Five-Year-Old Girl Was Bitten By Dog Inside Bunnings Store

[ell&diesel]

I'm genuinely fascinated and impressed at what school is fostering adult-level literacy skills in five-year-old children. Genuinely. Because from memory, in NSW at least, Foundation Level (read: Kindergarten, i.e. 4 and 5 year old children) literacy skills are focused on things such as phonics awareness and fine motor skills. Would you be willing to share the name of a school that has five year old children reading (and more importantly, comprehending what is read) at the level of an adult?

[Stressmagnet]

Both my children were reading at a year 1 level when they were 4. They were reading Harry Potter at 9, fluently. But that was me not any school, desperate to teach them to read so I'd get some peace. They could probably read a lot better than their comprehension though. It's one thing to 'know' the words, another to fully understand their meaning and context. It's why The Simpsons and South Park are so subversive - adults laugh at things that the kids think they understand, but don't.

And I have no idea what this has got to do with Bunnings. :D

[Willem]

I'm genuinely fascinated and impressed at what school is fostering adult-level literacy skills in five-year-old children. Genuinely. Because from memory, in NSW at least, Foundation Level (read: Kindergarten, i.e. 4 and 5 year old children) literacy skills are focused on things such as phonics awareness and fine motor skills. Would you be willing to share the name of a school that has five year old children reading (and more importantly, comprehending what is read) at the level of an adult?

...Just wondering what the relevance of your neighbojr's choice of future dog breed my choice of school / pre-school / Kindergarten is to...well, anything really

[ellejaytee]

I love my dog, love spending time with him BUT I think that allowing dogs into Bunnings is a bad idea. On one hand, for tradies that take their dogs to work and have to run in and grab something, it's cool because they don't need to leave their dogs in the car/ute, and their dogs are usually used to meeting lots of people. But I fear that people will take their dogs to Bunnings just because they can - regardless of whether it's a situation that will bring stress to their dog. I can recognise that taking my dog there would be very exciting to him, it's a new place with lots of people and potentially lots of dogs, and his excitement is very intimidating to people. Also, he has had very little socialisation with kids, so I wouldn't put him in that situation. I think allowing dogs in stores (beyond pet stores) is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Steph M]

I'm genuinely fascinated and impressed at what school is fostering adult-level literacy skills in five-year-old children. Genuinely. Because from memory, in NSW at least, Foundation Level (read: Kindergarten, i.e. 4 and 5 year old children) literacy skills are focused on things such as phonics awareness and fine motor skills. Would you be willing to share the name of a school that has five year old children reading (and more importantly, comprehending what is read) at the level of an adult?

...Just wondering what the relevance of your neighbojr's choice of future dog breed my choice of school / pre-school / Kindergarten is to...well, anything really

Uh, because this...

...lets assume the 5 year old girl who was bitten read all these comments - do you really believe that a five year old girl thinks that these kind of 'jokes'(?) are funny?...or her friends in Kinder?

Again, you start something and get annoyed by its presence.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Steph M

[Stressmagnet]

I love my dog, love spending time with him BUT I think that allowing dogs into Bunnings is a bad idea. On one hand, for tradies that take their dogs to work and have to run in and grab something, it's cool because they don't need to leave their dogs in the car/ute, and their dogs are usually used to meeting lots of people. But I fear that people will take their dogs to Bunnings just because they can - regardless of whether it's a situation that will bring stress to their dog. I can recognise that taking my dog there would be very exciting to him, it's a new place with lots of people and potentially lots of dogs, and his excitement is very intimidating to people. Also, he has had very little socialisation with kids, so I wouldn't put him in that situation. I think allowing dogs in stores (beyond pet stores) is a disaster waiting to happen.

^THIS.

Ernie loves everyone.

He's a bundle of goofy giddy silliness with movie star good looks which make folks stop and ask all about him and want a pat.

He's also 28 kilos of muscle with gleaming white teeth. He's reasonably well behaved around distractions for a young Labrador.

I don't want to 'test' his arousal levels around kids with shopping trolleys or other less well trained dogs. His teeth could do some damage and he'd definitely knock a toddler over in his enthusiasm.

I don't want to be the one explaining and apologising. I've noticed our local Bunnings has gotten busier and busier and whilst I'd love to be able to take him in on the way home from his walk for a quick in and out - reading the comments here made me realise that he's not ready and I'm not ready.

[Kavik]

My son was seeking out and choosing to read books on his own at the end of Kindergarten. As Stressmagnet said, I'm sure his reading was better than his comprehension. He was certainly starting to read over my shoulder when I type on the computer!

[Rebanne]

I'm genuinely fascinated and impressed at what school is fostering adult-level literacy skills in five-year-old children. Genuinely. Because from memory, in NSW at least, Foundation Level (read: Kindergarten, i.e. 4 and 5 year old children) literacy skills are focused on things such as phonics awareness and fine motor skills. Would you be willing to share the name of a school that has five year old children reading (and more importantly, comprehending what is read) at the level of an adult?

...Just wondering what the relevance of your neighbojr's choice of future dog breed my choice of school / pre-school / Kindergarten is to...well, anything really

you were the one that said we all had to be careful what we wrote in case a child reads it, in fact you said what if the girl who was bitten ( a 5 yo ) was reading this.

[BarbedWire]

My 4 year old granddaughter has taught herself to read and she hasn't even started preschool yet. Games to help preschoolers learn to read are everywhere especially digital ones on her mother's iPad, and her older siblings read. She tries to keep up with them.

[raineth]

gosh, many strange twists and turns in this thread!

Honestly, I think the bite wasn't so bad by the look of it and everything is a bit of an over-reaction. I hope she's not traumatised, and she probably isn't. It certainly wouldn't hurt her if she (and her parents) are now more cautious around strange dogs. By the same token, I do hope the dog owners have learnt something too.

Its just one of those things... like a perfect storm. If any one aspect of the incident had been different it probably wouldn't have occurred.

Unfortunately sometimes things do inevitably happen too no matter how careful the dog owner and the parent is. That is just life.

But I think in most circumstances it takes both parties to stuff-up for a bite to occur.

I am currently researching dog bites, and I am staggered by the amount of dog owners who report that their dog has bitten someone more than five times, and yet they still fail to even take the most basic precautions to prevent it occurring again.

[melzawelza]

gosh, many strange twists and turns in this thread!

Honestly, I think the bite wasn't so bad by the look of it and everything is a bit of an over-reaction. I hope she's not traumatised, and she probably isn't. It certainly wouldn't hurt her if she (and her parents) are now more cautious around strange dogs. By the same token, I do hope the dog owners have learnt something too.

Its just one of those things... like a perfect storm. If any one aspect of the incident had been different it probably wouldn't have occurred.

Unfortunately sometimes things do inevitably happen too no matter how careful the dog owner and the parent is. That is just life.

But I think in most circumstances it takes both parties to stuff-up for a bite to occur.

I am currently researching dog bites, and I am staggered by the amount of dog owners who report that their dog has bitten someone more than five times, and yet they still fail to even take the most basic precautions to prevent it occurring again.

Such a sensible post!

[Jed]

Once, Australians took dogs everywhere, except maybe into the butchers and the cafe. The dogs were used to this and there were no problems.

Now dogs are allowed in very few places.

Take a dog somewhere new with strange sights and smells, and lots of people - for the very first time - he becomes overwhelmed and he nips someone.

And the problem? Dogs aren't allowed to go anywhere much and now few dogs are social enough to cope.

I don't think the child did anything. I think it was simply a pet dog who didn't go to places like that who was overwhelmed. Not the owner's fault, not the child's fault - the fault of the situation.