Family dog kept watch over missing 2-year-old overnight

[kpete]

Source: WISTV

ELGIN, SC (WIS) - A missing 2-year-old boy in Elgin was found Saturday morning after Kershaw County deputies say the family dog kept him warm and safe all night.

Sheriff Jim Matthews said 22-month-old Tyler Jacobson was reunited with his family after he was found across the street behind a neighbor's home when someone reported hearing crying in the area.

Tyler was reported missing around 8:00pm Friday from a residence on Ashley Creek Drive. Matthews said the boy's mother, 25-year-old Jacklyn Marie Jacobson, and her boyfriend Jose Gloria told investigators Tyler went to get some juice and didn't come back.

Kershaw County deputies used a bloodhound tracking team and a SLED helicopter with infrared capabilities, but called the search off around 12:30am Saturday. The search resumed around 7:45am, and the boy was found shortly thereafter. "Just thinking that a dog would watch a baby over the night, it's kind of like a movie instead of real life," said Emily DuBose, who lives in the house outside which the baby was found.

Read more: http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14369871

[xchrom]

1. Awesome. Nt

[latebloomer]

2. Nice story, but

"He went to get some juice and never came back"? And he's 22 months old? WTH?

[NV Whino]

6. I'll be right back, Mum.

Just popping down to the 7-11 for some juice.

Fishy indeed. But good for the dog. He.she makes a better mother.

[wpelb]

115. LOL about the dog

Maybe the pooch could teach a parenting class to the mother.

[abelenkpe]

24. Between three and five

I used to wake up in the middle of the nite and when I wasn't flooding the bathroom pretending my fathers shoes were boats or rolling his reel to reel collection downstairs or climbing into my little brothers crib with snacks from the fridge I would wander outside across a two lane highway road to the nearest farm to play with their chickens. My mom frequently would be woken up at six am with a call from neighbors saying they had me at their place. She lost me a lot in stores too. Never really thought much about it until I had kids of my own. Now I think back and wonder why she was so neglectful? I'm super aware of my kids n believe in childproofing. Really one latch placed higher than I could reach would have stopped all those dangerous late nite shenanigans. Think these parents could seriously use some classes in better parenting. On the other hand her son will be super independent if he survives to adulthood....

[jwirr]

40. Although she was rather reckless with the two lane highway I think

I understand why you are more vigilant than you mother. The world is much more dangerous for children today or maybe we are just aware of it more. When I was small it was not unusual for children to wonder the store or go to the toy section while mom shopped.

Also I have 9 great grandchildren under the age of 10. Children are capable of many things if we let them try. By the way - mine are taught to put their sippy cups in the fridge if they are not going to drink it all and when they want it again they go to get it. They also help themselves to fruit and other snacks we keep in there. We often buy them the little juice boxes which he could have been going for.

[abelenkpe]

68. Hey that's a great idea.

I'm gonna rearrange the shelves in the fridge so they can reach their own cups n drinks. :)

Yeah, I don't blame my mom understanding it was a different world and knowing she was very young with three kids. I have trouble with two! :)

[EFerrari]

42. My cousin Mark was an escape artist at that age.

My aunt never had a problem with his sister (one year older) and didn't have any problem again with his two younger siblings. But I remember all kinds of things that Mark got into which flabbergasted her, his dad and even my grandma when she was visiting.

In those days, there weren't stores full of childproof gear and families weren't so centered around the kids in the same way. Mark tasted gasoline, he crossed a two lane highway and rode his trike UPHILL to a restaurant that we could see from the yard. He was always getting loose and on some adventure that only made sense in retro. He must have had at least nine lives and the family probably kept the ER in that county in new wallpaper until he left home.

lol

My aunt was a great mom. Mark was just so smart and so creative, it would have taken three of her and a leash (which no one used at the time) to hold him back. He has three kids himself now and is a great dad. Someday, I have to remind him of all the scares he gave us. :)

[pacalo]

99. My brother & I were 15 months apart & wandered off several times as tots -- ended up

at a church several hundred yards away from home. I remember climbing in the "bathtub" behind the pulpit where baptisms were performed. It was daytime so we found our way back -- Mom was furious, yadayadayada. And, we lived in a much warmer climate than the OP's "perp".

Also used to babysit for 5 young, lively kids next door as a teenager. The baby had a habit of climbing out of his babybed. Mom filled in for me several times & swore those kids needed a policeman instead of a babysitter.

[haele]

58. At a year of age or so, I used to climb out of the crib and book to

the kitchen when I was hungry or thirsty at, oh, two in the morning or so. Mom and Dad wouldn't even know I was out of bed until they woke up to the mess in the kitchen and me sprawled out in front of the couch. And my crib was in their room.

Parents that work hard or perhaps had a little "too much fun" and might have forgotten to lock the door might miss hearing a toddler of two or three in another room in the house get out of his bed to try to go to the latest place he knew of where Mommy or Daddy last got easy to reach, fun juice packages. Even if it's down the road and across a highway.

