National Dog Bite Prevention Week- Preventing Bites in Children

In the first part of our series, we discussed why dogs bite. Today, we’re going to discuss how to prevent dog bites in children. Below are some interesting statistics on dog bites in children:

According to the American Humane Association:

• 50% of dog attacks involved children under 12 years old


• 82% of dog bites treated in the emergency room involved children under 15 years old


• 70% of dog-bite fatalities occurred among children under 10 years old⁵
  


• Bite rates are dramatically higher among children who are 5 to 9 years old


• Unsupervised newborns were 370 times more likely than an adult to be killed by a dog


• 65% of bites among children occur to the head and neck


• Boys under the age of 15 years old are bitten more often than girls of the same age

Although adults do often get dog bites, it is blatantly obvious that children are the more likely victims of being bitten or attacked by dogs. Children don’t always have the best manners, and may treat dogs like they would a stuffed animal. The only difference is a stuffed animal can’t cause severe injury or bodily harm! Here are some helpful tips on how to prevent dog bites in children.

The first way to prevent bites or attacks is to never, EVER leave an infant or a young child alone with a dog. If they are left alone and the child is bitten, you have no way to know if the child provoked the attack or if it was unprovoked. It is unfortunate, but if something happens to your child when you’re not there, odds are you will never be able to trust your dog again, and your dog can sense that distrust.

Dr. Sophia Yin

Next, make sure you start educating your children at an early age. Dr. Stacey Kilcullen highly recommends that everyone check out Dr. Sophia Yin’s Website. Dr. Sophia Yin is an internationally acclaimed veterinary behaviorist, and her website has an entire section on dog bite prevention, with a variety of links geared toward preventing dog bites in children. Click Here for a direct link to this section of her website.

When your child meets an unknown dog, always make sure you have your child ask the owner if it’s OK to pet their dog. Asking permission is not only a courtesy to the pet owner, but if the pet is not friendly then a crisis is diverted.

If there is an unknown dog loose in your neighborhood, your child should not run, and especially not scream. Running and screaming will attract the dog, and make the dog more likely to chase them. Instead, stand motionless. The best way to describe this to a child is by telling them to “be still like a tree.”

Instruct your child to never approach a dog when they are sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies. If a dog is woken from a deep enough sleep, it could seriously scare the dog, causing it to lash out and who/whatever happens to be closest. Some dogs are also food aggressive, and if approach while eating may think that you are a threat to their food.

Sources:

http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/stop-animal-abuse/fact-sheets/dog-bites.html