Make the Most of Dog Bite Prevention Week: May 15-21

When I hear the words, “dog bite prevention,” images of mail carriers and children are what leap to mind.

In fact, I once worked with a woman who said she was actually inspired to become a dog trainer after having been threatened and even bitten by many of the dogs on her route. Although it’s possible she was just unlucky in the route she was assigned, I have to think that the Dog Bite Prevention Week posters I see in local post offices point to her story being not all that uncommon.

According to the Dog Bite Fact Sheet published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), half of the reported dog bites each year are to children, with children between the ages of five and nine being the most at risk.

Since man’s best friend is an integral part of our society, it’s likely that you or your child will encounter dogs in daily life, whether or not you own one. It may happen on a walk around town, at your child’s sports match or perhaps even while visiting a friend’s house.

It’s critical that not just dog owners, but rather, all members of our society have at least some basic knowledge of how to avoid being bitten by a dog. The good news is that there are more amazing educational resources on this topic than ever before.

In my view, there are three main areas to focus on:  learning to read canine body language, management to prevent situations that may lead to dog bites and dog training to change a dog’s emotional and physical response to any triggers that might cause them to feel the need to bite.

Learning to read canine body language is perhaps the single biggest thing every member of society can do in the name of dog bite prevention. So very often, my dog training students explain in astonishment how their dog nipped at someone without warning. So very often, when I observe the same dog in a similar situation with my own eyes, the signals the dog gives to let us know that it feels stressed and that it needs us to give it space are as clear as day. Once you know what to look for, you’ll have an invaluable dog bite prevention tool to rely on whenever and wherever you encounter a dog.

Doggone Safe offers an online course called “Learn to Speak Dog and Teach Your Kids.” You can even download a free demo before signing up to take the full online course for $30. Doggone Safe’s “Be a Tree” program is also an excellent resource for helping children with or without dogs learn how to be safe around the dogs they encounter. I also recommend the following DVDs that explain and clearly demonstrate important canine body language: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas and The Language of Dogs by Sarah Kalnajs.

Dog training is another can’t-do-without tool that anyone who has a dog should invest in. If you have a young, clean-slate puppy, find a reputable training program to enroll in right off the bat rather than waiting for trouble to show up. I always say that prevention is much easier than fixing a behavioral problem once it’s become a well-practiced habit.

Young puppies recover from “scary” experiences much more easily than they will do later in life, so it’s important to take advantage during this “socialization period” to make sure that they have many positive experiences with all manner of people, places, sights, sounds, creatures, all ages of children and so on. Also teach your puppy from a young age to happily and enthusiastically give up objects to limit the chances of “resource guarding” (the cause of many bites) later in life.

Older dogs can learn to overcome behavioral problems as well as ones based in inadequate socialization—it just usually takes much more time and work. If you need such help with your adolescent or adult dog, private training for behavioral problem solving is often the best option.

I have a couple of favorite resources to share when it comes specifically to helping your dog (of any age) learn how to behave around children and raising your child to know how to be safe around dogs.

• I’ve been recommending Colleen Pelar’s book, Living with Kids and Dogs…Without Losing Your Mind for years. The book is a quick read and a great resource full of ideas for managing kids and dogs together at various stages of a child’s development. The only problem is that you can’t ask your questions to a book…which leads me to my next suggestion.
• Family Paws offers two programs I highly recommend (although I have to admit in full disclosure that I’m part of a national network of licensed presenters for both of these): Dogs and Storks™ helps families with dogs prepare for life with baby; The Dog and Baby Connection™ helps families learn how to keep their dog and child safe together as the baby becomes a more mobile and active youngster. These services are offered in a variety of formats, including group workshops and private consultations. There are now also online Parent Webinars led by a live, licensed presenter on topics including the “New Parent Survival Series,” “Crawling, Walking and Dogs…Oh, My!” and a class on “Including Your Family Dog Once Baby Arrives.”

If you do nothing else, at least make a commitment to learning the language of dogs so that you can recognize when a dog is feeling uncomfortable and is asking for space—then respect such requests when you see them. Pass this knowledge on to anyone else who is willing to listen and learn.

If you own a dog, also consider learning to identify “triggers” that may make your dog uncomfortable, then be your dog’s advocate, protecting him from these situations by using management techniques in the short term as you work to change his emotional response to them over time.

The more people we can convince to join this bandwagon, the less need there will be for anything like “Dog Bite Prevention Week” in the future.