Because its SC and this is probably their version of poor trailer trash...

How do we know, for sure that the dog is not a kidnapper?

Haha, good question. After all, he - the dog that is - managed to elude cops and a helicopter until morning. Now, if the little boy had been found on a leash, it would been an open-&-shut case . . . dang, that dog IS clever. ;)

PDK,

You obviously don't have kids or you keep them locked in a room 24/7 if you do. Just turning your back away from them for 1 minute is enough for them to slip away. And it's impossible to always watch them and maintain a household. Anyone who says differently is a liar or in denial.

Sorry Rebootit, I raised 2 sons, as a single parent and never lost either of them. It's called "Responsible Parenting".

Why is a 22 month old getting his own juice? I guess the conditions in the home were pretty deplorable. How could the mom miss the kid in the neighbors back yard.? Great dog, lousy parent.

rebootit: you should do just that. I think you missed PDK's point completely

Rebootit:

Yes, kids slip away.

But there's no way a 22 month-old would be able to reach a proper locked deadbolt on an exterior door. And why didn't one parent stay to watch the kid? The parents turning their back for a second isn't a good excuse.

why did the cops quit searching at midnight? wouldn't you keep searching until you found the baby?

ps you're one to talk Rick- you live in Winston-Salem, for god's sake...

Hopefully this near tragedy is now a win-win for this little baby boy and his lab retriever. If Protective Services does a competent job, they may have saved this baby a second time (in the future), from bad or neglectful parenting/caregivers. Very thankful that his pet watched over him and both were found safe. As for the hero lab, I am not at all surprised. Our lab not only watches over children and family members, but even other vulnerable wildlife, like baby birds. I have watched him protect a baby bird that fell out of a tree from harm from another (not the parent) bird, until he got my attention to come and help. They are amazing friends, and much more loyal, compassionate and caring than a lot of people, sad to say. I think God probably had a hand in this little Tyler Jacobson's ordeal...and I hope authorities will make sure the lab gets to live with little Tyler, wherever they may go to live at, as to separate them would be a tragedy.

22 month old children can and do escape. No one knows how. Mine pulled a chair to the sliding glass doors climbed up and removed the peg that kept it "locked".

That being said does SC not have AMBER ALERTS---those are for missing kids not just kidnapped kids.

I am glad the baby was found and safe. I hope both the tot and the dog can be placed in the same foster home.

PDK, You obviously don't have kids or you keep them locked in a room 24/7 if you do.

What a fascinating assertion, Rebootit. Since I "obviously don't have kids," are you telling me that allowing one's toddler to get his own juice, roam around the house, and take a night-time stroll with the family dog is common practice for the average parent?

"First of all, how did a 22-mo-old child even get outside?"

My guess: He opened the door.

I have a 2 year old and it wasn't so long ago that she made her way outside without me. She just suddenly figured out how to operate the door latch. I hadn't so much as seen her try before. Kids that age tend to bust out skills like that out of nowhere. Lesson learned: outside doors are now deadbolted in my house unless an adult is in the room with her.

I'm thinking that the dog should get custody of the child, and the mother should be spayed.

While I appreciate the helpful answers to my question, "...how did a 22-mo-old child even get outside?", I should clarify that it was more of a rhetorical query. Contrary to Rebootit's confident proclamation regarding my parental status, I do indeed have children, and thus am acquainted with the speed with which they can get themselves in trouble.

What really shocked me about this story is that they didn't find the child until morning, when he was just in the neighbor's yard. Moreover, wouldn't they first inform the neighbors of the search, and enlist their help?? The woman whose yard the child was found in didn't even know what was going on . . . she thought it was a man-hunt for crying out loud!

His mom and her boyfriend told police that he vanished after leaving the family bedroom, where they were watching TV, to get some juice, The State reported.

Wonder what they were REALLY doing. A 22 mo getting his own juice? Sounds like moma and bf were getting juiced themselves.

Temperatures had dipped into the 40s overnight, and while police searched with bloodhounds and a helicopter until midnight, they couldn't find the boy.

