Bite Prevention and Children

The Two Most Important Lessons To Teach Your Children

Dogs do not like hugs and kisses. Hugging the family dog or face-to-face contact are common causes of bites to the face. Teach your kids to scratch the dog on the chest or on the side of the neck – most dogs do enjoy this. If your child is a toddler or does not follow instructions, then don’t allow access to the dog unless you have your hands on the dog.

Be a tree if a strange dog approaches. Teach kids to be a tree. Trees are boring and the dog will eventually go away. This works for strange dogs and even your own dog if he is getting too frisky or becomes aggressive.

There are several possible reasons why a dog may bite a child:

• The dog is protecting a possession, food or water dish or puppies.

• The dog is protecting a resting place.

• The dog is protecting its owner or the owner's property.

• The dog considers itself dominant over the child and the child has done something the dog considers to be insubordinate (e.g., hugging the dog, moving into the dog's space, moving without permission from the dog, leaning or stepping over the dog).

• The dog is frightened and the child has threatened it in some way (e.g., hugging the dog, rapid approach, leaning over or stepping over the dog).

• The dog is old and grumpy and having a bad day and has no patience for the actions of a child.

• The dog is injured.

• The child has hurt or startled it by stepping on it, poking it or pulling its fur, tail or ears.

• The dog has not learned bite inhibition and bites hard by accident when the child offers food or a toy to the dog.

• The child and dog are engaging in rough play and the dog gets overly excited.

• The dog views the child as a prey item because the child is running and/or screaming near the dog or riding a bicycle or otherwise moving past the dog.

There are usually warning signs before a bite occurs, but these can be very subtle and may be missed by many people. A dog may appear to tolerate being repeatedly mauled by a child and one day bites, surprising everyone. Signs that you should take very seriously, that indicate that the dog is saying “I have been very patient with this child but am nearing the end of my patience” include:

• The dog gets up and moves away from the child

• The dog turns his head away from the child

• The dog growls.

• The dog looks at you with a pleading expression.

• You can see the “whites” of the dog’s eyes, in a half moon shape.

• The dog yawns while the child approaches or is interacting with him.

• The dog licks his chops while the child approaches or is interacting with him.

• The dog suddenly starts scratching or licking himself.

What can parents do?
Parents should supervise all interactions between children and dogs. A child should not be left alone with a dog unless that child has demonstrated competent dog handling skills and the dog respects the child. Parents can educate their children about how to behave around dogs and how to recognize a bite risk situation. If a bite occurs the child should be reassured that she/he is not at fault. The fault lies with the owner or adult handler of the dog. If a bite occurs the child should be seen by a doctor no matter how minor the injury may seem. In the case of a severe attack, trauma counseling should be sought for the child. The bite should be reported to the appropriate authorities.

Parents should teach children the following (these apply to their own dog, other dogs that they know and strange dogs):

• Do not to approach dogs that are not their own, even if the dog is on leash with its handler (most children are bitten by a dog that they know, or by their own dog).

• You, as a parent, decide that you think it is safe for your child to approach a particular dog - teach your child the ABC approach. (See doggonesafe.org)

• Ensure that when a child visits a house with a dog, that the dog will not be unsupervised with the children.

• Teach your child to "be a tree" when confronted with an unknown, overly friendly or hostile dog. Stop. Fold your branches (hands) and watch your roots grow (look at feet) and count in your head until the dog goes away or help comes.

• Teach your child to "be a rock" if the dog actually jumps on them and knocks them down (curl up and protect face and neck with hands and arms).

• Never stare at a dog in the eyes or put their faces up to a dog's face.

• Never try to take something away from a dog.

• Never go near a dog who is eating or drinking or chewing on something.

• Never approach a dog that is on a bed or furniture.

• Never approach a dog that is tied up or in a vehicle.

• Never try to pet a dog through a fence or in a crate.

• Never climb over a fence into a dog's yard, even if the dog is usually friendly.

