Dog Safety Tips for Parents
Dog Safety Tips for Parents
| Few people would let their child play with a running lawn mower. Yet
kids by the millions will play with much more dangerous things than lawn
mowers this summer. While many dogs may be good with kids, most kids are
not good with dogs. An estimated 4.7 million dog bites occur in the U.S.
each year, the majority of these cases are young children.
Small children are guaranteed to unnerve the friendliest dog. Among other things, little kids scream, run quickly, stare blankly and "pat the nice doggie" on the head. They also give hugs and fall from unsteady feet while waving sticks, and thereby hitting sleeping dogs. They throw things, grab fur and slap dogs' faces and eyes. Even aside from reasons on self-defense, dogs may bite kids. Dogs are coursing animals; they chase things. Like Greyhounds after mechanical rabbits, dogs have an instinctive reaction to chase anything that moves quickly in front of them. Running children furnish an irresistible target. Wild dogs attack anything that screams. Many domesticated dogs have retained that behavior. A running, screaming child can turn a normally friendly dog into a very dangerous animal. Staring can also cause trouble. Dogs recognize direct eye contact as a challenge or threat. Small children spend much of their time staring at things. The dog will assume that the child is challenging the dog's position in the pack, the possession of a bone or its territory. Touching a dog on the head, neck or shoulders is also a threat. If a child suddenly hugs a dog, the dog may react by snapping. The dog is simply asserting his or her position as an adult member of the pack. The snap is not ment to do damage. If the object of the bite were a puppy, the pup's thick skin and hair would prevent any real damage to it. However, a childs' soft, thin skin may be severely injured. If a dominant adult dog attacks a puppy, the pup knows exactly what to do-roll over on it's back, tuck it's tail, avoid eye contact and lick the face of the attacking dog. The adult dog will stop attacking as soon as it sees these signs of submission. Until the victim submits, the adult will instinctively keep attacking. Yet a two-year-old child is not going to lay down and lick the face of a snarling, snapping dog. He is going to run away, screaming. That is the very worst thing a child could do, although it is natural human reaction. Dog bites occur for many reasons. Responsible dog ownership-including proper socialization, humane training, sterilization, and safe confinement- are necessary to prevent dogs from biting. Most often bites occur because owners have failed to provide these components. More links on child/dog saftey http://www.canismajor.com/dog/kidsdog2.html http://www.wonderpuppy.net/canwehelp/kids.htm http://www.homevet.com/petcare/kidspets.html And this one is good for the kids (if their old enough). |