Yet the baby was in just a diaper and a shirt? Why wasn't he dressed more appropriate considering the weather temperature? Also, the bloodhounds must have had the sniffles. Really, couldn't find a baby in a neighbor's backyard? What about FLIRs on that helicopter? Sounds like law enforcement is a joke in that neck of the woods.

Emily DuBose, another neighbor, called it surreal. "Just thinking that a dog would watch a baby over the night, it's kind of like a movie instead of real life," WIS TV quoted her as saying.

The dog is a better care taker than moma and bf. My childhood dog, Bonzo, would not allow ANY strangers or other animals near me.

Matthews noted that living conditions in the boy's home were "deplorable" and that the state Department of Social Services had been notified

Usually associated with drug use.

doyourhoework,America! - why the crack about Winston-Salem? I grew up there. It's a great city with very intelligent people.

As for the story - glad it had a happy ending. Dogs are great with children. They sense their vulnerability and usualy protect them at all costs. Hope the dog and child end up in a better place, together.

Peter, 40 is really not that cold.. I live in PA and honestly my son is a blanket kid.. prefers to sleep in t shirt and underwear then get into a sleeping bad with blankets on top of that Even as an infant he was overly fussy in cloths strip him to a diaper and swaddle him and he slept like well a baby.... the tshirt diaper thing was the least thing odd about this story.

Peter,

why would you dress your children for outside conditions if there was no intent to go outside? Otherwise, sounds like a bunch of losers in this situation - parents, neighbors, and police. I do't have little ones anymore, but I do recall my 2 year old slipping away in the time it took to pay attention to discuss nails at a hardware store. She slipped away and had made it to the street, (going up a flight of stairs) and luckily her aunt was passing and I was right behind. Unless you leash a child or lock them up, this can occur very quickly. The whole episode I've described happened in less than 3 minutes, including time looking for her.

W. Goin: I believe that the wisecrack from doyourhomewor,Amercia! about Winston-Salem is in response to a remark that Rick-WS-NC made, "Because its SC and this is probably their version of poor trailer trash...."

Rick-WS-NC is just further proof that ignorance, the stereotyping of others who are different (geographically, ethnically, politically, etc.) and delusions of superiority know no boundaries.

Kedbob: I invite you to give me an intelligent reason why you found my comment so rediculous.

It's south carolina, that's all we need to know.

I agree that how ever this ends up the child and the dog should stay together but maybe for this family what should really stay together is the mothers legs.

The baby AND THE DOG should be removed from the home. Neither one deserves the crap from the mother and her boyfriend.

Kedbob and Lyndanne, I realize 40 is not that cold for you and me but for an infant it is. Babies have less fat layers and also less resistance to longer periods exposed to the elements. We all know that as the nights deepens dew forms and the cold sensation becomes even worse. From the report I gathered that these parents, along with appearing as irresponsible caretakers and not too worried about cleanliness, that they would also be having financial issues. If I were having financial issues, maybe not being able to afford heat and knowing that it would be a cold night, I would have protected my baby a bit better with appropriate clothing. At least until bed time when the clothing can be replaced with proper bedding material. Thank God this infant had his/her dog close by to share body heat. This fact alone saved this baby's life that night.

I have three boys. One is over 18 and in the military. One is 6 and our baby is 3 yo. I know what babies are capable of and have always found ways to stay one to three steps ahead of them. It sounds like this mom is either in over her head or she could care less and is more interested in herself and her selfish needs. I hope child services can help this kid and his/her dog.

Peter that is alot of assumptions.. Noone said there was no heat or that there were financial issues? And 22 months is not an infant.. he is a toddler. I also have children daughter 20 in college and son 8 still home :) My own parent never put the thermostat above 58 in the winter we had blankets and yet I lived through it without big old footy PJs always slept in a tshirt and shorts. The child was inside and my only point was that what he had on is NO different than millions of other children.

Yeah, assumptions is what helps me stay three steps ahead of my babies. My boys all sleep in pajamas as we never know what can happen and may need to rush out into the night. It is just a question of training and getting used to night wear. After this ordeal maybe this mom will rethink her position.

