6 Things Parents Need to Know to Keep Their Kids Safe Around Dogs

Ever wonder why even the most adorable family pet can turn aggressive in certain situations? As a certified dog behavior consultant, I'm here to help you decode this in our episode on keeping kids safe around dogs. We underscore the importance of supervision, not just indoors but outdoors as well, where children may encounter unfamiliar dogs. We discuss some surprising statistics about dog bites in the U.S and expose the massive underreporting of this issue.

In the second part of the discussion, we delve into the fundamental rules for child safety around dogs. We alert parents to overlooked signs of dog aggression like licking lips, ears back and wagging tail - yes, a wagging tail. Hugging dogs, getting face to face with them or disturbing them while they're asleep or resting – we caution against these seemingly harmless actions.

As adults, it's our responsibility to recognize these signs and supervise kids when they're around dogs to ensure their safety. You won't want to miss this eye-opening conversation. Tune in and let's navigate the complex world of dog behavior together to create a safer environment for our children.

About Scott Sheaffer
Scott Sheaffer, CCBC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA, is a certified dog behavior consultant who has worked with thousands of dog owners and their aggressive dogs. Scott specializes in the assessment and treatment of fear, anxiety, aggression, and phobias in dogs six months and older.

Show Links:
Stop the 77 (short video on child safety around dogs)

Social Media and Other Links:
DogAggressionAnswers.com (you can leave me a message here)
Facebook
Training Videos
Scott Sheaffer's Dog Behavior Articles 

Disclaimer
If you have a dog who is aggressive and dangerous to humans, it is important that you immediately consult directly with an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Take proper measures to ensure that your dog is never in a position to injure anyone. The information presented in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is neither intended nor implied to replace the need for the direct involvement of an experienced and certified canine behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression to humans. Scott Sheaffer, the Grumpy Dogs podcast and USA Dog Behavior, LLC, are not liable for any incidents or outcomes resulting from following the advice given in this podcast.

Transcript

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 0:00

Welcome to the Dog Aggression Answers podcast. I'm your host, scott Schaefer. Today we're talking about a very important topic how to keep kids safe around dogs. No one can guarantee that a dog, even your own, won't bite your child. I find some dog owners think their family dog would never hurt a flea, much less bite their own child. But remember that dogs are animals and, given the right circumstances, can and will respond to your child by biting. Even if you think your family dog would never bite your child, remember that your kid will be interacting with other dogs outside of your home that may not be so tolerant. Think about that for a second. We want to teach safety to your child regarding the family dog, but your child is much more likely to interact with lots of dogs outside of the home who really don't know. Your kid won't be so tolerant and there's probably a much higher risk of biting. So these rules that we're going to talk about today are, of course, important inside the home, but even more so outside your home. There are a million safety suggestions for how to keep kids safe around dogs, but I've provided you what I believe in this episode to be the six most essential ones.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 1:26

That's my job to pull from the universe of quote unquote dog wisdom and my own experience to provide you good, useful information. While we certainly don't want our children to be sinophobic C-Y-N-O-P-H-O-B-I-C is how that's spelled, and it means a phobia of dogs, an irrational fear of dogs you might be kind of interested to know that when I was a little kid I had sinophobia. I saw a dog and my heart rate would race and I would walk the other direction, praying to God that the dog wouldn't follow me. I can tell you, well, that might seem kind of funny now because I have conquered that. I love dogs so much and understand them. But I really also understand sinophobia too. I know what that feels like when I was a kid.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 2:16

While we don't want your kid to be sinophobic, we do need them to act appropriately around dogs in order to avoid getting injured. There is nothing more beautiful to me than to see a child and dog interacting lovingly and appropriately. But dogs can be dangerous and we must use care. It's been my experience that parents and other guardians can get a little careless in this area. Because the parents know and trust the dog and the dog knows and trusts the parents, the parents automatically assume their dog is going to do the same with their child. This is not always the case. Dogs don't necessarily see children as little adults that would be kind of Expecting a lot of them, to put that all together but instead see them as small bipeds that do three things that they don't like too much, and we've talked about these in prior episodes. Children move fast, they're loud and they move Unpredictably. As result, they can be scared of children and act aggressively toward them. This is such an important topic for parents and other guardians of children who have a family dog and or have a child that is exposed to dogs outside of the home but really isn't that just about every child? Let's jump into this. Stay tuned.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 3:47

