Comments on: Dogs and Children – How to Prevent Dog Attacks

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:08:22 +0000

Not all dog owners are as responsible as the people on this page. While walking on a busy street, minding our own buisness, a dog attempted to attack my child. If it were not for people coming to our aide I don’t know what would have happened. My problem now is that my child is absolutely terrified of dogs since the incident, her reaction is to run behind me when she sees a dog and this can sometimes encourage a dogs attention. Can anyone give me any advice? There is no way my daughter will go near the friendliest of dogs now even though I have told her dogs won’t even notice her if she “acts boring”. Can I ask you to bear in mind we live in an area where there are many unresponsible dog owners and being vigilant is of the upmost importance. It really pains me that my five year old has been too scared to skip or run ahead of me for the past two months.

By: shibashake

shibashake — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:33:34 +0000

Hello Amanda,

Did something change over the past month that triggered this behavior? Does he growl all of the time when she is near? Does he only growl when there are toys around? Does he only growl when they are playing?

A sudden behavior change like that usually arises from some trigger – some change to the routine. The more we can understand what the cause is, the better we will be able to retrain and redirect the behavior.

When there are kids around, I always have my dogs on-leash so that I have good control of them. I only allow greetings when everyone is calm. I also have very clear people-interaction rules that I teach to my dogs, for example no jumping and no mouthing.

If my dog gets overly excited, and starts to jump, I no-mark the behavior and bring him away. Distance helps to weaken the strength of the stimulus and helps to calm him down. Once he is calm, we can try again. Here is a bit more on people desensitization exercises.

When it comes to aggression issues though, it is best to get help from a professional trainer. Dog behavior is highly contextual and it helps when a trainer can read the dog’s body language, evaluate his temperament, identify what is triggering the behavior, and come up with a safe plan for retraining the behavior.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 11:02:44 +0000

My dog had developed a habit over the past month of growling at or biting (he’s never broken the skin) my six year old daughter. He is 5 and has lived with us since he was a puppy. He doesn’t do it with anyone other than her and the cat, however my husband is adamant that he has to go. I’m really at a loss as to what to go about his behaviour, the rest of the time he is gentle and well behaved?

By: shibashake

shibashake — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:39:29 +0000

Yeah, sadly it is always the dog that gets blamed and the dog that has to pay the ultimate price.
http://shibashake.com/dog/why-dogs-attack

By: eddiesmom

eddiesmom — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:29:22 +0000

awesome advice i always feel like the dog does get the most of the blame even if its not entirely their fault. it reminds me of a story on the news last year lol i always have a story. they said a one year old was viciously attacked by the family pet siberian husky who was 6months old (now remember viciously attacked) the dog jumped on the child, child fell backwards and hit his head on the end table and split it open. the animal control removed the dog and had it evaluated. hhmmmmm maybe your with me on this and maybe your not but husky pups are full of energy the child was prob playing with a toy and the pup wanted the toy too and jumped and thats when the baby fell. now viciously attacked i think not, no bites at all by the way. it really irked me where the hell were the parents they both needed to be supervised especially a baby and a puppy what do you think ms shibashake?

By: Angela Lynn

Angela Lynn — Sun, 01 May 2011 10:02:04 +0000

I agree with those. Look at this way, if you don’t know the dog well then better to stay away from him. There are just incidents wherein some dogs become very aggressive at some point while others are naturally irritable to those they do not know. I’m glad that you made a post like this because it’s indeed helpful. Thanks!

By: quicksand

quicksand — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:48:39 +0000

P-p-p-p-p-lease d-o-o-o-ont!!!

By: shibashake

shibashake — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:47:39 +0000

Ok, I’m definitely coming over and letting my dogs hunt you down! My Siberian is quite good at knocking people over and then lick-bombing their faces.

Actually I could just spray you with watermelon juice and let your dog pack do the rest

By: quicksand

quicksand — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:46:39 +0000

I am at a loss for words! I can only say “woof! woof!” … you know the rest don’t ya?

By: shibashake

shibashake — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:45:39 +0000

Hi Whitney, You bring up some really good points that I will have to add to the article. I think the "be a tree" advice is right on, although it can be difficult for some children to follow :) Also very good advice with hand sniffing. I usually hold the child's hand in mine to offer added reassurance to the child and to make sure that the child does not panic and make quick hand movements in front of the dog.

It is very unfortunate that dogs always get the blame in an attack; and often end up paying with their lives. I personally feel that the adult owners of the dog, frequently deserve most of the blame. As was described by Leah Kay, the Pup, when the situation became too difficult, they just moved on to protect their dog from surrounding unpleasantness. True, it can be annoying to have to leave a shared public space, but our laws do little to protect our dogs, so it falls upon the owners to take up the bulk of that responsibility. There really should be better protection laws for dogs and animals though. At the very least there should be more controls at the breeder and sale level.