It's difficult to claim parental negligence for the rare time a front or back door is left unlocked or a parent is just too exhausted to hear a child getting into cabinets and boxes at three in the morning. Negligence or "better parenting training" should be left for parents that are chronically unaware and immature - those who think nothing about regularly leaving a toddler alone for the entire day while they go off to the beach to party with their single, childless friends.

Even the best parents can't be awake and alert 24/7. And all the parenting instruction in the world can't stop a baby from getting into trouble unless your willing to "raise" generations of helpless, cocooned children that need an extra ten/twenty years before they can be trusted to be adults on their own.

Haele

[abelenkpe]

67. Yeah totally agree

We live in a small very open apartment. If our place was larger I can see how difficult it would be to keep track of kids. It's difficult finding the balance. :)

[SDuderstadt]

100. Do you claim to...

remember this?

[haele]

106. No,but my Parents do -it's a family joke..

I only remember bits and pieces about the apartment we lived in until I was about two and a half. Including climbing up on the kitchen counter to get some carrots early in the morning and looking out at the train going by.
And Mom coming in and telling me to stop climbing on the counter, to come get her if I wanted something.

Haele

[SDuderstadt]

113. Okay...

my understanding is that no one really remembers much before the age of three from a cognitive development standpoint.

[tavalon]

114. We live in a lockdown

thanks to our severely autistic son with wandering tendencies. When he was young, latches worked but now he's almost 16 so all of our locks are double sided with combinations to open.

[valerief]

103. Yeah, that made no sense. nt

[axollot]

104. That is strange! Things would have gone terribly for them if

something tragic happened. (Thankfully it didnt!!) Maybe the article just doesnt have more or maybe Mom's not fluent in English? So she could have meant he went into the fridge to get it - then gone. (that I can understand - 2yr olds are capable of getting a ready sippy/drink from the fridge and in fact LOVE it)

Cheers
Sandy

[jeff47]

124. Did you think the kid couldn't operate a fridge?

The kid could have been getting juice from the kitchen, and then decided to go for a walk. Logic isn't terribly strong in 2-year-olds.

[smirkymonkey]

129. Oh, yeah and I forgot to mention the pack of smokes...

[juajen]

3. Let me see, a 22month old went to get his own juice?

Something is not quite right about this story. I have a 24month old grandson that I watch a lot. He never gets his own juice. Me thinks someone is lying.

[elocs]

5. A sippy cup in the fridge? Mine could do that when she was 18 months old. n/t

[No Elephants]

17. Was she also alone and out of vision range n a kitchen at 18 months, with the back door unlocked?

[elocs]

25. The point was whether a child that age could get juice from the fridge.

That was the point I was answering. I thought that would be understood, evidently not.

[sybylla]

29. My bil had this happen to him.

His children were generally well-behaved, but he had one that was a wanderer. As a toddler he had already mastered all the door locks and deadbolts, but had never gotten very far. One unfortunate day bil came home from working his night shift to watch the preschooler while his wife went to work. Bil was sick and feel asleep on the couch. Woke up ten minutes later and the child was gone. Called the police. Fortunately they found him within an hour.

Some parents are not that good at their job. Some kids are particularly challenging. Sometimes poverty puts the best of families in a place where something like this can happen.

It's easy to leap to judgment on the few details you ever get from a news story.

[EFerrari]

36. And at that age, kids learn so quickly, what they can do changes

every day.

My brother managed to find the one unlocked door I went out of in the morning and got out not once but twice. My mom and grandmother were both in the house. He was just really fast and learning fast. I don't remember how they fixed it. One of my kids walked at 7 months. I don't know how I escaped a similar incident.

[TheDebbieDee]

44. My oldest daughter was tall for her age and had figured out

how to unlock the front door and let herself out of the apartment for a little trek. You know how I found out she could do this?

One afternoon I was awakened from my nap (my daughters and I had a nap just about every afternoon) by a woman who brought my daughter home and said she found my daughter wandering around the apartment complex.

[pnwmom]

51. The conditions in the house were "deplorable" according to another article.

That puts this in a somewhat different perspective.

http://www.thestate.com/2011/04/02/1762268/toddler-missing-overnight-found.html

[spinbaby]

59. It depends on what's deplorable

They never say. I know from our local news coverage, "deplorable" can mean anything from totally disgusting to dishes in the sink.

[LisaL]

66. Deplorable:

causing or being a subject for censure, reproach, or disapproval; wretched; very bad: This room is in deplorable order. you have deplorable manners!
www.dictionary.com

[pnwmom]

75. In combination with the fact that they let a 22 month old

leave the room unaccompanied, supposedly to get his own drink from the refrigerator -- and only called the police an hour later -- I think it was probably deplorable, in the usual sense.

[Peregrine Took]

95. Oh, come on! Everyone knows what it means and I can't imagine it could

ever mean "dishes in a sink."

[Myrina]

91. You'd be suprised how often that happens in Indy ...

... at least 3 times a year, a kid headlines the news, wandering the neighborhood, in diapers (or less), and mom's knocked out cold on the couch or grandma doesn't realize the kid's gone, or dad's stoned and playing nintendo ...