Hi, I'm Scott Schaefer and you're listening to the dog aggression answers podcast. I've worked with thousands of aggressive dogs and their owners and I'm certified by two international Certifying organizations in dog behavior. In this podcast series, I'll explain why your dog is acting aggressively and provide recognized, science-based answers Things you can do to make things better. Understanding and addressing your dog's aggression will make living with your dog better and, let's not forget, improve your dog's life too. Before we get going, let's define what we mean by child or kids.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 4:27

I Generally am talking about children who are younger than 10 years of age. When I refer to children who we need to be especially mindful of when they are around any dogs, both dogs inside and outside of their family, and Children five and under an age are of special concern. Of course, there are certainly differences in the maturity and understanding in specific children, but I found these to be good general guidelines, basically children under 10. Of course, there are also instances of children 10 and older who behave improperly around dogs and are at risk, in other words, older children. Every situation is different and, again, these are only guidelines.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 5:12

As you know, dog bites are a leading cause of injury in children. Well, you know, I say as you know, but maybe you don't know that it's a big problem. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about Four and a half million children are bitten by dogs each year in the US. Of those, about 10,000 require medical attention in the emergency room. I can tell you from years of experience with aggressive dogs and children that these numbers are Dramatically and I mean dramatically under reported. How much are they under reported, who knows? But this issue is much bigger than even these figures suggest. The simple reason for this under reporting is that medical professionals are required to report any dog that is involved in a dog bite To, and this reporting is done to animal services. So the parents are thinking, gosh, we don't want to lose the dog, we don't want to have the dog taken to the pound, maybe be Sided, have a fine, something like this, put the dog in quarantine. So they just don't report it, and that is probably the primary reason these things are so under reported. By the way, this Extends far beyond just the child biting, just dog bites in general. I think one of the main reasons that they aren't reported is because of that.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 6:41

So what can parents do to keep three kids safe around aggressive dogs? Here are the six points that I talked about earlier to keep in mind and to teach your children and to teach yourself. Number one always supervise your children when they are around dogs. And Honestly, before I go any further, let me just say I don't mean Be in the home with that, with the child and the dog. In other words, you're in your bedroom and they're out in the den playing with the dog. I don't even really mean you're in the kitchen looking at the dog with the child. I need you to be in close proximity to the dog or the child when the two are playing so that you can get there fast enough to fix any problems that might be emerging.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 7:31

This is especially important for kids five and under. Young children may not be able to recognize the signs of an aggressive dog, which is why this is so important. So bad things can be happening and the child is completely unaware Especially, again, children five and under, and they don't know how to react if the dog becomes aggressive. Most adults know the obvious signs that a dog is becoming aggressive, such as barking and growling. However, I just want to make a comment about this. When your child is interacting with a dog that is doing any of the following things, be aware that the dog is concerned and may respond with aggression. A lot of adults they know barking and growling, but they don't know much beyond that and I think it's really important that parents get more up to speed and to dog body language. More on that in upcoming episodes.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 8:22

But the couple of behaviors or I think it's actually three behaviors I'm going to mention here that dogs do that a lot of adults and parents don't recognize and are frequently overlooked are. One is licking lips. This can be a sign that a dog is feeling stressed or nervous. And I tell you it looks kind of benign when you see a dog that's stress licking its lips. But I'm going to tell you something I've learned after working with thousands of dogs Licking lips don't lie, it just doesn't look like much is going on. But that dog is telling you I'm kind of getting stressed and it's a reliable indicator. The dog is not happy. It kind of looks like what we call an appetitive lip licking, meaning it's hungry or just had a treat, but it's not associated with food. It's just doing this on its own.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 9:14

