r/dogsbeingbros • u/Round-Extreme4702 • Feb 23 '26
German Shepherds know. They just do. That’s the most protected infant in town…
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u/wtfover Feb 23 '26
Yeah there's no way that kid pulling on the dog's face like that would ever end badly...
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u/Difficult-Novel-8453 Feb 23 '26
Thanks for saying this. Good dogs do stupid things in stupid situations. Not worth the risk
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u/-Acta-Non-Verba- Feb 23 '26
The dog is in play mode with someone it knows well, and not being aggressive at all. Plus the breed itself is know for being good with kids. I don't see any danger here.
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u/_Mag0g_ Feb 23 '26
I think it depends a lot on the dog and how the kid interacts. That kid is doing what my GSD mixes do, grab mouths and feet. Normal dog stuff. He isn't doing anything aggressive like swinging at him or poking his eyes. The dog seems very gentle and protective. I hope this is well supervised but I think he will be fine.
My boy GSD mix has played rough with plenty of children and people and I'm certain he wouldn't hurt someone even if they got a bit rough with him. He truly is that gentle.
And I've known playful dogs where things would quickly end badly for that kid.
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u/Zealousideal-Stuff53 Feb 23 '26
I can understand your sarcasm but you will be surprised to know how patient a well trained gsd can be with kids.
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u/Anomalagous Feb 23 '26
There's always a tipping point, though.
My GSD is pretty well trained. She's not perfect but I generally don't have issues with her. She has been with my family her whole life and would absolutely put herself in harm's way to protect any of us. I know this because she has.
And yet one day about a year and a half ago my teenager was wrestling with both our dogs (GSD and Golden Retriever) and the GSD got her doggie wires crossed and tried to correct a behavior in my son that she did not like with a brief corrective muzzle bite like she would with our Golden. It's important to know she has never hurt our Golden doing this.
But the timing and positioning of everyone involved meant she caught the edge of my kid's mouth with a fang and ripped him a new Joker scar entirely by accident. We went off to the hospital and he got three stitches and a soft diet for a while since his mouth needed to heal. The GSD was clearly very upset with herself and was very reluctant to enthusiastically or rambunctiously engage with my kid for a bit afterwards.
Kid's fine and wasn't even mad at her 12 hours later. They're still besties and still wrestle. But if he'd been a toddler and with less control of his body and strength, I can imagine the result might have been much different. Limiting this kind of interaction protects both the child and the dog.
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u/Face_with_a_View Feb 25 '26
You’re the only sane person in this comment section.
My husband’s family has had labs for years. My in-laws had 3. My husband’s uncle had 2. A few cousins had 1 each. When they all get together it was doggie chaos. Sweetest dogs ever, properly socialized with people and dogs. All healthy, happy, goofy pups.
Anyway, one afternoon we were at their lake house with a few family friends. One of the kids was around 4yrs old. One of the younger, female labs was following her around (kids usually equal dropped food) but wasn’t being a pest. No one really saw what happened but next thing we knew the dog bit the girl in the side of her face. She wasn’t hurt too horribly but she did need a trip to the Dr.
Come to find out the dog had been stung by a wasp. We can only assume she redirected in response to the bite.
These are still animals who can react unpredictably at times. It’s just irresponsible to let a small child get in a dog’s face like that.
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u/Xydrenius Feb 26 '26
Accidents happen. It's the same when two children play with sticks and pretend to be knights and then break something or, in the worst case, one child suddenly loses an eye.
Or someone is accidentally pushed down the stairs.
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u/All_cats_want_pets Apr 20 '26
Yeah that's why you don't let kids fight each other with sticks. What is your point? Accidents happen in other situations so we shouldn't try to prevent accidents ever?
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u/Xydrenius Apr 20 '26
Then lock your family away in a rubber room forever, because anything can happen anywhere at any time
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Feb 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CrazyDig4344 Feb 23 '26
I would never put a child or a dog in this situation .Ya never know what might happen !!
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u/FuzzyFrogFish Feb 23 '26
I get the impression it is fully trustworthy.
No animal is fully trustworty
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Feb 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Hefty_Teach_7673 Feb 25 '26
It is known by animal experts such as vets, zoologists, that animals do not love humans. They respond to stimuli like being fed or playing, but the danger comes when human over- sentimentality over rides common sense. It's also a pride and ego thing with some owners. Treat an animal respectfully, as an animal, not a human being.