A few years back one kid even made it over a barrier and onto the highway next to his apartment complex!!
0
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tFOUckG16vIJ:www.topix.com/forum/indy/TH3J0414LVGTRBKSQ+'toddler+wandering+I+65+indianapolis'&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

[1monster]

28. Okay, it sounds suspicious, but, playing devil's advocate here, it is

possible that Mom kept a sippy cup of OJ or apple juice on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for him. Twenty-two month old babies are capable of opening the frig and taking out a sippy cup.

And it is also possible that (no longer playing devil's advocate) mom and her boyfriend got seriously distracted and didn't realize the kid was missing until some time later.

[wpelb]

117. "Seriously distracted"?

That might explain the lack of more details in the report.

[Dappleganger]

48. It's quite possible.

[MineralMan]

4. Cool, but not surprising to me.

Dogs are pack animals, and the kid is a baby who is part of the pack. Keeping the young safe is part of the dog's makeup. My question is: Where's the photo of this dog in that story? They don't even mention the breed, or the dog's name, or anything. If the dog is the hero, where's the photo and additional info?

[Lasher]

7. Yeah, must have dog picture!

I watched the video clip and the dog was not in it.

[jerseyjack]

14. Dog is a Lab.

Reported in tv segment.

[MineralMan]

15. Ah, that makes sense. Labs are pretty loyal to their family/pack.

Good doggie!

[elleng]

38. Labrador RETRIEVER. Its their job!

[kestrel91316]

45. Pretty safe bet it wasn't a Cocker Spaniel.

:rofl:

[Faygo Kid]

8. Cool story, but pretty sad when a dog is the best parent.

Pathetic job. Hopefully, the kid will do better.

[bluedigger]

9. Child Support Services should award the dog custody.

Seriously.

[Faygo Kid]

27. +1

[kickysnana]

10. Fearless kids 18-28 months pull Houdini's.

I had one nephew that I had to join the search party for several times during that period.

When found their question is always "Where were you?."

[TNLib]

11. How did this kid get outside by himself

Some parents just suck!

[Moonwalk]

12. Actually, I'm wondering about the bloodhounds....

Do you mean to tell me the kid was across the street and the bloodhounds couldn't find him? Maybe it's time for the police to get new bloodhounds. And didn't anyone notice that the dog was missing as well as the kid? Bet the bloodhounds could have found the other dog.

[LiberalFighter]

19. My thoughts too when I read it.

[Redford]

20. I know, right?

Poor kid

[FLPanhandle]

13. Thankfully they had a family dog to do the parenting around the house

So much for the bloodhound tracking team and infrared capable helicopter though.

[KurtNYC]

127. Wait until they get the bill for that search !

5 hours of helicopter fuel, crew, maintenance on the copter.
Bloodhounds, handlers, SAR pros. $$$$

[WVRICK13]

16. Something Stinks

I don't believe that story for a single minute. Mother 25 and boyfriend were ignoring child while child took off unsupervised.

[pnwmom]

52. Yeah, the house, probably.

http://www.thestate.com/2011/04/02/1762268/toddler-missing-overnight-found.html

The boy’s biological father was flying home from his military assignment in Hawaii on Saturday night. Matthews said the state Department of Social Services had been notified that the living conditions in the boy’s home were “deplorable.”

[postulater]

18. When my daughter was two, we went to a baseball game.

Part way through she just got up out of her seat, walked up the aisle to the walkway and started walking.

I followed her about ten feet behind as she walked from left field line to the seats behind home plate and then all the way out past first base before she even turned around to look. I figured it was quite the adventure for a two year old.

I picked her up and carried her back to her seat and bought her a lemon ice.

She loves baseball at 17 and we're happy for that.

[Peace Patriot]

21. I can't believe the commenters beating up on the child's mother here, with ZIP info to blame her.

The wording of the story--"went to get some juice"--is not her fault. He could have gone to the kitchen to get juice, something he routinely did--or something he had just learned to do--and followed the dog out of the back door!

A 22 month old is perfectly capable of deciding he wants juice and going and getting it (depending on where it's kept). His mother may have been encouraging him to do this--teaching him decision-making, self-confidence and independence. One lookaway from a 2- year old, however, and he can be gone. It may just be unfortunate that he got distracted or maybe he had just learned how to open the door to the outside, and she didn't even know he could do that.

Lord Almighty, you CAN'T blame a mother for everything that happens! EVEN hunter-gatherer mothers--who keep small children closer than any other mothers--can lose children to happenstance. And modern environments are as dangerous to small children as any bush, jungle or forest environment--and modern life is clearly even more dangerous, because, culturally we don't keep small children wrapped to our bodies or within arm's length. It's VERY DIFFICULT to keep a child in your eye every moment that he is awake, and in THREE inattentive SECONDS, he can be gone.

Count 'em. One, two, three--and that child is out the door. Opened it himself. Somebody left it open momentarily by mistake. Gone!