Perhaps you do not want your children to be individuals.. but I do. I allow my 8yr old to choose what he wears to bed.. and I also allow my 20yr old choose... and they have the ability because they had choices when younger so they could make educated guesses.. e.g. son chooses shorts to wear to bed on a night when it's 20 and windy... "he's freezing" ask him.. next time he is choosing he comes up to me and says hey Mom will it be cold tonight.. No wonder children can't figure things out on their own they never learned deductive reasoning.. And before you jump I'm not talking letting them run in front of a car.. it's clothing for goodness sake.

Yeah, you are right. It is clothing for goodness sakes. They get to choose all of their clothing from purchasing all the way to which to wear. They prefer their PJs. If you only knew my sons and their abilities.

....and a new and better home hopefully.

They should remove BOTH the boy and the dog and place them in a real home with a real loving family.

Together!!!

Amen!!!

I love all of these comments! TexasXmas, Micheleshdwfx, Todd, hulahoopinrocker, and KJR.

I'd like to cock back and give a good old grandma smack to the face to both the parents.

Blake: Don't you mean all three parents? Mom, bf and baby daddy. Is he in his son's life or not? If not, why not?

Jump Matilda, jump!

Regarding Police and helicopter search, how could the kid not have been found so close to home. Aren't all Police helicopters equipped with heat sensing devices that pinpoints the location where a human or living creature is hiding?

Why did they call off the search at midnight for a missing kid. Mom and BF also did not know the dog was missing? Mom called the dog's name and it barked..........

Is he in his son's life or not? If not, why not?

Because the mom will get more child support money if she can keep the kid away from the dad.

WRONG....custody/visitation and child support are thru TWO DIFFERENT courts and are judged SEPERATELY. And yes, you CAN be ordered to pay Child support and NOT get to see your kids. Worked there for over 10 years ...this had little to nothing to do with "child support". This is a case of "garbage in, garbage out," parenting.

If you have irresponsible parents who keep nasty houses and don't watch their kids.....these things "happen". They probably SAT him outside so they could do what they pleased without hearing him cry INSIDE the house. Cause it doesnt sound like he was their "main focus".

good dog--better parent than the two morons that were supposed to watch him

score; 1 for the Labrador.......0 for the stupid Bloodhounds who missed thier target ACCROSS THE STREET!"come on Flassshhh! "or maybe it was the hick deputies fault .

(parents) "you get you're butt outside with the rest of the wild animals 'till you can pee in the toilet".....oops!

There is a big difference between being sent and going to get some juice. How many kids don't want to show independence by offering to do things themselves?

Let up "the thinker" doesn't have children EVER. No one in their right mind lets a 22 month old "get" anything. THEY CAN'T READ, THEY CAN POUR AND THEY CAN'T CARRY. That's why they have PARENTS!

Paula.....don't have a stroke. Many kids try to get things at that age.

Yes but you would still supervise them doing it at that age.

Patricia, I'm 62 with 3 grandkids and I raise 2 plus kept my 2 nieces and 3 of my friends kids during thier early years.. Now, I here to tell you, a 22 month old child is smarter and more capable of doing things than you give them credit for. I have seen them fix peanut butter sandwiches, pour milk, get drinks, clean up messes, learn to swim and many more things. Give them some credit, very young children are fast learners.

Patricia you are so wrong----First if it is a juice box the kid is perfectly capable of inserting the straw even at 2. If it is juice already poured for the kid opening the refridgerator is not tough. I came home from work one morning to fine my 2yo (home w/ dad) up and getting his own cereal. He got the cereal from the cupboard and a bowl and was happily pouring milk EVERYWHERE when i walked in. Yes, I read dad the riot act but it was good to know he wouldn't starve. Needless to say eventually the boy slowed down and he does have an IQ of over 150 so maybe he is an exception.

Michael do you think it's odd for a 22month old to walk to the kitchen and grab a juice box and bringing it back to mom/dad? I personally was never a fan of letting my son wonder the house without me especially the kitchen.. to many things to get into. But many a morning I would find him sleeping in the cage with our dog LOL finally I just let the dog sleep in his room.

