A Native American Indian dog -- not the one involved in the baby snatching.
(Photo: dogbreedinfo.com)
A tragic incident this week is bringing attention to a heretofore little known dog breed: the Native American Indian dog.
A family in Nicholasville, Kentucky brought their newborn baby, Alexander James Smith, home from the hospital this past Sunday. On Monday at about 1 p.m., the baby's father was horrified to see the family dog, a Native American Indian dog named Dakota, standing in the yard with the baby in its mouth.
The father gave chase, but the dog ran into the woods, later returning -- alone. Luckily, the terrified father found little baby Alexander crying in the bushes about 150 yards away. He had cuts and punctures to his face and body, but he was alive, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The dog, who is slightly bigger than a collie and has a habit of grabbing items off the counters and hiding them, had apparently grabbed the infant from his crib in the upstairs part of the house. Dakota is in the custody of the local animal control officers. Sherriffs are investigating the incident and have not put Dakota down.
The Native American Indian dog is known as a highly intelligent, loyal and hardworking breed. They are believed to be able to trace their origins to the dogs that lived with the native Americans for centuries.
Our prayers go out to the baby who remains in critical condition at the University of Kentucky Hospital.
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Comments
That's why I don't believe anyone should have animals around babies. Remeber Stephen King's "Cat Eyes"
I will keep him in my prayers. May GOD bless and keep Alexander James Smith.
"Cat Eyes" was a movie, it wasn't real.
Yes, "Cat's Eye" was a movie but is was based on an old wives tale that was true to form. Domestic cats have been known to have a hankering for the smell of formula on babies breath and warmth emitted from infants heads which have lead to accidental smothering hence the "stealing" of the baby's breath.
Even the most well mannered pet is not to be trusted with a small child. Most do not mean any harm but in fact are either playing or trying to help out. By the time puppies & kittens are the size of a newborn human, they are already biting & wrestling. Had I not kept the railings up on the crib, my boxer would have jumped in & tried to bring my newborn to me everytime she cried instead of coming and dragging me to her room.
I pray Alexander recovers fully and his parents don't blame themselves or their pet for this unfortunate accident.
I have never heard of this breed. What a beautiful dog! I don't have any children and would be happy to adopt the Smith's dog if they choose not to keep her.
This story is being discussed on the radio right now. They used Bluegrass Cleaning www.bluegrasscleaning.com to take care of the mess with the media and stuffed animals.
WHy are you up at 3:52 A.M. anyway. The dog was not trying to harm the babe. Merely being a playfull dog.
The dog wasn't being playful. The dog was jealous.
I hope the authorities do a thorough investigation here. Something is just not right with this story. I have done a lot of research on this breed and their natural instinct is to protect. They are protective toward their families, especially children and older people. The dog has never shown aggression toward the other children, then why the baby? Please, please do not put down a dog that quite possibly might have simply been protecting the child from what it perceived as a danger. And how can anyone say with certainty, that the injuries were indeed caused by the dog? There is a degree of irresponsibility here on the part of the parents. Why would you leave a 4-day old baby unattended in the first place? Too bad Dakota cannot speak, he is the only one who knows what really happened. Someone needs to stand up for him. If they cannot find him a home, I'll gladly take him. I also know a few families that would give him a fantastic home. No kids in any of the homes to worry about.
Any by the way, the picture of the dog shown in the article is not the dog involved in the incident. This picture was taken from a breed-info website. This is one of the best breeds to have as a family dog and I fully intend on getting one when I am able to.
This dog does not deserve to be put down. It sounds to me like, for whatever reason, she was trying to protect the baby. Trust me, if that dog really and truly wanted to harm that baby, she would have. It's not like she didn't have the opportunity to do so. Please keep this animal alive and place her in a loving and caring home who will appreciate her, and look out for her best interest. My prayers are with the baby and a fast healing process. Good luck, Dakota. I know you didn't mean it. You were just trying to be a good dog.
Do not do away with this animal. If she wanted to hurt the baby, then why did she hide it in the woods? She could've killed the baby right in the crib. Why would she take the time and get the baby out of the crib, carry the baby downstairs, take the baby outside, and then hide the baby in the woods? It makes no sense. In any event, Dakota cannot speak on her behalf, so I will do it for her. She thought she was protecting the newest and most fragile member of the family, and wanted to do her part. Only she didn't realize that she was actually hurting the baby. She was playing her role as a protector of the family. Also, she might have sensed that the baby was in a fragile state healthwise. Dogs have keen instinct when it comes to sensing illness in humans. Good luck Dakota and find a new home and a better home.
