Kids And Dog Safety
What should you teach kids about dog safety?
Are there specific breeds that parents should tell children to steer clear of?
How do kids recognize an unsafe dog?
Kids have an instinct to ‘make friends’ with the dogs they bump into. And almost always this will be a pleasant experience for the child and the dog.
To keep your kids completely safe, the advice would be never to have any contact with a dog they don’t know.
Whilst this is the ’safe’ advice, the kids would be missing out on the fun of a doggy encounter and possibly make them nervous or fearful of dogs in the future.
To keep dogs and kids safe during a meeting, my advise would be:
* if the dog is significantly larger than the child, best to avoid contact
* if the dog is running free and there is no sign of the owner, best to avoid contact
* if the child is not used to stroking dogs, best to avoid contact. Even the friendliest dog will get grumpy if poked and pulled by an inquisitive child.
* if the child is eating a snack, best to avoid contact. The child’s bag of chips will probably be at ‘nose-level’ for the dog, and most dogs will give in to the temptation of sneeking a treat for themselves!
* if the kid has a ball, best to avoid contact. The dog will probably think that the ball is there for him to play with and may try to take it off the child
If the kids are playing and running around in the park and a strange dog comes running in, the best advice is to stay still. If the kid runs away, the dog will think this is a game and chase the child. A still child will be ‘boring’ to the dog and the dog will soon move onto something more interesting!
Remember to be vigilant and carefully supervise any contact between a kid and a dog, particularly during a chance meeting in the park.
dog training
khealey on October 5th 2007 in Dog Training