Can YOU stay that attentive to something ALL DAY and do anything else? Try doing it ALL DAY (for those criticizing her who have never been responsible for the safety of a small child). Think of nothing else, every second of the day, but, "where is my child?" It is impossible. You keep his whereabouts in the background of your consciousness but you really don't know, in the forefront of your consciousness, where he is, every second. And, in those seconds, in which you haven't caught up with his movements, he can be gone.

Give this woman a break! Why blame HER on the basis of this information? Her critics here have NO IDEA how good a mother she may be. The best mother in the world can lose her child in an instant. It is NOT necessarily her fault.

One other thing: a 22 month old is almost 2 years old, universally the age of infant rebellion/independence. He may have been pissed off that she told him to go get his own juice. Who knows what goes on in a 2 year old's mind? Theirs is the universe of "NO!" They do the opposite of what they are told, on purpose--to test the boundaries. They break the rules. And it can happen overnight. One day, they're a soft, cuddly, clingy, compliant infant. The next day they are a 2 year old "teenager" in total rebellion. (They don't call it "the terrible two's" for nothing.) When I had a small child, I was ever amazed at my small child's developmental spurts that put him AHEAD OF ME--of how I viewed him. He was capable of many things sometimes months before I realized it. This mother may have just said, (yes, go to the kitchen and get a juice but) "...DON'T GO OUTSIDE." To a two year old, that is virtually a command to go outside! And if she didn't realize that her toddler was already a "terrible two," it may not have occurred to her that he would dare do that. Also, culturally--the way we sometimes lack information from our mothers, grandmothers, etc.--she may not even have known about "the terrible two's" (if this is her first child).

Anyway, there are SO MANY WAYS that child safety can go awry without it being anybody's fault, it is simply cruel to jump to the conclusion that this mother was at fault.

[1monster]

32. True. I kept my son on a leash until he was about three and a half.

He loved the freedom of the leash, and I loved the security of knowing he couldn't dash out into the street or into an ocean wave that could swish him away. He always stayed close to us after we stopped the leash.

Even so... When he was five years old, we went to Universal Studios while visiting with out of state relative. The day we were there, it rained and everyone was wearing Universal's yellow rain slickers. He stopped to look at something and when he turned around to find a sea of yellow slickers and paniced. We were only about three feet away from him and turned to find him really scared.

On the same visit, we saw him up the ladder to a kid's tree house and walked around to the exit of the tree house, only to find that he had just run across, went down the slide, and went looking for us, losing himself. But my little boy looked around till he found a woman holding a baby and asked her for help. My smart little boy remembered everything I had taught him about asking for help if he got lost.

Kids can and do get lost quickly and with little effort on their parts.

(Now, if there were a pattern of such incidents, an indepth investigation would be warrented.)

[shanti]

37. i heard that!

it happened a couple of times to my sons when i was raising them as a single parent. kids are fast! luckily, there were no bad outcomes.

[orion007]

60. Kids on leashes

We had relatives tell us that they put their 3 young boys on leashes when they visited the World's Fair back in the 60s.
I remember many in the family thinking that was a terrible thing to do, putting your child on a lease like an animal.
Looking back on this I think they were brilliant for protecting the kids and having a safe fun time and no worries about anyone getting lost or taken.
I was very young at the time and also thought it was an awful thing to do.
Not anymore.

[1monster]

77. I was walking on the beach once with my two year old son on a leash.

He was having a blast. Then two young women with a child of about three with them running free made some really ugly comments about me treating my son like a dog.

But I knew that my son was safe as well as happy. He wasn't going to run loose and get snatched (as happened to my stepson whose mother had to tackle the guy who tried to walk away with him) or run into the ocean and get swept away.

And he knew he was safe too.

Having been one of nine children, seven younger than me, I was able to embrace the use of the leash having had to deal with the last five of my sisters wanting to run free, but having to have their hands firmly held.

[reggie the dog]

82. i have a 3 year old and think leashes are horrible

hell i often dont even hold my daughters hand if there are no cars, i just make sure that i watch her, i let her walk and wander around places under my direct supervision, sometimes if it is really crowded i hold her hand and i always hold her hand when walking on sidewalks that butt up against the street. this also means that is we are out and about and i want to stop to buy something or watch something that i then hold my daughter's hand or hold her in my arms.

[GKirk]

85. You hold her hand and...

...actually hold her in your arms? Yuck! :P
Much easier to leash train. And you could teach her tricks too.

[1monster]

92. Welcome to ignore. You are obviously here to flame bait and I'm not falling for it

anymore.

I' seriously sorry I fell for it in the first place.

[kimi]

108. I have 5 boys

4 of them are within 7 years of each other, and 1 was the family escape artist. That boy could get away in the blink of an eye, seriously. We made the decision of using a leash with him after he got away at the mall once and was lost for 3 hours. Only ever used it at the mall or at theme parks, zoos, places like that, though - but it really made things much less stressful. When he got older and I'd take him to the grocery, I'd have him hold onto the grocery cart as we went along, just to make sure he wouldn't get away. Today he's 22, and still reflexively grabs the side of the grocery cart when we go into Safeway.

