My rescue pit mix is exceptional with babies. Is it likely she was around babies in her first home or does she have a natural understanding?

There is no "natural understanding" here. Likely the dog was socialized around children at a young age. Still, all dogs - no matter of breed, socialization, or temperament - need to be properly supervised around children and babies especially. That is just inviting something bad to happen. All dogs will reach a breaking point when kids do something that crosses a boundary in the dog's mind, and then a tragedy results. I shudder when I see the pictures/videos of kids sitting on a big dog, pulling their ears, etc and you can just see by the body language of the dog that they are unsure about the situation and often stressed. Do not let kids play tug of war with the dog as it can soon turn into a dominance thing, and for heaven's sake supervise even more closely when it's the neighbor's kids who may not be aware of dog body language. Dogs rarely suddenly 'snap' - it's a build of behavior towards the dog that's been allowed to go on until it crosses the line. A bite on the face by a large dog can result in cosmetic surgery bills in excess of a quarter million dollars - what does your insurance company say about that? Supervise, supervise, supervise.

A lesson for anyone who might ask questions about dogs in the future. Never include your dogs breed in a question. Just say non-bully medium size dog. If you say pit or rottie or any other breed with a bad rep people will give you sh¡t just because they think bullies are dangerous. If you want your question answered don’t include the dogs breed.

troll

You may feel like you have lucked out with this dog but I wouldn't trust a bully breed with any small children. You never know what may trigger an attack. I have know pits that were great pets for yrs & something snaps in the brain & they attack. Usually about the age of full maturity at 3 yrs of age.

Be careful, be very very careful, an attack can happen is a split second even if you are right there with both the dog & the baby. It happens so fast you could not prevent it. This is a known fact & you need to be very very careful.

"does she have a natural understanding?" No, she's a dog/animal with animal instincts. Your responsibility to keep her and all others safe from harm by whatever means necessary, including proper parenting.

S.A.F.E. - Supervise. Anticipate. Follow through. Educate.

Supervise. Keep them in your vision at all times or physically separated--child in play pen or dog in crate. And we mean at all times...

Anticipate. A dog only has a few ways of protesting. He can move away, hop up on furniture, or go under a bed. Once the dog has done this, he has no other means to stop a child other than a bark, growl, or nip. If you see your dog retreating from a child, stop that child! Anticipate problems before they happen. Do not expect your dog to tolerate something you wouldn't.

Follow through. If you say it, mean it. If you tell your child to stop bothering the dog, enforce that. If you tell the dog to sit, make him. All things are easier if your child and dog know that you mean what you say, and say what you mean.

Educate. This means both the dog and the child. Teach your child by word and example that animals are to be treated with care. Do not allow hitting, teasing, or other harassment.

Please don't ever put your kids, or their friends, in an unexpected situation. Yes, right now your dog is good with kids, but that may not always be the case - if she happened to be experiencing some pain, she could so easily react. Watching some of the so-called cute vids. showing dogs with babies makes my blood run cold. It's NOT CUTE. It's courting a disaster. Right now you have a good dog - and that could be she's had experience around small kids before (many dogs hate the fast movement/high pitched voices of kids) but that does NOT mean it can't change, in a second.

You have a DOG. Never forget that.

You are very stupid then, to lay your entire trust in a Dog you have never seen the other side of yet.

However placid and amiable and tolerant a dog is with children its never a good idea to trust it 100% or leave it alone with kids.

It only takes ONE "misunderstood" event for a dog to bite a child.

ALL dogs can be unpredictable, and its always best to be safe than sorry.

Jmo.

I didn’t bother reading but I would never leave my baby alone with a pit. They account for 78% of fatalities towards babies and children

dogs have a natural instinct to care for young members of their pack, sounds like you got a good dog.

Probably was around them before