I walked to the fridge and got my first beer at that age ... no, it wasn't intended. That was back in the era all refrigerated beverages had pull tabs and essentially looked the same to me as a 22 month old kid. One sip, and I didn’t like it. I put it on the kitchen table and walked away. I got the belt from mom for getting the beer, and got the belt from my dad for wasting the beer. Like I said, it was a different era but I still don’t like canned beer.

I hope they give that dog a good home, and let him keep his boy too!

Ever since the toddler in MN wandered outside and froze to death, I have had a complex about our granddaughter being able to open the door and let herself out. I agree that they can slip away at that age, but come on...When I realized our granddaughter had figured out the deadbolt, I started locking the screen door (which is difficult for me, much less for a toddler)! I'd also never keep a snake (especially one large enough to eat my granddaughter) in the house either.

And who is it here that thinks the"government" is going to do a better job on this care taking (by psychologically destroying the kid, by taking him away from family even one day)? but off course he will be less attached then, and a better fighter for the wars we are creating for ourselves--

Harass and collect and/or punish!--as usual.--How about support, and educate!

I am sure these people have learned the lesson for good!

But there are about 50 million who live in "deplorable conditions" here with no health care and min wage or no job, as compared to other western countries!

Yes, any baby can take off, if they can walk, stop the stupid accusations!--you have no idea, I wonder if the commenter's have ever had a baby, and a job at the same time!. But fortunately the little one has a major love--the dog, and that is important too!

But it can happen to anyones baby, even in a prison!

It might be that the dog and baby were running away from home to find a better place to live where their welfare isn't a secondary concern of the mother and boyfriend.

Let up "the thinker" doesn't have children EVER.

Too late. And my well adjusted son has grown into an admirable young man who started showing signs of independence at less than 18 months.

Heh....usually, dogs are way better than people. Except when they steal food....I hate it when dogs steal food.

If I had to eat the same boring stuff every meal, I'd steal food too.

You got that right, dogs are good people!!!

damn skippy zippy, dogs are better than people!

The more people I meet, the more I like dogs.

A dog that steals food doesn't understand it's place in the pack, because the owners aren't claiming their place at the head.

Discipline doesn't mean being mean to your dog. Think about how another dog in alpha position would correct your dog if it was stealing the alphas food. You have to understand things from the dogs perspective and quit giving it human feelings and values.

Trust me your dog will be much happier for it.

I get the point to this comment. But I think I would say, "trained dogs are good people." I am a dog lover just as much as the next person, and I'm sure the dog owners would know that a trained dog vs untrained are very different!!!

Dogs cannot steal, that is a human thing. Dogs just take what they can. Stealing involves overriding the superego, which dogs do not possess as far as I know.

amen

"Dogs cannot steal, that is a human thing"

Dogs understand possesion, understand consequence, and they can use fore thought.

If a dog snatches food out of your hand, that isn't stealing, that's taking and blatant disrespect.

If a dog sneaks onto the counter while no one is in the kitchen and tries to slink off with it before anyone catches it, that's stealing.

Dogs have a better capability for planning and deductive reasoning than folks credit them for.

At least Timmy isn't in the well.

Not this time.

Yet.

Loving stable couples? In the US? I don't think there is any such thing. Truth is our society is unstable, bitter and greedy. Teaching responsible sex in school, let's see there has been at least one organization out there for year trying to get that message across but has been blocked repeatedly by the "Abstinence only" bunch. So, yes we have very ignorant young parents out there.

As far as "forcing" people to give up their kids. Most children in the US given up for adoption are never adopted, there are too many blocks in the way of adoption in this country. I think the states like it that way because they get more federal dollars for kids in foster care. Speaking of which the stats on kids who go from foster care to a life in and out of prisons are staggering. Personally, given the choice between supporting an intact family on welfare, (with proper subervision) and paying to keep someone in prison for life, I'd rather my tax dollars went to supporting the welfare family. What I'd want to see however is a return of the public health nurse as well as more social services people who would make daily checks on young childern, and weekly checks on school age kids and bi-weekly checks on high schoolers. One of the things we do is abandon these mothers. "here's your kid, have a good life." then we get angry when they fail.