Parents are capable of making their own decisions for their children, and should not be scolded for being responsible and trying to avert tragedy, for goodness sake.

[GKirk]

111. That's pretty nice that your

22 year old son still goes grocery shopping with you.

[reggie the dog]

119. it is nice

helping mom carry groceries is a nice thing to do. with the economy in the shitter many people have trouble finding work and live with their parents until they are in their mid twenties.

[GKirk]

133. I was just about to say something...

...snarky to you and then realized you aren't the one that I first responded to.

[GKirk]

71. A leash?

Are you serious? The 'freedom of the leash'? Really!?

[1monster]

76. Yes. I am serious. What is the alternative? A stroller... kid can't walk or get out, has no

freedom of movement at all. Holding the kid's hand? ... The hand gets hot and the kids want to let go. Tell me you have never seen a toddler struggle to get his/her hand free so he/she can roam? Eventually, the kid gets his/her hand free and dashes away as quickly as his/her little feet can take him/her -- sometimes into great danger. Carry the kid? Give me a break and get a dose of reality.

I made my own leashes because they simply were not available for sale back then. A simple webbed belt around the waist and a leash hooked on to it. Nowadays, one can buy halter leashes for their kids.

As for the freedom part, the kid gets to run along ahead of his/her parent at his/her own speed, stop and explore things, run and jump or skip, HANDS FREE and FEET FREE. He/She is happy not trying to break free from that hot hand hold or not whining because he/she is confined in a stroller, unable to move about freely.

Parent is happy because the child is happy and safe from horrible disasters that can happen when a child is free to run off in any direction, including into busy traffic from a sidewalk, or being snatched by a stranger.

Obviously you have never had to deal with a normal toddler, let alone a hyperactive toddler. I highly recommend leashes for toddlers. I tend to think that parents who don't use leashes on toddlers to be either ignorant or irresponsible.

[GKirk]

78. No... no expierence here...

...I only had 4 kids under the age of 5 at one time.
And did it without making them look like dogs too.

[1monster]

80. gone

[GKirk]

accidental double post

[GKirk]

84. You didn't have your little sisters on leashes...

...right? But you still managed to keep them out of harm's way. Good job!

[Gormy Cuss]

94. So just because you were capable of wrangling all those little ones, everyone else should be?

Really, think about it. Do all parents have to raise children in exactly the same manner as you in order for it to be appropriate?

For the record, I think child harnesses for everyday use look stupid and also can be a cop-out, but if the parent feels more confident with that restraint rather than constantly holding hands, carrying, or sitting in a stroller, is that such a bad thing? At least a harnessed child can explore within the limits of that tether and have more freedom of movement than if s/he had to yank the parent in the direction of the curious object or try to grab at it from the stroller.

[GKirk]

98. I agree with this...

"For the record, I think child harnesses for everyday use look stupid and also can be a cop-out,"

[Gormy Cuss]

102. Key words: "CAN"

as in sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

[Mariana]

125. It's most important that they don't look like dogs, you see.

It doesn't so much matter what works best for a particular kid, it's how it looks that counts. :sarcasm:

Mine never needed a leash, she stayed close to me and her dad on her own. Of course, I only had the one. My mom used leashes, though, when she had to walk with three small kids along a busy street to the store to get groceries when my dad was working out of state with the one family car. She couldn't afford a fucking babysitter. Somehow, I'm just not offended that she "made me look like a dog."

[GKirk]

132. I'm just happy that

it didn't affect your personality. Some people who are treated like animals grow up to respond like animals. They tend to snap at strangers.

[reggie the dog]

83. i never use a leash with my daughter

"As for the freedom part, the kid gets to run along ahead of his/her parent at his/her own speed, stop and explore things, run and jump or skip, HANDS FREE and FEET FREE. He/She is happy not trying to break free from that hot hand hold or not whining because he/she is confined in a stroller, unable to move about freely. " most of the time il et her do all that you say, run along or ahead, stop and explore, run, jump skip. if we are on a sidewalk that is up against the street i hold her hand or her shoulder. my daughter is 3 and i have never had a problem. i watch her when i do this and am very attentive. i can honestly say i do not remember ever seeing kids on a leash here in france. at the park most parents sit a good 20 feet or so away from their kids playing on various things like slides and what not, we just watch our kids. when we are out in the woods, grape fields or olive and almond orchards my daughter is always free to run and skip and i have never had a problem with the wolves that live here either.

[snooper2]

128. So do you have one of those leashes that recoil?

so you can let them out like 3 feet or 10?

Depending on where we are we have several options-

Cart-
She holds Daddy's hand-
Or be free with Daddy or Mommy keeping an eye on her-

If I tried to put a leash on my daughter she would probably start out-of-control laughing :rofl:

17 months old..been walking around half her life already

[LisaL]

63. Well there is some info suggesting not all is peachy-rosey.

"The boy's biological father was flying home from his military assignment in Hawaii on Saturday night. Matthews said the state Department of Social Services had been notified that the living conditions in the boy's home were "deplorable.""