Another one you can look for that many people miss is ears back. This can be a sign that a dog is feeling threatened and may respond with aggression. The ears are pinned back. In fact we call it pinned ears. Another one and this one is really misconstrued all the time is tail wagging. This one is so often missed and misinterpreted. This can be a sign of excitement, yes, or happiness, but it can also be a sign of impending aggression. If a dog is wagging its tail and its body is stiff, that's a real key component here. You have to look at the whole dog. It is likely feeling threatened. Tail wagging simply means I'm paying attention in the dog world it doesn't always mean I'm happy and so excited to see you.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 10:02

What you're looking for here is a wagging tail and a stiff body Boy. If you throw in licking lips and ears back, jump in there very quickly and get that kid. Separate the two. By the way, when you separate a child from a dog that you feel there's some impending type of aggression coming, you want to do it calmly. You don't want to be screaming and yelling, you want to just quickly and assertively get in there and calmly separate the child from the dog.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 10:33

Number two rule to keep in mind when it comes to child safety, and that has to do with primates. What, what do you mean by primates? What I'm talking about here, of course, is humans, apes and monkeys. That grouping of species, those primates which we are a member of, enjoy hugging one another, and we find comfort in this. This is a unique attribute of primates that is not shared by other species Such as canines or dogs. Dogs may tolerate hugging by humans, but can also see it as a threatening behavior. Teach your children not to hug the family dog, or any dog for that matter.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 11:15

The key you're looking for here is entrapment. In other words, a lot of dogs we call them leaners and so forth like to push against you. It's the entrapment part that they really don't like, or they feel pinned. That's what I mean. I'm really saying hugging. This is another area that is just absolutely misunderstood by dog owners when it comes to children. Children see dogs as moving stuffed animals in many cases, instead of living, feeling sensitive animals. They don't intend to treat dogs improperly, of course, or in a way that is threatening when they hug them, but when they do, dogs can panic and bite. Unfortunately, many of these bites occur to the child's face and head because they hug the dog around the neck and, as evidence of this, the majority of dog bite cases coming into emergency rooms. The bites occur to children. The bites occur in the head and face area. Simply stated, dogs don't like being hugged or entrapped. You like it because you're a primate, but your dog doesn't. If your dog is seemingly accepting of this behavior, it is because your buddy, your little buddy there, your dog, is tolerating it.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 12:36

Number three of our six ideas to keep your kid a little more safe is to tell your children not to get face to face with a dog. Don't get in their face staring at them. This can be seen as a threat by the dog and could lead to a bite. A child can do this many times to the family dog with no consequence. However, this is not a 100% predictor of future behavior. It concerns me that I frequently see pet industry advertising showing children going face to face with dogs. It's just not a good idea at all for them to do. Number four of our ideas to help kids be more safe around dogs Teach your children not to lie on a dog that is resting or sleeping.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 13:29

This can be annoying to the dog at best or worse seen as threatening behavior and you can see it has a little bit of the component of entrapment as well. Just like humans, dogs don't like being bothered when sleeping or resting. I know I don't. Dogs can instinctively react by biting the child or adult. If an adult is doing this, the person who startles them. Instruct your children to steer clear of sleeping or resting dogs. Stay away from them. I have some videos training videos that I use of children crawling up on sleeping and resting dogs and the outcomes are very, very bad and in some of the videos the dogs are showing all of the body language that are saying to the child you're making me very, very nervous, please get away. And what's sad and the reason this just really bothers me. By the way, what's sad and the reason we even have the videos is because the parents think it's so cute and amusing and they are taking a video on their phone while this happens. It's just horrible. They just simply must not be allowed to do this.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 14:44

Number five young children must be taught to stay at least five feet away from any dog that is eating from a bowl, eating treats, playing with a toy, chewing on a bone. You get the idea. Dogs can sometimes guard these items it's called resource guarding and become aggressive when a child approaches. And let me tell you something this kind of aggression can appear, and frequently appears, on dogs that never show any kind of aggression in any other context. Remember, aggression is very contextual. You don't just have an aggressive dog or a not aggressive dog. It depends on the context and all dogs are different. I so many times see dogs that are just fine everywhere with dogs, humans, visitors to the home, you name it. But, boy, don't get near their food. Keep your kids at least at five feet away from any of those items I just mentioned, or even more if you feel it's the need.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 15:49

