Last week I talked about how to avoid dog bites in children. I now want to cover important warning signs given by dogs that they may be about to bite. Watch out for these signs whenever your child is around a dog, as picking up on these signs may prevent a bite.
- Look for stress signals. These include yawning, licking lips and showing the whites of their eyes. This is the dog saying “I’m not completely comfortable he, I’ll show my stress in a subtle, non-aggressive way”
- Change in body language. If the dog becomes tense or appears “stiff”, or stops panting when a child is near, this is a sign of stress. This is a good early warning sign that the dog is not comfortable with the situation.
- Watch for avoidance behavior. If the dog is walking away from a child it means it doesn’t want to “play”. This is very important to watch for as this is how many children get bitten. Often a dog will back away and the child keeps following. Eventually the dog will get to a place like its kennel where it can’t back away any more. If the child keeps following, the dog may feel like it has no choice to bite the child to get it away from them
- Make sure the child is behaving well. If the child is pulling ears, jumping on the dog or hurting it, it’s not surprising if the dog bites. Teach your kid to be gentle with dogs and how to safely approach a dog
- Growling is a warning. If the dog is growling it is trying very hard to get the message across that it is REALLY unhappy with the situation. It means “stop doing what you’re doing or I will bite you”. Take a growl very seriously.
Properly training and socialising your dog when young can help prevent dog bites. The Bunbury Vet Clinic runs Puppy Preschool for young puppies, where your puppy can be socialised in a safe, clean environment and you can learn a lot about becoming a great dog owner.