Be aware of dogs and kids together.
This article is about the risk of children and dogs playing together.
Children likes to play with dogs, but do supervise this in case either the child or the dog gets hurt. A child may hit a dog in the eye, stand on it, pull its tail or pick it up wrongly. The nails of the dog or its teeth can hurt the child. If a dog feels threatened or frightened – it will defend itself.
Parents need to teach their children how to treat and handle a dog. If you can’t train the dog, train the child instead. Training a dog to respect a child can be difficult, as the dog may see the child as a playmate or underling, and not “the real master”.
The child needs to understand, that a growl means; stop your actions. The next step, even more threading, is the snarl; the dog bares its teeth and its eyes are becoming bigger. Its raises his hackles to make itself look bigger and more ferocious.(trick from the animals world). The snarl mean, stop your actions or I WILL BITE. Last warning from me.
Children need to be taught never to touch a strange dog, in spite it seems friendly. Tail-wagging can mean the dog is insecure. Kids should NEVER look a strange dog in the eye, as the dog may see it as a challenge. Children should never run away from or past a dog, but walk slowly or stand complete still. Dogs often chase runners and fast moving things like bicycles, and cars. Screaming can alarm the dog and could make the situation worse, if the dog is about to attack. Instead the child should call the dog and let the dog be the one to approach the child. The dog is then showing submission.
Children should NEVER touch a dog’s toy, bone, water or food. They should respect a dog’s privacy. Puppies need lots of naps during the day to give their body time to grow. Leave the puppie alone, while it is a sleep. Take especially care of the child, if bitches with puppies are around. They are very fierce to defend their young ones.
If a dog is threatens a kid, tell him to distract the dog with a stick to throw (not at the dog) or a lunchbox or a toy. Take the attention away from the attack-situation. Children can protect their face with a bag or a jacket and finally, if you can, teach the child to be calm.
