Tips to prevent dog bites
During the third week in May — National Dog Bite Prevention Week — many organizations will be calling attention to one of the nation’s most commonly reported public health problems: dog bites.
Doggone Safe and Holistic Behavior Solutions offer the following tips for parents and dog owners to help keep kids safe:
The three most important things to teach your kids
Dogs Don’t Like Hugs and Kisses — Teach your kids not to hug or kiss a dog on the face. Hugging the family dog or face-to-face contact are common causes of bites to the face. Instead, teach kids to scratch the dog on the chest or the side of the neck.
Be a Tree if a Strange Dog Approaches — Teach kids to stand still, like a tree. Trees are boring and the dog will eventually go away.
Never Tease a Dog — and never disturb a dog that’s sleeping, eating or protecting something.
The two most important things parents can do
Supervise — Don’t assume your dog is good with kids. If a toddler must interact with your dog, you should have your hands on the dog too. Even if your dog is great with kids and has never bitten — why take a chance?
Train the dog — Take your dog to obedience classes where positive-reinforcement is used. Never pin, shake, choke, hold the dog down or roll the dog over to teach it a lesson. Dogs treated this way are likely to turn their aggression on weaker family members.
The three most important things dog owners can do
Spay or Neuter Your Dog — Neutered pets are calmer, healthier and less likely to be aggressive. Neutering prevents unwanted dogs that may end up in shelters.
Condition Your Dog for the World — Give your puppy lots of new positive experiences. Train using positive methods i.e. clicker training.
Supervise Your Dog — Supervise your dog at all times around children. Do not allow children to hug and kiss the dog. If visiting children are bothering your dog, put the dog away or send the children home.
Doggone Safe, a non-profit organization dedicated to dog bite prevention through education offers free information at its website www.doggonesafe.com.