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/02/3523860/toddler-missing-overnight-found.html#ixzz1IU3Y3w5B

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/02/3523860/toddler-missing-overnight-found.html

[AngryOldDem]

79. Exactly.

When my youngest was a little more than a year old, we lived in a house that had a screened-in porch. One day he was out there playing while I did housework. All the doors and windows were locked. When I went to get him, he was gone. Just gone. Near hysterics because I could not figure out how he was able to get out of a house that was shut up tighter than San Quentin, I went outside and a neighbor who just happened to be out for a walk was bringing my son back home. Later on that afternoon, I finally figured out how he got out: One of the screens was loose. He noticed it, pushed it out, and stepped outside. The gap created between the screen and the frame was just big enough for his little body to accomodate. The only thing I will take blame for was not having the backyard fenced (a situation that got corrected ASAP). But still -- I had taken every precaution with him and yet he still found a way to get out. Kids at that age can notice things and devise actions that adults cannot fathom.

I'm not passing judgment on the mother at all.

[pasto76]

22. an objibwa man told me "treat your dog as part of your family so he will treat you as part of his"

[guitar man]

41. Sage advice

If you have a good dog you want your child and the dog to be joined at the hip. Some kids are escape artists and can disappear real quick. I know if my daughter bails, Olive is going with her ;)

[shireen]

105. that's really sweet!

They look like best buddies. :)

[guitar man]

123. They really are

She loves her goggy more than anything :)

[No Elephants]

23. The kid was one block away and not found after 4.5 hours? The search for a 22 month old was called

off for the night after 4.5 hours?

[iemitsu]

26. i'm surprised that the bloodhounds couldn't find the child.

it was not that far from the house. i hope these are not dogs whose testimony is being used to prosecute anyone.

[pasto76]

64. the bloodhound was 99% probably a tracking dog, cause most of the are. An...

air scent dog would have been much more effective and efficient. Most SAR teams use air scent dogs. I know a very good pit bull in douglas county who would have found the boy in minutes! Last month she found a boy hiding in a porta john suffering from hypothermia.

A good scent article would have been available. Air scent dogs would have been worked in expanding perimeters from the Last Known Point. The boys scent cone was coming off him in some direction, the dog would have found it Im quite certain - speaking from experience.
Law Enforcement dogs are usually tracking dogs, that means they are trained to follow your footprint smell, and are usually trained to track the "hottest" scent, since they are usually chasing someone.

There is also a chance the DOG was telling the HUMAN handler something that the human didnt pick up. IT happens. I spent 8 years on Mountain rescue/SAR, and supported the dog teams frequently. Now that I think of it, the dogs smell could have been throwing off the bloodhound.

[kimi]

109. I had been wondering about the bloodhounds too

Thanks for this explanation. Makes perfect sense.

I have a good friend who works her GSDs in SAR in CA. Admirable and incredible jobs you all do.

[Kingofalldems]

30. Has a cat ever done something like this?

[1monster]

33. Most likely something like that. A new neighbor moved in and had a

Doberman. One early evening, my husband and son were outside at the end of the driveway talking to other neighbors when the new neighbors came walking down the road with their dobbie.

The dobbie was only about six months old and a friendly pup. He cam running up to the group.

Immediately, one of my cats, who was sitting behind the group, jumped out in front of my husband and son ready to defend them to the death from this unknown huge dobbie.

Eventually, my cat and their dobbie became friends.

But the point is, cats can be just as defending to their families as dogs can.

[hlthe2b]

31. Dogs are the best.... But, WISTV, where's the pic?

Darn.... Sure glad the kid is ok, but how about a pic of the HERO?

[tabasco]

34. Dogs love us.

Please support your local animal shelter.

[CountAllVotes]

35. so the nameless/faceless dog is a far better mother

than this idiot of a woman.

Good for the nameless/faceless dog and :thumbsdown: for the mother (or whatever you care to call her ...).

:dem:

[nolabear]

39. How about "human"? Suppose it had happened to you.

Since there is no evidence to the contrary, suppose your two year old went into the next room to get some juice (that kind of detail is so simple it's rarely made up, btw. Lies tend to be more interesting). Let's say you're reading, or cleaning something, some normal absorbing activity. There's someone else there so you don't feel like the only adult in the place. After a few minutes you casually ask, "Did Boo get his juice?" And your life becomes hell for a day. You call the police. They can't find Boo. You search and cry and imagine everything from kidnapping to drowning. Maybe you DO wonder what happened to the dog but the press leaves that detail out in the final analysis. Then the baby is found, and you're so relieved--your child is safe, your dog is incredible, the media wants the story...and then people start to assume you're a neglectful, thoughtless, horrible excuse for a parent. You feel horribly guilty, as though you should have done something differently. Maybe you put locks on the doors, a good move, maybe you become so nervous you won't let Boo out of your sight and he grows up frightened and dependent and people look down on you for being too protective.

