FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – An infant is dead after it was bitten by a dog back on July 30, according to Fargo Police.
Valley News Live spoke to Heather Clyde, Operations Director at Homeward Animal Shelter, on how to keep your newborn safe if your dog gets too aggressive.
“Anytime someone is bringing home a new baby, they have to understand that it’s a significant stress on their dog; that’s a lot of new noises and new smells,” said Clyde.
To give your dog a less sensitive smell of your infant, wrapping it in a blanket helps, says Clyde.
“The biggest thing is just making sure that your baby is always being watched around the dog and making sure they’re out of reach from the dog if you do have to step away for a minute,” said Clyde.
Heather says that if your dog has been living at your house before your baby has, your dog can get jealous since some attention has gone to the baby.
“Certain people like to try to say that ‘one breed is more aggressive.’ In this situation with infants, it can honestly be any dog that’s acting on natural instinct. So, I wouldn’t necessarily say there’s a certain breed that’s more prone to this,” said Clyde.
She says that the size of the dog doesn’t matter either and how aggressive it becomes is all based on how it’s trained.
“Unfortunately, as much as we love our dogs, they still are animals and sometimes their natural instinct kicks in when there is a new object in the house that is making unique noises or smells weird,” said Clyde.
To prevent jealousy from your dog toward the baby, Heather says to make sure that your dog is still getting walks and is being played with so that they’re still getting the proper attention.
“They still can act out of natural instinct. Sometimes that can be harmful. So, keep the child out of harm’s way and make sure that they’re safely out of reach of the dog when someone doesn’t have their eye on them at all times,” said Clyde.
The incident where the dog killed the infant back on July 30 remains under investigation.