And then number six, our last tip and this is the last one and in my opinion, is the single most important one by far. And for you parents out there who have kids that are maybe a little older, let's say teenagers, you're gonna really agree with this one and this will resonate with you. It may surprise you how simple it is. Children learn by watching the adults in their lives. If you want your children to be safe around dogs, it's important to model safe behavior for them. In other words, you do all the things that I've just mentioned above when your kids are watching, and they will almost always model that behavior. One of the biggest gifts parents can give their children when it comes to dog safety is to do this. Children tend to imitate the behaviors of their parents. They just don't pay as much attention to parents' words, and let me tell you if you don't believe me, ask any parent with teenage children.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 16:58

One thing that I like to remind dog owners of who have children under 10 years of age is that dogs are, at the end of the day, animals. Think about that for a second. No matter how much we love them, no matter how much we think they love us, they're still animals. They will ultimately, when push comes to shove, do animal things. We don't want to put dogs, or ourselves as adults, in situations where we hope that dogs make the right decisions. When interacting with our children, we need to act as protectors of our younger children. I run into a lot of parents who say things like I keep talking to my child about these kinds of rules and they just don't listen. I guess I'll just keep talking to them.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 17:54

Let me tell you that any kind of dog safety guidelines for children who are old enough to understand them are not really suggestions to your child, in my estimation. For example, would you suggest to your child that they not run out in traffic? Of course not. Dog safety rules need to be rules that are consistently adhered to and modeled by you. As we mentioned earlier, dogs can bite in a fraction of a second and the consequences can last a lifetime. And dogs can injure little children in ways that they can't injure adults. Their soft skin, especially around their face, is so tender when they're very young it can be really a bad injury Much more than would be true of an adult. I'm sure you've figured out that these suggestions for child safety also apply to adults. The difference is that adults can better calculate, sometimes, when a dog might become aggressive. Also, the consequences, as I just mentioned, to an adult are frequently less traumatic, both physically and psychologically. Don't forget that. But nonetheless, these rules should apply to all, young and old. And let me mention here when children visit your home, even if you don't have children, or when friends of your kids come over, these rules have to apply to them as well.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 19:29

I just love seeing a child and a dog with a great and loving relationship. More than you can possibly know, it means so much to me. I personally think this is an important part of a child's development To learn to nurture and care for an animal and respect it. The human application of this learning is obvious In the notes section of this podcast episode. I'm providing a great video that covers child safety with dogs. It covers a few things that I haven't mentioned here, maybe a slightly different angle on a few things I have. All of my clients with young children view it. The name of the video is Stop the 77. It's actually quite famous and it's very short. It's just a few minutes long. If you get a chance, check out that video Again. The link is in the notes section for this episode. I'll bring you more information about child safety and safety in general with dogs, especially aggressive dogs, in future episodes.

Scott Sheaffer, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CBCC-KA: 20:29

Thanks for listening. If you haven't already, would you subscribe to this podcast on any of the popular podcast players? There are a couple of buttons at the bottom of the landing page on dogaggressionanswerscom if you'd like to leave me a message. I try to answer all messages and, of course, appreciate your input. But before I go, I want to again remind you that the information presented in this podcast is for educational purposes only. If you have a dog who is really aggressive and dangerous to humans or animals, please consult directly with an experienced, certified dog behavior consultant who specializes in dog aggression, and always take proper measures to ensure that your dog is never in a position to injure any human or animal. Thanks for listening. See you next time. Thank you for joining me today. Before you go, please subscribe if you haven't already. If not for yourself, do it for your dog. If you find these episodes helpful, please leave a review. I'll see you next time as we continue your journey of addressing your dog's aggression, now go hug your dog.