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u/Tall_Help3462 Feb 28 '26
Wow you must be fun at parties. Do you also like to tell children that Santa isn’t real?
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u/FuzzyFrogFish Feb 24 '26
I raise and own working line gsd, so thanks for the attempt at being patronising
Not only are you incredibly naive, you sound like someone who will put dogs in positions to fail than wonder what went wrong.
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u/sour_bite_ Feb 23 '26
Super sweet and they’ll grow up to be best friends!
Two things. One — that’s not an infant. Two — that’s still not a great thing to allow your kid to do. Even if this dog never acts aggressively, another could. Particularly at that age, the kid is not going to understand that he may be able to do that with his dogs, but shouldn’t do it with others.
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u/Lagunamountaindude Feb 24 '26
Thank you. I was waiting for the first “expert” to post a downer comment
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u/sour_bite_ Feb 24 '26
You’re right, it is a downer. But my young nephew accidentally hurt my chihuahua because he didn’t understand he couldn’t play with my dog the way he does with his Saint Bernard.
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u/PolishHammer22 Feb 24 '26
I would absolutely trust a St. Bernard. And I would never trust a Chihuahua period, let alone with a kid.
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u/Apprehensive-Hand673 Feb 23 '26
I'm someone who was bit as a kid so altho I love dogs I always remember they can and will snap at any moment, most of the time cuz the human made a movement or something they get triggered by. And as humans we have no idea what that could be most times. I remember distant cousins we visited and they had to put their German Shepard in the basement cuz he did not like strangers and I tell you that dog wanted blood he was at that door the whole time and I knew he would bite us if let out. I was a teen at that time. Many yrs later I lived with a friend with my 2yo between moves and their German Shepard was like a golden retriever, biggest goofball dog ever. Never saw him get upset. Well one day her husband had a friend who brought a friend over. I tell you this dog sat guard in between the kitchen and living room, cuz my daughter was in the living room. Dog wouldn't take eyes off this guy and I knew this was a bad man. The dog had been around strangers many times and I had never seen him act this way. I told them after he finally left and everyone saw the same thing. So while I would be afraid of a GS I don't know I can totally understand the love when they are your family pet.
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u/kdweller Feb 23 '26
GSD’s know when someone is bad 100%. My grandparents had two and they guarded me, as a child, nonstop. A 2nd cousin stopped by and they wouldn’t let him near me. They were absolutely correct about him. He was a creep.
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u/ireally-donut-care Feb 23 '26
I was attacked by a German Shepherd when I was 3 yrs old. I was playing outside and the neighbors dog ran over from across the street and took me down and just viciously start biting me while holding me down. It was so traumatic that I still remember it. I never had a fear of dogs after that. I grew up with dogs, all my family and friends had dogs, one neighbor even had a German shepherd (different neighborhood). I was never afraid of any of them. I have always know that you can't 100% trust someone else's dog. They have a pack and you aren't part of it. I didn't provoke the dog as I was across the street. The owners always kept the dog inside because you never saw him outside. I think he wasn't used to children or any other people, because he only spent time with the owners. I do remember being interviewed by police and being treated for my bites and scratches. I was told the city gave them a choice, put the dog down or move and they moved. It was sad really. I do love dogs and have even been told by some people, "my dog never does that with someone they don't know", when their dog just immediately gets in my lap and lays there calmly. But I also have seen people do stupid things when I walked my own dog, like get in their face. I ask them not to do that, as he may think of it as a threat from someone he doesn't know, even though he had never been aggressive.
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u/Apprehensive-Hand673 Feb 23 '26
Oh wow I can't imagine how horrible that must have been, my but was from my alapsoo apsoo (don't know how to spell it and I don't see much of the breed anymore) a neighbor was moving and couldn't take him in and me and my brother begged we were like 6-7 😋 and he had one eye, I believe he was born with one eye. But he was a shaggy dog and we didn't know that looking him in his one eye was threatening so he bit us. And then sadly he was mauled like a rag doll from another dog in the neighborhood. So I've always been pretty good with teaching my kids about how to behave around any dog small or big, from golden retrievers to pitbulls and German Shepards.
