Child Safety Around Pets
The importance of managing and supervising small children around pets
The facts about attacks on children by dogs
It is very rare indeed for a child to be attacked by a dog when compared to the number of dogs owned in Britain. Terrible incidents do occur however and they are often well publicised and hotly debated. What tends not to happen is a proper analysis of the dynamics of dog and child. The dog is usually put down very quickly –an understandable wish to punish the dog on the family’s party - but not helpful in providing insight to why these incidents happen.
If we love our animals surely we want to understand them better? Pet Owners Association wishes to raise awareness about how such tragedies can be avoided by considering the research which has been carried out in this area.
How dogs are kept and treated
Your dog is a highly intelligent creature and generally under-stimulated and under exercised in the home environment. Some dogs have a naturally high prey drive. This is more problematic for some breeds than others.
Dogs are also rarely formally trained, or are trained in an aggressive way. Many dogs are yelled at, hit, and their leads pulled sharply in order to make them behave. Studies have shown that aggressive discipline towards a dog will lead that dog to be aggressive itself.
Dog as weapon
It is a sad fact that certain owners train their dogs to be aggressive in order to protect them as a reaction to the human society in which they live and/or to act as some sort of macho living accessory. A dog owned by such an individual is positively taught to be anti social in certain encounters with other humans and so may be confused about how it should behave under different circumstances. This type of dog in a home where there are also small children can be a recipe for disaster. Both dogs and children are often in the care of adults who are not adequately equipped to manage them.
Where your dog came from
Unfortunately the existence of unscrupulous breeders and puppy farms means that puppies are often simply produced for quantity rather than bread for good temperament. Also in this environment young dogs do not learn to socialise with other animals and humans (especially children). This means that puppies may learn to be fearful and insecure, and as is the case with many insecure humans, this may lead to aggression as a defence mechanism.
Children and dogs – a clash of behaviours
Children love dogs and owning a dog can offer many benefits to growing children; teaching them about kindness, sharing and responsibility and offering them a non-judgemental friend. Small children however may be hard for a dog in cope with for various reasons.
When children are small they look a dog in the eye – which dogs do not like; they find it threatening. Most children are bitten on the face for this reason. Given that some dogs are over 3 feet tall at the muzzle this can be a danger until children are 8 or 9. And if the dog is on the floor playing with a child then this is a danger even with smaller dogs, many of which, particularly terriers have large, immensely strong jaws for their body size.
A dog or cat appears like a living soft toy to many children, they long to hug and kiss them. Animals do not always like this type of handling, particularly around their sensory centre – the face and nose and ears.
Children often move quickly – this can stimulate the prey instinct in dogs.
Children allowed to tease dogs will increasingly frustrate a dog. The child may not be able to read the dog’s warning signs – flattened ears, growling or even just trying to get away while still being pursued by their small tormentor. The dog may finally act with aggressive defence.
Children can wittingly and unwittingly physically hurt a dog and it will react to this. The unpredictable higher pitched explosive sounds that children make can startle and make a dog frightened.
Dogs Trust tend to advise on their re-homing information that dogs that do not get on with children should not be in a house where there are children are under 12 years old. Similarly they will advise whether a particular dog enjoys being cuddled
Even dogs who are gentle and comfortable with children should not be allowed to sleep with a small child. Some terrible bites have occured when a sleeping dog has been woken suddenly, either deliberately or by accident (the child rolls over onto the dog for example). As owners we must remember that we share our home with an animal that was once a wild pack animal and who had to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
It is important to teach your child the correct etiquette with strange dogs. No matter how beautiful and inviting looking the creature appears, a child should never be allowed to rush to the animal. If its owner is there children should learn to ask permission to touch the dog and if they are allowed to should approach the animal tentatively as its owner recommends. Don’t allow your child to create a situation unwittingly where they could get hurt and the animal will be blamed, when human management was at fault.
In brief
Do not leave a young child alone with a dog.
Dogs should not be allowed to sleep in the same bed as a small child.
Teach your child the correct way to great a strange dog.
Cats, rabbits and other animals
As we have said having a pet is of great benefit to growing children and from their earliest days of free movement children can be taught that animals need to be treated kindly and gently that they are NOT soft toys no matter how cuddly they look. Pets should be left alone when they are sleeping and eating and children should try to respect the fact that they do not like loud noises, sudden movements or being grabbed.
A cat can inflict a very nasty scratch or bite (of particular danger around the child’s eyes). Because of its size, even a small child can hold a cat against its will. If it starts to struggle and show signs of distress, lashing tail and flattened ears for example, there is danger ahead. Children should be taught that they should not get the cat to this stage.
Show your growing toddler how to be gentle with your pets and get them involved with feeding, grooming and playing as appropriate. For a rabbit and other smaller animals make sure there is somewhere for the pet to go and hide away from the over-attention of children and for a cat provide a place high up in a room where it can go when things get too hectic for it, to feel safe and see what is happening below.
Comments
Be the first to comment using the form below!