We allowed the corporations to create a society of the so-called nuclear family, two parents and the kids because it was easier for Dad to pack them up and move them at the companies whim. But the nuclear family is a historical lie. It never existed and it doesn't work real well, children need the extended family. It this young woman was living with a supportive extended family she could have some down time with her boy friend and some other person who care for the child. It's only been 70 years that this model of the family has been in existence and it is a failure and becoming even more so as the second generation of latch key kids starts having children.

Yes, by all means let's use a single incident to demonize every single person on welfare...

No, you're right, that IS drastic. And unnecessary and prejudiced and shortsighted.

Please don't assume that the poor kid has a absent father.. It took my husband and I four years to win custody of his daughter who was living in a house just like the one described in this story. He was never absent. The system just failed my stepdaughter for years. In this country it is almost impossible to remove a child from a biological mother... especially one that will fight tooth and nail for the child so she doesn't lose the child support $$ and her welfare benefits!!! Hopefully this kid does have a father that is fighting for it and it has a chance at a future... instead of the cycle its headed for.

That being said, I totally agree with you regarding the single, welfare mother syndrome. My step daughters mom has been on welfare for 17 years!!!!!! Must be nice.... we can't afford to go out to dinner but she is at a club every night of the week.... goes through 2 packs of cigarettes a day, a case of budweiser a day, and doesn't have to pay rent.... or for food! Apparently I screwed up by keeping my legs closed and getting an education!

as an individual who was given to many different couples while in foster care,I can attest to the fact that they were not all stable loving caring people.Abuse was not uncommon, for me or other children that I encountered who were physically and sexually abused.Just saying people are people and what you might perceive might not be the reality.Oh yeah my parents were married at the time.A better alternative might be parenting classes, counseling and treatment for those with addictive issues.

A. My 20 month old was capable of unlocking a door, so we used the deadbolt which was even hard for an adult to turn. Took him just a few seconds. Finally had to resort to a latch at the top of the door.

B. MSNBC left out a lot of details. The father of the baby is in the military, stationed in Hawaii. Depending on his deployment status, he could very well be unable to take custody. The report I read yesterday stated he was on his way to SC.

C. Another way the baby could have gotten out was to follow the dog through a doggie door. That would explain why he even went out, he was after his dog.

D. Deplorable conditions can mean anything. Years ago a cop reported me to Child Protective Services. The cop claimed the conditions my kids and I were living in were disgusting. Her proof (in her report) was the one day old cooked hamburger in my fridge and the clean laundry piled on my couch waiting to be folded and put away. The CPS rep just shook his head in disbelief and never even opened a case.

E. Final missing information. The helicopters were using heat detection, but nobody had mentioned that the dog was missing, so they weren't checking out "animal" signatures. I would imagine the bloodhounds may have also been confused by the sent of the dog.

How about instead of jumping on the welfare mom or drug use mom scenario we try another picture. That of a loving mom, dependable boyfriend and baby curled up in a warm bed watching a Disney movie together.

Remember Baby Jessica?

Camgie: I would have to know a lot more about you and your situation than I do know to make an extensive commentary. But, one observation seems to be called for. Okay! You kept your legs closed and that is good. Apparently, however, your husband didn't bother to keep his pants zipped.

Society is just the way we want it. Hell, we pay for it to be this way.

Homesick Yank, I totally agree with you!!!!

BS-judgemental much?-yes, give them to people like those Stienbergs(or whatever)I think his name was Joel-he a lawyer,she wrote lovely kiddy books if I remember correctly...Moron-how about we investigate the situation, then use our BRAINS to do the best thing for this baby, and each child in similar circumstances

Papa too

So far, it's not over yet. Foster care isn't the greatest either seeing that SS has barely any funding to really research the families taking them in. How are they going to keep the dog and the babe together too when they can't even keep ciblings together most of the time? This story isn't over yet, but I doubt we'll see what happens next.

I'm sure there are good foster homes but there are a lot of not so good ones too. I don't wish it on any child.

In the bedroom "watching TV". Yeah right. Can any foster home be worse than this filthy setting? Place the dog and baby in a nice home, place the mother and Gomer in jail for child neglect. And you might give the volunteer fire service some practice putting out a single wide trailer fire.

