Child and Dog Safety

Please take a read of this picture :)

 

Considering dogs are (without fish) the UK's most popular pet, there is still a lot humans need to learn about it's behaviour and what it is trying to tell us.  

 

If we can recognise and teach others to recognise these warning signs, it WILL reduce dog bites. 

Tense looking dog with it's tail between it's legs.

Dogs will defend themselves when they feel threatened.  We may think that dogs enjoy cuddles naturally.  However, in the wild, they would feel threatened as another dog was being dominant (pinning them down).  Although humans have reduced this instinct with domestication - many dogs will now tolerate invasion of their personal space - but not all dogs are tolerant and may still feel threatened.  Similarly when greeting an unfamiliar dog, don't go up to them and start stroking them on their head, offer your hand for them to sniff and wait for them to come to you, if they don't want to then leave them be (imagine if you just wanted to be alone and weird people kept coming up to talk to you!).  Also please never take anything like a bone, toy or food away from your dog, that is just a recipe for disaster!

An unhappy dog being cuddled



A wary dog of a greeting

Warning signs that a dog isn't happy are:

• Being still and tensing
• Licking their lips
• Yawning
• Tail between it's legs
• Physically trying to run away
• Ears back
• Curling of lips
• Growling
• Snapping
• Biting

People don't normally recognise these warning signs as they are subtle, but just look out for them...

Over 80% of fatalities involving children occurred when the child was unsupervised with the dog. Please, it doesn't matter how much you think you know your dog, do not leave your child and dog unsupervised together.  It isn't always the case that your dog is at fault either, this interesting article demonstrates that is dangerous for your dog as well as your child:
http://avetsguidetolife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-dangers-of-rubber-band-bracelets.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AVetsGuideToLife+%28A+Vet%27s+Guide+To+Life%29

Unsupervised children are the most vulnerable to attack because: 

- Dogs are much less likely to attack a child in the presence of an adult, particularly in the presence of the owner.

- In the event that a dog does attack a child in the presence of an adult, the intervention of the adult often prevents the attack from becoming a fatality.

- Children, because of their small size, are usually not able to sustain an attack until help arrives. Many adults survived severe dog attacks simply by virtue of the fact that they were able to sustain and fend the dogs off to some degree until assistance arrived.

- Children often engage in dangerous behaviour (approaching too close to a chained dog or trying to hug/kiss an unfamiliar animal) that a supervising adult would have prevented.

The age group with the second-highest amount of fatalities due to a dog attack are 2-year-old children. Over 88% of these fatalities occurred when the 2-year-old child was left unsupervised with a dog(s) or the child wandered off to the location of the dog.at risk because:

After reading a very interesting article from The Veterinary Times about teaching children about dog behaviour to try to reduce the number of dog attacks.  The Wood Green Animal Charity had produced a short informative video that I would highly recommend for parents to show their young children: http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/pet_advice/dog_safety

But I am not here to scare you...

A child is more likely to die choking on a marble or balloon, and an adult is more likely to die in a bedroom slipper related accident. Your chances of being killed by a dog are roughly one in 18 million. You are five times more likely to be killed by a bolt of lightening.

I am trying to make people more aware of the dangers so these tragic accidents are greatly reduced from the figure they are at today!



References:  The Veterinary Times, The Mirror, Safety around Dogs.