Parenting is unnbelievably hard, even for the most diligent and well meaning. People make mistakes. Damning them instead of finding ways to support and help them is easy, easy, easy. The dog has the right idea. Protect that baby and don't guilt trip Mom. It doesn't help.

[CountAllVotes]

43. I don't have a 2 year old

and if I did, it wouldn't be sleeping with a dog in an unknown location, that you CAN believe in.

[mzteris]

57. oh oh - another non-parent

As my grandpa used to say, "you better say 'joe', 'cause you sure don't know!"

Even the very best and most vigilant of parents have children who "get lost".

It's a much much harder job than you can ever imagine.


edit to translate the southernism that people won't get

[LisaL]

61. Considering the house is described as having

"deplorable living conditions" I am going to take a wild guess that whatever his mother was doing when he went missing, cleaning wasn't it.

[nolabear]

88. Yes, this info was added after my reply as far as I know. But I still maintain

that it's much easier to judge than help or have empathy.

[RedCloud]

46. Boy should be renamed "Romulus"

[Dappleganger]

47. When our kids were toddlers we had to put latches high up on the door

so they wouldn't open them up and go on walkabout. We lived on the edge of the George Washington Nat'l Forest and couldn't take any chances. The girls didn't do this but but the boys had almost no fear whatsoever.

Also, when our four were playing out in the yard (with me outside as well) our golden retriever used to sit guard at the edge and would bark whenever anyone got close to the road. I swear that dog had real mothering skills.

[onehandle]

49. And there are some at DU that defend the practice of eating dogs in Asia. nt

[booley]

56. There are some on DU that practice eating Pork

Even though Pigs are even brighter then Dogs

I suppose there's no cultural activity that can't be criticized.

But maybe we should be reasonable in that criticism.

A lot of people seem eager to condemn the mother w/o any evidence she is at fault.

[tavalon]

116. I would guess that would have something to do with hidden fear

I've faced two incidents where my kiddo got out, despite our herculean efforts. I know the terror and I know how easy it is to lose a child (thankfully, temporary). I hope to never have to feel that special kind of fear again, but with my kiddo, it's always a possibility.

[flvegan]

50. "Deplorable living conditions"

On Saturday the search resumed. A man walking down the street reported that he thought he heard crying in the woods nearby. Searchers found little Tyler about a quarter of a mile from his home, cold and scared, but none-the-worse for wear. Along with Tyler searchers also found his “best buddy” trotting along with him. His dog, a mixed labrador retriever apparently had gone missing with him, though searchers were never informed of this by Jacobson.

“To tell you the truth, that dog is what kept him alive,” Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews told The State on Saturday.

According to The State newspaper After the rescue, Matthews said the state Department of Social Services had been notified that the living conditions in the boy’s home were “deplorable.” Tyler’s biological father is flying home from his military assignment in Hawaii to check on the situation.

http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2011/04/03/toddler-in-south-carolina-kept-warm-and-safe-by-dog/

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/02/3523860/toddler-missing-overnight-found.html

http://www.thestate.com/2011/04/02/1762268/toddler-missing-overnight-found.html

Glad that the child and dog are safe. Good doggie!

[FLPanhandle]

73. Hope the father will take the dog with the girl too.

The dog doesn't deserve to stay with those two.

[LisaL]

81. The bio-dad is in the army.

So I am guessing it's not going to happen simply for the lack of time while he is in the army.

[Charleston Chew]

53. this will change your life

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x546854

[Crunchy Frog]

54. Sometimes the family dog is a more responsible parent

than the parents are.

[Peregrine Took]

96. I feel sorry for him being stuck with this bunch. n/t

[customerserviceguy]

118. Dogs are my favorite kind of people!

Just met my sister's new dog today, he's a real love. Took right to me, even though he's had a few months to get used to my sister and her family, and regard them as 'his' people.

[rasputin1952]

55. Can't ask for a better outcome than that...

dogs are amazing creatures...I'd buy that dog the biggest bone, (with lot's of meat still attached)...gotta love that Lab...:hug:

[madrchsod]

62. i "lost" my two year old granddaughter...

she went out the back door. after a three hour search with her mom and the police we found her hiding under the bushes in the next door neighbor`s yard. the police said they usually check around the near by yards because kids get afraid of the dark and punishment if they are found.

this is a perfect example why dogs are mankind`s best friend

[EFerrari]

65. People don't seem to understand how quickly it can happen.

And of course, DU never has any qualms about blaming someone instead of some other response. lol

[Sedona]

69. My just under 2 yr old girl climbed out a window during a nap!

Yup, climbed out of her crib, found an open window 6 feet off the ground outside, on a beautiful spring day, screen slightly torn on the bottom.

The bedroom door was closed, father and I just on the other side enjoying a little peace and quiet on a Sunday afternoon when we heard a knock at the front door. One guess who it was..... we think she followed the cat out, but we'll never know.

