Dog Bite Injuries – Children Most at Risk

If you have spent much time here at my blog, you know I love my dogs.  I have sewn up many wounds / lacerations due to dog bites, so I have no illusions that dogs won’t bite.  They do and children are the ones most at risk of those injuries. 

That fact has been reinforced in a recently published study in the March issue of the journal Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.  The study also indicates that most of these injuries occur in warmer weather, so it is time to become more watchful.

Of the 84 children with dog-bite injuries who were treated by the researchers in the study, the average age was 6 years (ranged from 10 months to 19 years).  Approximately half of the injured children were 4 years old or younger.

The family pet was to blame in 27% of the cases. The most common areas injuries were to the cheek (34%) and the lips (21%). Dog bites are considered contaminated wound injuries, but the study found that wound healing was excellent in most of the cases. Infections were infrequent.

It is important for parents to teach their children how to treat dogs. It is important for us dog owners to teach our dogs obedience.  It is reported that neutered dogs are less likely to bite.

Each year, nearly 1 million Americans seek medical attention for dog bites; half of these are children.  Dog bites are a largely preventable public health problem, and adults and children can learn to reduce their chances of being bitten.

 

Basic safety around dogs

• Do not approach an unfamiliar dog.

• Do not run from a dog and scream.

• Remain motionless (“be still like a tree”) when approached by an unfamiliar dog.

• If knocked over by a dog, roll into a ball and lie still (“be still like a log”).

• A child should not play with a dog unless supervised by an adult.

• A child should immediately report stray dogs or dogs displaying unusual behavior to an adult.

• Avoid direct eye contact with a dog.

• Do not disturb a dog who is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies.

• Do not a pet a dog without asking permission from its owner first.

• Do not pet a dog without allowing it to see and sniff you first.

 

Things to consider before adding a dog to your household

• Learn about suitable breeds of dogs for your household.

• Dogs with histories of aggression are inappropriate in households with children.

• If your child is fearful or apprehensive around dogs, then don’t get one. it will not make the child less fearful.

• Spend time with a dog before buying or adopting it. Use caution when bringing a dog into the home of an infant or toddler.

• Spay/neuter virtually all dogs (this frequently reduces aggressive tendencies).

• Never leave infants or young children alone with any dog.

• Do not play aggressive games with your dog (e.g. wrestling).

• Properly socialize and train any dog entering the household. Teach the dog submissive behaviors (e.g. rolling over to expose abdomen and relinquishing food without growling.

• Immediately seek professional advice (e.g. from veterinarians or animal trainers) if the dog develops aggressive or undesirable behaviors.

 

REFERENCE

Head and neck dog bites in children; Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Volume 140, Issue 3, Pages 354-357 (March 2009); Angelo Monroy, MDac, Philomena Behar, MDac, Mark Nagy, MDab, Christopher Poje, MDac, Michael Pizzuto, MDac, Linda Brodsky, MDabc

Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Dog Bite Prevention; Suture for a Living, June 7, 2009

American Kennel Club

 

 

Dog Bite Research - Unsupervised Children At Highest Risk of Bite

You can read the press release from the University of Colorado, Denver here.

First, it should be duly noted that the research occurred at the Children’s Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. It also services Denver. The college is one of the best medical and teaching hospitals in the nation, so I imagine they get in cases from across the state and country.

Aurora and Denver both have Pit Bull bans. Denver has the highest rate of dog bite hospitalizations in the state. This could be a reason you do not see Pit Bull bites in the study, but I do not believe this to be the case. Denver still kills 800-1,000 Pit Bulls a year so they certainly still exist and are still being owned by people.

The study covered 537 facial bites to children between 2003-2008. This is not an all-inclusive dog-bite study, to be sure. Nearly 70% of the victims were under the age of 5. The dogs were mostly known entities, that is they were not victims of stray or loose dog attacks. I’m not sure I agree with the assertion that 50% of all people will get bitten and 80% will be in the facial region – I’d like to see the reasoning for this statistic.

Second, I disagree strongly with two of the study author’s claims.

The first is that once a dog bites, s/he will always bite harder the second time and that the dog should always be removed from the home after the first bite. The second is that parents should recognize “aggressive breeds”.

Vikram Durairaj, the study’s author, is not a dog expert. He is not an animal behaviorist. He is an associate professor of Opthalmology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.Working in his field means he is exposed to victims of dog bites to the face. His expertise is in dealing with the aftermath of a dog bite and the intricate dancework needed to repair that damage.

I point this out not because I think Durairaj is inept or ignorant, only that his knowledge base is of a different scope than someone who specializes in the agonistic behavior of the domestic canine.

While I certainly am no expert on aggressive dog behavior, other experts have shown aggression in dogs is not a simple one-variable trait. A dog may bite because he is sick or in physical pain. She may bite because you are denying her access to a highly desirable resource, she has low bite threshold, and she is easily aroused to using teeth. He may bite because he has not been taught bite inhibition. She may bite because she is afraid or protecting puppies.

A dog bite is not a simple “If x, then y”. It is dangerous to state that a) a dog will always bite harder the second time and b) a dog must always be removed after the first bite. I am not suggesting a biting dog always be kept or that a biting dog will NEVER bite harder the second time. I am suggesting we think of dogs as complex, sentient beings capable of interacting in different ways with their environment AND with the ability to modify and learn alternative or new behaviors. Obviously if a person is unable to manage the situation that leads to an aggressive encounter, or the initial encounter is unusually severe (i.e. multiple bites when a “nip” would have been appropriate, in dog-speak), or the individual cannot modify the behavior…then yes, the dog is better off in a different situation.

On the second point, and I think you Labrador Retriever owners will appreciate this, I believe Durairaj is wrong in asserting that parents need to know “aggressive breeds” before welcoming a dog into their home. In his study, mixed breed dogs and Labrador Retrievers were the most likely to bite a child’s face. He is essentially stating that mixed breeds and Labrador Retrievers are aggressive breeds.

Giving due consideration to a dog’s individual personality, behavioral traits, and if they are purebred, an understanding of the breed’s history and traditional “use” in our culture and society is absolutely fair. But breeds cannot be aggressive, individuals can.

The take-home point from this study, I suppose, is to be aware that your dog is not an automaton. He is not a bombproof creature. He is a domestic biological carnivore with sharp teeth. He sometimes eat shit and decomposing animals. She licks her crotch and snarls over bones. She barks to talk and sometimes flags her tail when she’s excited, not just when she is happy. Even though we share so much of our lives with dogs, we seem bent on misunderstanding them, treating them as if they comprehend the social morays of our world. We are lucky they do not bite us more.

KC Dog Blog has a posting too

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