Foster homes can be just as bad, and sometimes worse, than the home the child is coming from. Some people are just greedy and in it for the $$. I know a couple of foster families who are amazing - I wish they could all be like that.

That kind of mother does not learn any lessons, she is probably saying that the whole thing has been blown out of proportions.

I wish they all could too PyretQueen.

That's right. This dog knows CPR (according to the headline). It kept the boy alive as opposed to kept the boy company.

Why, was the boy in cardiac arrest? I figure the dog kept the boy warm.

You know, I went back and read the story and nowhere in it did it say whereas the dog knew CPR. It did say it was chilly out and since the dog's fur covered body was a cooking 101f degrees, it is safe to assume the dog traded a little body heat for a whole lot of snuggles.

it is safe to assume the dog traded a little body heat for a whole lot of snuggles.

Why is it safe to assume the dog traded body versus performing CPR? When I snuggle with another person out on a camping trip in the cold it doesn't mean the other person saved my life.

Took the words right out of my head. I couldn't agree more.

That's pretty bad when the dog is the best parent in the house.

After something like this? Separating that boy from his dog would be criminal.

I'm surprised Mark Sanford didn't stumble across the boy while he was out hiking. ;)

once again, you live in Winston-Salem. not really different at all... small former mill-towns...

once again doyourhomework - what's your problem with Winston-Salem? Great town and good place to live. I don't live there anymore but it is a great town.

Hey Carianne,

Your comment made me laugh out loud! Very witty!

LOL...thanks, Zarlene. I didn't mean to turn the discussion political, but when Rick said "It is SC", that's the first thing that popped into my head. I guess that means I have a sick sense of humor. :)

Carianne, you are hilarious! Good one!!!

Great if u really mean it. Do apply, you might get the nice little boy and his dog. That would be a great satisfying ending. LOL

Frankly, while that may be true, this article is not very detailed. It is assumptive at best to draw that conclusion.

I have a toddler and he is insistent on doing such things for himself.

Diatribe.. sounds like your toddler with grow up to be self sufficient. :) Really not a bad thing!

"Deplorable conditions"...Child Services being called in...granted Child services has been known to jump the gun or be too pedantic and unable to see where best interests truly lie...but I think we can see the picture.

Too many yummy drink colored household chemicals to let a less than two year old have at it unsupervised despite the best child cabinet locks. I always stood alongside and let mine chose what they wanted to drink. Offered good life lesson opportunities about choices.

Stereotype much?...

Wow! Does that mean you can't be a spouse and a good parent too. I guess that piece of paper and ring make married people better parents. I agree there was neglect, but for you to condemn all single parents is a little ridiculous. To say any parent who shacks up should immediately loose custody of their kids. In my opinion I'd classify you right there with the little boys mother.

That is ridiculous! Yes, they said the living conditions were deplorable, and obviously he was neglected-if he was not, then it is very unlikely that he would have gotten out of the house. Saying that any parent that shacks up should immediately loose custody of their kids is pure stupidity! Like Janet-3265316 said, does that mean that you can't be a spouse and good parent too? There are many many many couples that have kids and never get married--very good parents--so since they are not married, I guess you think that the kids should be taken from them the minute they are born? Sounds like you are very judgemental and like to stereotype.

Thank you, Janet. Your post is so accurate.

Patricia, do you know how ignorant you sound? Marriage and parenting are two different issues. You can be married and be an awful parent. As a matter of fact, I know quite a few of those. You can also be single or "just living with" someone and be a wonderful parent. I know a few of those too. As far as getting his own juice, how do you know he wasn't getting a juice box out of the fridge? A two year old is perfectly capable of getting a juice box out of the fridge. Do you even have children?

Patricia??? Really is that your post please tell me you kidding???

Heaven forbid your husband ever leave you for someone more tolerant Patricia.

I agree with Cynthia-2010387. I also wonder about a mom whose 22 month old goes out of the room and she didn't realize the child didn't come back in a few minutes and she can't hear the child - the house is silent. This mom wasn't paying attention to her child she was paying attention to her boyfriend instead. Wrong priority for this situation.