• Never try to break up a dog fight or interact with dogs that are play fighting.

• Leave dogs alone that are sleeping, resting, injured, very old or with puppies.

• A safe dog is one that is panting, face happy looking and wagging his tail enthusiastically.

• A dangerous dog has his mouth closed, ears forward, intense look.

• A dog about to bite may be growling, showing his teeth, raising fur along his back or holding his tail high in the air (he may even be wagging it).

• Teach children to play safe games such as fetch that do not involve running or rough play and to play only with their own dog.

What can dog owners do?

• Supervise all interactions between children and your dog.

• Attend obedience school and use a training method that stresses a reward-based approach (correction-based training methods can increase aggression). Click here to find out about clicker training. Read an article about clicker tricks for kids by Joan Orr and Teresa Lewin.

• Involve children in training and teach them to give the dog commands and reward the dog for obeying.

• Child proof your dog or puppy (read the book Child Proofing Your Puppy by Brian Kilcommons).

• Prevent food bowl aggression and guarding behavior using positive methods - read article by Jean Donaldson

• Teach your puppy bite inhibition but do not prohibit your puppy from biting altogether at first - a puppy must learn bite inhibition by learning to bite more and more gently and then to stop biting altogether.

• Give your dog lots of positive social interactions with people and other dogs.

• Give your dog lots of exercise.

• Don't encourage any kind of aggressive behaviour or barking in your dog.

• Don't chain your dog or leave him alone in a yard for extended periods.

• Give your dog his own special place and don't allow him on furniture or on the bed.

• Encourage children and other guests to leave the dog alone if he is resting in his special place, eating or chewing on something.
• Teach your dog to walk on a leash without pulling.

• Teach your dog not to jump on people.

• Do not permit your dog to bark or paw at you or others for attention.

• If your dog does show signs of aggression toward you or others, seek the help of a canine behaviorist.

• Avoid using methods such as the "alpha rollover", shaking or pinning the dog to the ground - these may reduce aggression toward you, but may increase aggression toward children or other weaker family members.

• Do not play tug-of-war or wrestling games with your dog and never allow children to play this way with the puppy or dog.

• Use a crate, kennel, gates or closed doors to prevent your dog from interacting with visiting children when you cannot supervise.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN THE FOLLOWING:

1. Do not hug a dog, put your face close to his face or lie on him. Do sit beside your dog, rub his chest or scratch him on the side of the neck.

2. Do not play chase-me games with a dog. Do play hide and seek – where the dog has to find you or an object htat you hide.

3. Do not play tug-of-war games with a dog. Do play fetch with the dog – teach the dog to trade the object for a treat so he won’t try to tug.

4. Do not lean over or step over a dog. Do respect a dog’s resting place – go around him or ask an adult to move the dog.

5. Do not bother a dog who is sleeping, eating, has a toy or bone, is hurt or has puppies. Do wait for the dog to come to you for attention.

6. Do not dress a dog up in play clothes. Do dress up your stuffed animals.

7. Do not hit a dog or poke him with a stick. Do be gentle with dogs.

8. Do not pull a dog’s ears, tail or fur. Do scratch the dog’s chest or the side of her neck- most dogs enjoy this.

9. Do not stick fingers or hands into the dog’s crate. Do ask an adult to let the dog out of the crate if you want to pet her.

10. Do not play in the dog’s crate. Do p[lay “in and out of the crate” with the dog – toss a treat in, dog goes in to get it, dog comes back out, toss another treat in, etc. (with adult supervision).

11. If your dog does not welcome you with wagging and panting – leave him alone. Do wait for the dog to come to you for attention.

12. If your dog gets too rough or excited, be a tree until he gets bored and goes away.

13. Do not run and shout around a dog that’s not in a crate. Do be calm around dogs; involve the dog in an activity such as chewing on a bone or playing fetch so he doesn’t feel that he needs to chase you to have fun.