My apologies for the error in referring to Dakota as a male. I just read another article on this which specifies that Dakota is a female. Which makes her protective instincts even stronger.
This dog needs to be slaughtered. There is no exception to this. Dog needs to get chopped up for being so stupid. Then the owner needs to be locked up for being stupid enough to have a dog like this and not killing it before cops arrived. I would have kicked the crap out of that dog b4 cops ambulance came. dumb dog! dumb owner/father.
Why are you only referring to the father? The mother plays a role, and you also don't know the full story so it isn't right to jump to conclusions and judge! That is why investigations go on, to try and find out both sides of the story.
dogs belong outside
Did the parents not hear any noise? Didn't they have a monitor around? Surely if the dog jumped in the crib and grabbed the baby they would have heard something...the dog...the baby crying? Were they fighting or being loud? The dog may have thought there was trouble and tried to grab the baby out of the way. It just seems odd that they didn't hear anything from a monitor....if they didn't have one on then they should have been in the room with the baby. God bless the baby and have a full recovery...as for the parents, an animal is an animal..you never know what they are thinking or feeling...to not have some way of hearing your child especially if you have dogs is not a good thing. You need to think about these things. As for the dog..is it really his fault and to be put down? He was allowed access. The person below me you are nuts...there's anger management for people like you. I feel bad for the parents, but learn from things. You're in my prayers.
Tony Vo I meant about slaughtering the dog...lord only hopes you never have any animals and maybe kids having that outlook on things. You could have just said put him down. You weren't in the house, you don't know what exactly was going on. If the dog was simply trying to play then he needs to be with a family with older kids, but not put down. People don't need to let their babies around dogs. Should have been outside.
The dog thought the baby was a chicken. Yum!
Some people are just ignorant. Open your mind! Maybe that baby was in some sort of danger? Animals have a natural instincts..... Good luck to the family and their animal; whom cannot speak for herself.
all you PETA people.. dumb all I can say. I would slaughter the dog, beat the dad for being such a pu55y, and find out all those on this thread are that stupid to analyze the situation and feel for the dog. That just shows you how dumb americans are and the reason we are in this economic mess. Not enough people that have balls.
Again, why are you only blaming the father!?
The dog does not deserve to be put down. The dog is not to fault.
I owned a NAID stud for 5 1/2 years until his unfortunate death in April 2009. His is the picture that is being used to represent the NAID breed and is on DBI. He was my son's guardian and couldn't stand to have him out of his sight. It is not normal for these dogs to go to that extreme to care for a child in that manner. It makes me wonder if the dog took his job to seriously or if he thought of the baby as another one of his treasures to take to the yard like he had done with other things in the past. I feel for this family as this is not something you want to have happen to your newborn. I wish them the best of luck and hope that Animal Control will consider placing Dakota in a home that does not have infants. He obviously has had no problem with children. It appears that they may not have introduced the baby into the family properly. Our prayers are with A.J., his family and their dog Dakota who now faces an uncertain future.
DOGS belong OUTSIDE!!!!
Dogs do not normallay attack infants, but I wonder how many infants this dog has been around? I also wonder how many large squeaky or noisey toys this dog has been given and may have thought she had a new toy to play with.
TO: TONY VO
Why the hell are you talking bad about U.S.A. if you dont like it then go back to whereever youre from (vietnam maybe?) this story is not political in any way so dont take it there. May God be with the baby...You would slaughter the dog so you can eat him, right tony vo? isnt that what ur people do to dogs? lol.
The owners should consider contacting the Dog Whisperer - don't believe the answer is to kill the dog ~
To proud_American: Your comment to Tony Vo was inappropriate. I don't agree with his comment that the dog should be slaughtered. I personally am Asian and I have three children and two dogs. I would never leave my dogs alone with my small kids even though one is a shih tzu and the other is a chihuahua. However, if that was my dog, I would have it put down. Your comment about "my people" makes you just as ignorant as Tony Vo.
If you read other articles on the matter, you'll see that the dog wasn't trying to hurt the baby. In fact, the manner in which the baby was held int he dog's mouth is exact to the manner in which the dog would hold a puppy in it's mouth. Unfortunately, it was not a puppy, but a baby, who was too frail to be held in such a way.
The dog should NOT be put down. They are a gentle and intelligent breed. It should be given to a new family that does not have children.
