Keeping children safe with dogs

[Tobi]

77% of dog bites come from the family dog, or a friend's dog. Teach children to respect and understand dogs, using these helpful short videos and information:

http://www.stopthe77.com

https://youtu.be/HCh36FdCpy0

[Catherine]

This is good information. I am glad you posted it.

I knew most bites were from the family dog, but I didn't know it was so high a percentage.
I agree many bites are preventable. People do things that cause a dog to bite. Children are the most at risk because they don't know how to act around animals. I hope people pay attention to this and learn from it.
I feel so bad when I hear about a dog in trouble because it bit someone. You know there is the dog's side of the story, but it never gets told. So many of these dogs get put down and they don't deserve it.

[LPC]

I have just rated this thread five stars. It will be read by lots of people, not just members, and the information offered is very valuable. The links educate parents and children about how to handle and treat dogs. If that saves some children (and adults, for that matter) from being bitten unnecessarily, then that is really doing some good.

[Catherine]

If the post saves people from being bitten then it will save dogs. A lot of people have no idea how to act around a dog or any other animal.

What is really sad is the number of times a small child is left alone with a large dog and the child gets badly hurt. I am sure there is a reason why the dog attacked. Sometimes it is a very good reason. That doesn't help since most people reject their dog after it has bitten their child.

I think adults and children need to learn to respect their dog's boundaries. I am amazed at how often people touch animals around the face and especially the eyes. I have seen people do this with a strange dog. They have no idea what the dog is like, but they make themselves very vulnerable and sometimes it doesn't work out.

There have been a number of cases where the child was actually killed. When you look at the circumstances it was predictable.

[Libby]

That's a the really good site to share. In my dog training the biggest thing we go over is how to be around a dog and how to teach others what dogs don't like and their warning signs. I've been working with these boys teaching them to train and it's a lot of repeating no laying down, no leaning, watch their eyes, their tail, their mouth, what is the dog telling you? Dogs practically scream warning signs and most owners don't know how to read the signs. All they ever see is the bite and think it came out of nowhere. If you can see the whites of the eyes, yawning, dilated pupils, stiff, tail between the legs, shaking, licking their lips, darting eyes, ears back... are all warning signs that the dog is scared and uncomfortable with what is going on.

[Catherine]

I agree with you, there are warning signs. I don't even have a dog and I know that. All animals give off a message by their body language. If people want a dog they should learn to understand their dog.

I don't think small children should be left alone with a dog anyhow. Small children shouldn't be left alone with a lot of things. They can get hurt in so many ways. When a dog is involved it is the dog that gets hurt the most since most of them get euthanized or at very least dumped at a shelter.

[Tobi]

For some reason, Misty treated children and young teenagers as 'rivals'. Or pups. For those reasons I could never completely trust her with them, and would never leave her alone with them.

When a dog chastises pups for going too far.....it's fine among dogs, but humans view that chastisement very differently. And when any form of rivalry is involved, there can be some level of aggression even if it isn't really intended to be deeply harmful (by the dog). But it will be viewed that way by humans, and could even cause some level of physical harm if teeth make contact with skin.

I could hug Misty. I could touch her face, and do most anything and she never showed any stress about it, only pleasure. But if a stranger or a young person did those same things, I know she would not have tolerated it. She was incredibly patient and well-behaved, but might have snapped if pushed too far for too long, but would have snapped at the air in front of them first. But even that would have been seen as 'aggression' by many. When all it was -was language.

So etiquette rules for children are a good idea. And all the obvious signs that dogs give us when they are comfortable and uncomfortable. Dogs don't mess around. They will show us what they feel, and we only have to listen and watch.

[Catherine]

Quote:I could hug Misty. I could touch her face, and do most anything and she never showed any stress about it, only pleasure. But if a stranger or a young person did those same things, I know she would not have tolerated it. She was incredibly patient and well-behaved, but might have snapped if pushed too far for too long, but would have snapped at the air in front of them first. But even that would have been seen as 'aggression' by many. When all it was -was language.

I'm with Misty. I don't like strangers touching my face or getting too close.
Why do we assume that dogs have no boundaries. We expect them to put up with things we wouldn't want to endure.
You are right, dogs do communicate their distress and displeasure. Most people don't seem to be able to "hear" them.

When I was eight, we had an old dog and his back legs were sore, probably arthritis. I knew that, but I touched him where it hurt and he grabbed my hand in his teeth. I stopped touching him and he didn't break the skin. I understood that I hurt him by my touch and I was sorry that I hurt him. I didn't mention it to anyone in the family so no one reacted.
Winston wasn't being aggressive, it just hurt and he needed me to stop touching him. I think I was more sensitive to animals needs after that.
You are the first person I have ever told this to.