She's 15 now and her family still teases her about it :-)

[susanr516]

86. My grandson also climbed out a bedroom window

He's autistic and a lot of kids on the autism spectrum go through a runaway phase between the ages of about 3 to 6 years; the psychologist's term for it was elopement. You couldn't turn your back on him for one second. We had multiple locks and an alarm on all the outside doors. And he still found ways to escape. We had to call the police four different times; fortunately, we had doctor's and psychologist's reports documenting the problem. The day he crawled out the window, he was unsupervised for about 3 minutes when I was fixing koolaid for lunch. I'm so glad he finally outgrew that stage. I can't describe how exhausting it is to be on alert literally every second. I don't know all the facts, so I'm going to withhold judgment on the boy's mother.

[PatrynXX]

70. Baby Got Dog

Groovy... Need a nice story. Plugging the Decorah bald eagles on ustream too. But this is a good news. :) Never live without a pet. :)

[JCMach1]

72. Last summer our good old cat, Gray, attacked a pygmy rattlesnake my daughter

was about to step on...

She passed away this last winter.

[Politicalboi]

74. Something doesn't sound right

45 minutes to realize your 22 month old is missing? I don't have any kids, but I would notice after 3 minutes or less, and go and look for the kid. 45 minutes would be an eternity for a 22 month old to be gone just to get his juice.

[Frank Cannon]

90. And no mention whatsoever of the missing dog

Yeah, something about this story doesn't seem to pass the smell test.

[jeff47]

126. "I don't have any kids"

And that would be why you don't get it.

Most likely scenario: Kid goes to get juice from the fridge, then starts playing in the kitchen. Mother/boyfriend are in another room, but hear the playing. Then the kid sneaks out the back door. It can take a while to notice that it's "too quiet".

[ZombieHorde]

87. Dogs are awesome. nt

[nolabear]

89. One of my sons once caused them to lock down a Sears.

There one minute, gone the next. I grabbed the first eployee I could find and they immediately locked all doors and asked anyone who saw him to call an employee. We eventually found him, delightedly "hiding" underneath a nearby clothes rack, completely unaware of the terror he was causing.

At two, running and hiding are an important part of development, but man...

[thelordofhell]

93. Questionable parenting and dog owning skills

Lose your baby, then not notice that the dog is missing too? Here's my guess, the mother and boyfriend let the baby and dog play in the backyard so they could have some sex time together.

As for the bloodhounds not picking up the scent, maybe the dog was throwing them off.?

[Peregrine Took]

97. Finally, a person with sense!

With some of these off the wall comments I'm really beginning to wonder about some people here.

[thelordofhell]

101. You don't need a Palantir to see something's wrong with this situation

I can understand people wanting to defend the mother and her boyfriend, every parent usually has a "where the hell did my kid go?" moment. But this story just doesn't jibe. I wouldn't be surprised if the child is taken away to live with a grandparent or other relative while the father is still in the service. I really feel sorry for the dog, because he probably won't be able to get away from the squalid home he's in unless he runs away.

[lildreamer316]

107. Jesus Christos this would have given me an instant heart attack.

Just reading the story made me cringe to think of that happening to my little one..
What a great thing he was ok; bless that dog.

[GrannyK]

110. I was a single mother over 40 years ago and I worked the late shift

at a drive in grocery store and we closed at midnight. I picked him up from the sitter about 12:45 so I wasn't exactly an early riser. He was about 26 months old and I had put a latch high up on the screen door because he was able to unlock and open the wooden door.

No problem. He figured out he needed something that was taller than he was so he just got the broom and unlatched it. So then I used a rubber band to make it more difficult. We moved to another place not long after that.

[DeadEyeDyck]

112. there is so much more going on in the animal kingdom

than we even have a clue.

[AsahinaKimi]

120. Someone had to...

post this..

[BlueMTexpat]

121. Like many others, I find a LOT strange with this story.

As for a small child being able to wander away (those almost two-year-olds I know - or have raised - are/have been able to get their own juice), it can happen even faster than one thinks, so I don't find that strange on the face of it. My two-year-old grandson, who has been fascinated by anything mechanical from the get-go, has been able to figure out all sorts of latches. No door or gate can keep him in unless it's one that's locked with the key stowed out of his reach. My DIL is the most attentive mother I have ever seen and he has still managed to evade her at times, although nothing like this. He's not hyperactive; he just doesn't like being confined. More than that though, he's fascinated with how things work.
But even if there was nothing "distracting" the "adults" for longer than a few minutes - and that's really all it takes - I just don't see why any of the adults in this situation wouldn't have done a better job of searching the immediate neighborhood. Wouldn't a house-to-house search have alerted the neighbor that the noise outside didn't have anything to do with a criminal at large but with a missing child so that she might more readily have investigated herself?
And I don't understand how a bloodhound tracking team couldn't find him, even if the scent of the dog with him somehow obscured the boy's.
Lots of "hmms" here, methinks. But the dog certainly seems to outshine all of the humans.

[aquart]

122. Of course the dog watched over the child.

I don't know why anyone is surprised.

[Wldcard3]

130. The Dog is a better parent

It sound to me that the Dog is a better parent the his biological ones

[bitchkitty]

131. I bet the dog was pranking them.

He took the kid and hid out behind the neighbor's house, for a laugh.