5 rules to help children avoid dog bites? Nearly five million people are bitten by dogs each year in the U.S. alone, and nearly half of those are children. Many children are naturally drawn to dogs, but that can be the recipe for disaster. Here are five things you can do to help protect your children from dog bites — and to protect dogs, which are frequently put down if they ever do bite a child. 1.
Stranger Danger The most important rule to teach to children is to never approach a dog that they do not know, even if the dog seems friendly. Some dogs are naturally skittish around children because kids can be very high energy and unpredictable. Combine that with a child running straight toward a dog, and even the most docile animal can snap out defensively. If the dog is with its owner, teach your children to ask from a distance if they can approach the dog, and to not feel bad if the owner says “No.”
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Stay Calm If a strange dog does approach a child, they should remain calm and still. Running away can trigger the dog’s prey drive and cause it to chase the child. Loud noises, like yelling, can also increase a dog’s energy level and make it anxious, meaning that it’s more likely to become aggressive. If a dog knocks the child down, the child should roll into a ball and stay still, protecting their neck and head with their hands and arms — 66% of dog bite injuries to children under the age of four are to these areas.
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See Something, Say Something Teach your children to inform an adult immediately if they see a dog behaving unusually. Erratic behavior in a dog can be a sign of rabies, while a dog racing around unsupervised can be an indicator of aggression or excess of energy.