Dog Attacks and Children

 

Lately, there are many stories out again about children being bitten by dogs.

The problem with todays society is that we believe that dogs have to accept everything that is being done to them. We see the dogs in movies and on tv and think every dog is like that. They forget these dogs are trained and still won't like everything being done to them. 

How many times aren’t there videos posted on the internet showing dogs being ridden like horses? Dogs being ridiculed when they have made a mess in the house. The guilty look doesn’t exist. People think it does, but dogs respond to our behavior and body language, our tone of voice. The internet is flooded with videos of children and dogs and many think it’s cute or funny. But it’s not and it can cause serious harm to the child. It’s time we look at how the dog feels.

 

When it comes to children, they explore our world but touching, pulling and tasting. This includes our dogs. They love to pull tails, ears, lips and hug them tight. Our dogs have to undergo all this without flinching. We expect that of them. That the dog has his own mind about this, is not taken into consideration.

When you see these videos, you can clearly see the dog’s body language. It can be subtle signs like lip licking or diverting their eyes. The more obvious signs include walking away and growling.

When you hear stories of how the dog bit out of nowhere, the question always remains, did he?

Many people don’t understand dog language and that’s okay. But they do need to think about the dog and their feelings. They do need to realize a dog can ask for boundaries. They can also be in pain or have an injury. It is also important to give a dog peace and a quiet space while he is eating. A child who crawls up to a dog while he is eating or chewing a bone, can defend his food.

Children need to be taught how to respect a dog’s boundaries. This is why it is always said that dogs and kids shouldn’t be left unsupervised.

 To tell you a little personal story. When I just started walking, we visited people with a dog. I lost my balanced while standing and fell on the dog who was sleeping. This dog responded instinctively and bit me. He got me in the head and I was heavily bleeding. I needed a lot of stitches. The dog was never blamed or killed for this accident. He wasn’t vicious, he wasn’t trying to cause harm. He got spooked by a child falling on him while he was asleep. It was not his fault, it was mine!

These things can happen, but lately news reports several incidents with dogs biting children and many dogs are being destroyed because of it. It is a genuine reason for a healthy dog to be destroyed. So many unnecessary deaths are happening because parents don’t take their responsibility and teach their children to respect a dog. They force the dog to handle whatever the child wants to do and they laugh and post it online. But in the end, the dog will always be blamed since he was the one causing serious harm.

He doesn’t have a voice. He can’t tell you that he is uncomfortable.

Respect your dog and teach your children the same respect.