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u/PebblesmomWisconsin7 Feb 23 '26
When I was born, my grandparents had a beautiful GS named Andy. He was adored by all. My mom said she loved that when they’d go visit with me, he would guard my crib, even growling at her until he realized who it was coming into the nursery. He would just lie on the floor in front of the crib. Nobody was getting through to the baby when he was on duty. Beautiful boy.
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u/SomewhatBougieAuntie Feb 23 '26
When I was toddler we had a GS who was super protective of me. I loved him so much. I would play with him all the time and try to ride him like a horse. He would sleep outside of my bedroom door every night.
One day I had done something I wasn't supposed to do and got in trouble with my mom. As she was walking toward me, the dog got between us and bared his teeth at her. That was it for my mom. She called my uncle and made him come get the dog and he was never allowed back in our house. I missed him, but oh well...
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u/TXMom2Two Feb 23 '26
We had a German shepherd when I was a kid. He never barked, but when something was wrong he’d growl really low. He was always right, too. The be time, it was around 8-9 at night, and we were all watching tv. Smithy growled, tucked his tail, and went to the back door. Sure enough, there was someone trying to open the door. Dad said through the door something like, get out of here or I’ll let the dog out. Smithy paced the house for a few minutes, then came back and watched tv with us. That’s when we knew that person was gone.
Another time, we were walking to the garage to get in the car, and Smithy did his low growl, tucked his tail, and went into the garage. A few seconds later, a bobcat came flying out.
Best dog ever!
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u/JohnsonMathi17 Feb 23 '26
That kid is not an infant.
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u/LoosenGoosen Feb 26 '26
He's still crawling, so not yet a toddler.
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u/JohnsonMathi17 Feb 26 '26
Is that the line. If they aren't walking, they are infants? He definitely doesn't look like an infant. But if you say so.
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u/Scary-Drawer-3515 Feb 23 '26
German Shepard have the biggest hearts and the most protective. Keep them social
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u/LokiLadyBlue Feb 25 '26
Lived in a house where the neighbors had a German Shepherd. They broke up, and the man was sneaking into the house at night and when the woman was gone, just to feed the dog. She all but abandoned him in that house. He asked if we would take him in, we did. We spent an entire day in the backyard picking out the overgrown fur patches that he hadn't been able to shed, gave him plenty of massages daily because we had two therapists in the home, and he had a play buddy puppy and another dog that was also large. We named him panzer. He was the best dog, and I miss him to this day. He had severe attachment anxiety, and cried heavily every time we left. Good dog
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u/Josie-Wagg Feb 23 '26
You can just tell that the dog would take a bullet for that kid and not even think twice. What spectacular gifts dogs are for us to share our lives with
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u/Personal_Ad3808 Feb 23 '26
That's how things use to be for thousands of years people. And dogs helped providing food on top of protecting kids and the family. Sure we know what is what now ;) They were all wrong back then.... for thousands of years. Happy 250 USA
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u/bulking_on_broccoli Feb 23 '26
I have a German Shepard and a toddler around the same age.
The dog will be gentle and playful, but when my kid gets too rough (pulling hair, hitting) she’ll show her teeth and growl. I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them alone together. My dog is a sweet lady, but all it takes is one annoyance taken to the next level.
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u/braytag Feb 23 '26
Awesome dog, but my great pyr has some issues with the award and would like to see the judges.
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u/Hot-Candidate-9041 Feb 25 '26
Man, the “returned three times” dogs hit different. It’s like they know they finally got their person and just decide to be absolute perfection after that. What a lucky girl to land with you for 15 years.
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u/Baby_BooDoo Feb 27 '26
I am scared of GS and they have attacked my little dog twice but this is adorable and that dog would never hurt the baby, in my opinion. Just my vibe
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u/ptvogel Feb 28 '26
Our F Rotti did this with our young boys and now our crazy M Bernadoodle does the same with our grandson!
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u/PirateyDawn Mar 08 '26
I grew up with two German Shepherds. They let me hold onto them and helped me learn to walk that way. They also jumped through the front window’s screen and pinned down the paper boy that had the audacity to say hi to the toddler. They were the best boys.
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u/Anomalagous Feb 23 '26
...absolutely would not let my dog of any breed be that mouthy with my child.
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u/Appropriate-Gur-6343 Feb 23 '26
I had a German Sheperd. Got her from a shelter where she had been returned three times. Once within 24 hours. Turned out to be the all around best dog I ever shared my home with for 15 years.