# Rescues



## Sugarbaby (May 21, 2008)

Humm after reading the post about the dog biting the child i always heard and was under the impression that maltese dogs were a great breed for any family..Old and young alike.

I do have a 7 year old grandaughter but sugar and her get along like to peas in a bod..of course my sugar has a very sweet turn so i think she would love anyone..

Sorry to hear that but my question is are you saying that families with young children shouldn't have a maltese ??
just asking to i will know what to tell people. I was telling everyone to get a maltese because of the way mine acts so so sweet. She even sits and watches TV. Got to love that pup.

Thank for the info
sugars mom
sheila


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## Max & Rocky (May 20, 2004)

QUOTE (Sugarbaby @ Jul 31 2008, 08:04 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=613800


> Sorry to hear that but my question is are you saying that families with young children shouldn't have a maltese ??[/B]


In real life, there are no absolutes and depends on the details of the case, but yes that is the rule that many rescue organizations use.

I volunteer for NCMR and we will not place a Maltese in a home with a small child.

I was on the telephone last night with George Bailey from NCMR. Somehow we started talking about this very issue and he noted that in a particular year (2003 or 2004?) they went back and looked at the specifics of the dogs which entered rescue and that year, 60 some percent (and I think he said something in the range of 60 some dogs) were owner turn ins because of young children in the family.

The fact is that Maltese are small and therefore, somewhat fragile. Some kids would want to rough house a bit with the dog. Others will chase it. Still others will want to pick it up or carry it in a way that will hurt the dog. None of this is good.

Here are a couple specific examples:

I personally know of one instant some years back where a child was carrying the families Maltese and the Malt was squirming and was either dropped or jumped out of the child's arms and fell across onto the edge of a fireplace hearth which broke the Malt's back.

We also experienced first hand taking ours to a family gathering, where there were small children around. One child was smitten by Max and could not leave him alone. We instructed her and the mom that he was not to be picked up since she was too small to do so safely. Within an hour or so, with the mom right next to her, that is exactly what this little girl was doing and as expected, she was trying to pick Max up in a way that scared Max. I watched this happen from accross the room, but I was not able to get there in time to stop it. Max was scared and snapped at her. She dropped him and started screaming and this ended up causing a bit of a situation between the mom and us...


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## MrBentleysMom (Dec 19, 2007)

I dont have much experience with this, but this is my opinion. I have a 7 year old step son. He is wonderful with Bentley and Bentley is great with him. Tyler has never once been rough, pulled on or tried to pick up Bentley. The reason is because we do not allow it have raised Tyler to know that dogs are NOT toys or playmates and you do not treat them like toys or playmates. He is because of this, respectful and careful of all animals. He will not allow any of his friends to come near or bother Bentley. We hope to add on to our family and have other children one day and will raise them the same as we have Tyler. We hope there wont be any issues and if there are, it will be up to us to resolve them. I tell people that Bentley is my "first born" and will be forever a part of our family. We want our future children to have the same respect for animals as we do and as we have taught Tyler to. So, I think it depends on the family and the children and the parenting.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

I think rescue groups have no choice since there is no real way
for them to know if the child/children are gentle or otherwise.
Truly, even under the best of circumstances we all know children
move swiftly and without warning a small dog can be underfoot
being injured or frightened into defense mode. 
I would hope no one would be offended because breeders and
rescue orgs have to set some boundaries for the proctection of
both pets and families.


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