Any Dog Can Bite Your Child. Here Are 5 Tips To Keep Them Safe!

Just about every time you hear about someone’s pet dog biting them or another person, their owner will say that it was completely out of character for their canine companion.

While this may be true for some dogs, the truth is that even the most well-trained and best-behaving dogs bite sometimes. Dogs will most often bite when they are being taunted, afraid, startled, woken up from a nap, or in pain and just don’t have another way to express it. As adults, we know not to corner a dog, surprise them, or threaten them in any way, but dogs can often mistake childrens’ playful behavior as dangerous.

There is no doubt that most family dogs are loving protectors who would never hurt your little one, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen… or that someone else’s dog won’t. Luckily, there are many things we can do to help keep our older kids safe and prevent our dogs from hurting our young babies.

Here are some ways parents can minimize the risk of dog bites for their children, via Statesman Journal:

1. Don’t push the baby at the dog.

Would you push the baby toward the butcher block full of knives? Toward a fireplace? Of course not. So don’t push it at the dog. Teach it to leave the dog alone, right from the start. Babies don’t have much in the way of fine motor control. They grab. Even an infant, if you put your finger in its tiny hand, will latch on. So if you push them at the dog, they pull its fur. No one likes having their hair pulled.

2. Set up safe places for the dog.

As baby turns to crawling, then to a toddler, the dog needs a place to get away. Lurching, tumbling babies are scary. They can easily fall over onto a sleeping dog, and startled dogs can bite in reflex. Use baby gates to keep the dog and baby apart.

3. Supervise.

Once the child is more stable, begin to introduce respectful interactions. Have the child toss a ball for the dog, or hold one end of a rope toy for the dog to pull, while the child is safely contained on your lap. Unless you are actively supervising, separate them. “Actively” means not watching TV or playing on your phone, by the way.

4. Set up successes.

If the child wants to help walk the dog, great. Use two leashes. Attach both leashes to the collar and let the child hold one while you hold the other so you have control of the dog. If they want to use the tennis-ball launcher, great. You stand right there with the dog treats and reward the dog for dropping the ball well out of range of any wild swings. The child wants to feed the dog? Teach him the “find it” game, and let the child toss the kibble one piece at a time for the dog to “find,” or, for an older child, have them hide kibble in another room while you keep the dog occupied. They can stand in the doorway and praise the dog for finding the food they have hidden. These games involve the child while keeping the dog well away from the food in their hands. The games also help the dog associate the child with positives (aka food).

5. Teach respect.

This is important for your own dog as well as when you are out and about. Don’t let your child rush up to a strange dog. Teach them to ask the owner before approaching or touching a dog. It’s also important that they never go up to a dog that’s alone, since you don’t know how it will react. Dogs chained in a yard are the most likely to bite, by the way.

How do you teach your children to be safe around your family pets? Please let us know in the comments and SHARE this helpful information with other parents on Facebook!

[Featured Image: Shutterstock]

Any Dog Can Bite Your Child. Here Are 5 Tips To Keep Them Safe! is an article from: LifeDaily