My grandkids and many years ago, my own kids, thought they were such big kids when they were allowed to go into the kitchen and get their own filled sippy cup or juice box out of the fridge. It's not much different than the "outfit" my 3 year old granddaughter put on the other day. No way after seeing the joy on her face from picking out her own clothes and putting them on all by herself was I going to rain on her parade and tell her the colors of the shirt she put on wrongside out over her nightgown didn't match!

What MSNBC left out of the article was that the mom and boyfriend spent some time looking for the baby, in the house and outside before they called him in as missing. Total was less than 45 minutes. Depending on the size of the house and property, it could easily take that long to check into closets, under beds, under the porch, etc.

I do wonder about the search procedure by the police. It's been a long time since there's been a search in my own neighborhood for a child, but generally the helicopter or one or two police cars will announce over loud speakers who they are looking for.

I'm not passing judgment one way or the other. The parents may very well have been neglectful. However, it's entirely possible that the child already had a sippy cup with juice in it in the refrigerator. My kids many times had a cup that I left on the lower shelf so they could reach it if they went to the refrigerator to get it. Toddlers like to be independent...and, within reason of course, I think parents should allow them to be a little bit.

That said, no child should have been able to get out of a house at night...and the parents should have noticed that he was missing within a few minutes. If my child went to get his cup of juice and wasn't back within a minute or two, I'd have gone looking for him...and in two minutes, there's not much chance that they would have wandered so far that you couldn't find them.

Getting out of the house may have been the easy part, if they had a doggie door for the dog.

Like I've mentioned in other posts, the article neglects to mention that the mother and boyfriend started searching on their own right away, calling the police within 45 minutes. Thinking logically, they probably searched the house first, that means inside closets, under beds, etc. By that time the baby could have gotten quite far especially with the dog to lead him.

Rascal -- I just saw that information as well, which means that they probably started looking for him fairly shortly after he went to get his juice. It appears that a lot of people have read a short article and determined that these are deadbeat parents who deserve to have their child ripped away from them without so much as an investigation as to what really happened. I admit, that the "deplorable conditions" remark made me jump to conclusions. However, having read that I realize that it was the police chief of an apparently incompentent police force that made the comment...and that there are probably days that if somebody dropped in on me after a long, crazy week, they'd probably think that my living conditions were deplorable as well.

Thank you Rascal and Carianne. I was thinking of some of the same things. I have a 20 month old, and she never ceases to amazing me with how she can figure out how to work mechanical devices. Also, she knows how to go to fridge and get her sippy cup all by herself. She also knows what a door knob is, but luckily she can't reach them yet to really mess with them. We are getting big eye hooks to put at the top of all the doors as an extra precaution.

My kid is also a runner and she can get away from me really fast. When we go to a store me and my husband both have to watch her like a hawk because she can slip away from us so fast. We were in a store just last week and she ran around the corner of the counter and vanished. It scared the crap out of me. She is short, and she hid inside of one of the clothing racks. We found her within minutes of her getting away from us, but I can totally see how a kid could be going to get their cup of juice and then they get distracted by the dog and follow him outside. And, I think you are on to something when you say that he could have slipped out the doggie door.

As far as the deplorable conditions goes, my aunt raised three boys by herself and her house while not at all filthy would certainly get messy and cluttered. When her ex was giving her a lot of problems CPS was called to her house and gave her Hell about how messy her house was. Later on, a different rep from CPS came to her house and he was shocked that the previous rep had given her such a hard time. There was nothing dangerous or disgusting in her home. There were some dirty clothes and toys everywhere, but that was pretty much it.

I think we need to wait and see how this plays out. There are a lot of factors involved here and it may turn out that this Mom and her boyfriend did nothing wrong. It is easy to judge, and even easier for the news be slanted. Wait for all the facts folks.

I am very glad though that the little boy was found and that the dog was smart enough to keep him company and keep him warm. I hope that in the end there is a happy outcome for everyone.

Well, what are you waiting for? Start giving this dog the attention (AND LOVE) she deserves!!!! I have two Black Lab Rescues, and I would not trade in my 'fur girls' for anything!