dogs aren’t quite as used to children since they don’t see them all the time and the children haven’t quite learned how to act around dogs.
This post is a good reminder.
When even dog-savvy folks like yourself have these moments, it’s a great reminder that a bit of inattention can lead to being bit! Good info to share!
I’m glad everyone was fine. I was once bit in the face as a child – no scars, luckily, emotional or otherwise. It obviously didn’t change my love for the pups. And nuthin’ happened to the pup. An adult probably should have been paying better attention (i was all alone outside with the dogs) but it was all fine in the end. Could have been a lot worse as she bit me quite close to my eye.
It is soooooo hard to keep little two leggers away from LOVING FOUR LEGGERS… They just attract each other… maybe a little scary butt a LOT loving also.
A good reminder. We all get distracted from time to time.
Besides….you should have been working on Candy Crush and not Mario. 🙂
Happy ending, and the no-tail-pulling lesson has been learned, whether it was pulled or not.
Good girl Delilah, vocalizing your unhappiness rather than acting upon it.
SOOO GLAD your granddaughter is ok.
As for the video game, you wouldn’t be the first person to temporarily lose themselves into one, although I bet it will be the last time you do when the grandkids are visiting. 🙂
So glad Delilah didn’t bite! When my son was 9 months old my husband was suppose to be watching him. He didn’t do his job so well cause Taylor pulled one of our dog’s tails and the dog (Scuffy) turned around and bit Taylor. Needless to say, Taylor was in the hospital for a week because of a bite above his eye. We didn’t put the dog down because it was husband and Taylor’s fault. I couldn’t bear to put him down…I had had him since college. Husband was much more careful from then on and there were no more dog bites! Tough way to learn 🙂
So glad things turned out okay. I did have to laugh at your “see how I roll” I have done the same thing, the kid is okay and now what did you do interrogation 😉 But really a good reminder to all that dogs are dogs and we need to be on our toes.
Hi Jodi,
Such a great reminder. Glad to hear your granddaughter was unharmed. 🙂
I’m glad to hear that everyone was okay! I can imagine that it must have been really scary – it’s so easy to get comfy and this is a really good reminder.
It only takes a second. I know that from our own experience! I’m glad everyone is okay and I guess it was a lesson learned. Darn that Mario for being so distracting anyway!
Glad everyone was ok, sometimes it takes a lot of learning and supervision for everyone to understand boundaries – My little friend Charlotte and I have a great understanding, but still there are a few things we work on each time so Mum always keeps and eye on us 🙂
Wags to all,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
I had a co-worker who asked the same thing after the dog bit her son and he had to get several stitches. Turns out the kid was trying to put a Dorito in the dog’s A**hole.
Yeah, the dog didn’t get blamed for that one. But I bet the son got much better supervision.