Dogs tend to be jealous with the arrival of a new born. With the addition of the new family member, the dog will not receive the same kind of attention it had before and therefore be jealous of the baby, often showing aggresion towards the newborn. Families have to find a way to introduce the newborn to their dog to prevent this kind of problem.
I had four children. As each came home from beig born I laid them on the floor and took off all the clothes and laid them on a baby blanket. Each of the dogs and cats was introduced to the new baby and allowed to sniff it all over. From that day forward those children belong to the dogs and no one was allowed to coe between the dog and the child except us. They were guarded everyday, everywhere. No child of mine was ever hurt by a dog or cat and we had many dogs and cats over the years.
People are dumb. The dog is a protective animal and obviously trained with toys. It should not be put down. The father or whoever else was home should of have had a monitor on or something. If the dog wanted to eat it, it would of torn the baby up way before the father noticed. Like I said, people are dumb and you wouldnt believe the common sense people DONT have in this world.
God put this creature on this earth - he wasn't trying to hurt the baby.
Please do not put this dog down - remember he is an animal. God made all of us!
Creator put Dakota on Mother Earth for a reason, protection. Her being a female only goes to show where her motive was in taking baby Alexander. She did not harm him intentionally, the scratches and puncture wounds could have been made by the brush that Dakota went through to hide 'her' baby. I'm not assigning blame but, the father should have known better than to give chase, even though it was his son. Dogs are extremely intelligent animals and could have been called to his 'master'. Please, do not put this animal down. Dakota deserves a second chance.
To Tony Vo...what is your malfunction? You have posted the most ignorant comments of anyone. You need more than anger management classes.
THE DOG WAS KNOWN FOR TAKING THINGS AND HIDDING THEM AND I BET THE THINGS HE TOOK WERE THINGS THAT YOU USED ALOT. AND TO HIM THE BABY WAS THE SAME THE DO ALWAYS SAW YOU WITH THE BABY AND TO HIM IT WAS JUST ANOTHER THING TO HIDE. I HAVE DOGS AND TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I FEEL MORE SAFE WITH MY DOG AROUND MY CHILD THEN I DO MOST PEOPLE. DOGS CARE FOR THEIR PUPS BETTER THAN MOST HUMANS DO THIER CHILDREN. I DONT THINK THE DOG SHOULD BE PUT DOWN AND I DO HOPE THE BABY IS OKAY BUT I WOULD FIND THE DOG A NEW GOOD HOME MAYBE WITH OLDER CHILDREN. THAT YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HIM MAYBE GETTING JEALOUS.
A 4 day old baby belongs in your arms, not alone in a crib where you don't even notice your family dog has gone into the room and taken the child in his mouth, gone outside, and injured the baby so terribly. If you ask me, the parents should be put down!
This is an unfortuate case of a dog harming the infant(maybe not intentionally), but nevertheless, needs to be put down. If it goes to another home with kids, it may harm them. Biblically speaking, man comes before animals, and if an animal harms a human, it should be put down.PERIOD!!
I live in ky I will take the dog, have no small children, live in country and love animals, please do not put her down, she didn't know it was a baby
Put the dog down. Man before animal.
You people are idiots.
I agree with TONY VO
From what it sounds like, the dog did not attack the baby. Perhaps he was taking the baby and playing hide as if it were a toy. Please do not put the dog down. It does not seem he meant to harm the baby intentionally. He should be put in a home with older children or adults.
someone call Micheal Vick
I would have beat that dog to death before animal control arrived. That's a baby were talking about! Screw the dog and it's intensions. I have a dog, and a newborn, and if the dog nearly killed by baby, I would not hesitate in ending it's life. I would not want it to live. Not even with another family, where it may someday have the chance to do that to another baby. You never know, but you do know that it cannot be trusted. PERIOD!
Where is everyone getting "Native American Indian Dog" at. What about "Honkie Dog" or "Negro Dog" or "Mexican Dog" does it make a difference??? It looks like a mongrel with some german shepard, collin and whatever. How could the dog lift a baby out of a crib? Why didn't the good parents hear the baby cry when if it was lifted out by the dog? Something is fishy about the story. Who leaves a new born baby alone, when is should be with its mother. Blame it on the dog! It can't talk!!!!!
The dog comes from a wolf!
Sorry, I meant to say collie! And I didn't mean anything racial, just where in the hell did the "Native American Indian Dog" come from????? This is the first I heard of such a dog. I am sorry about the baby, but the parents should have been more watchful if the baby was a few days old. Get what I mean.
Do not put the dog down. It's not his fault he was raised that way.
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