Why Create Boundaries Between Kids & Dogs?
Written by Jennifer Morris
Jennifer
Jennifer Owns and Operates Central Kennels in Sylvania, Ohio with her husband, Andrew. She offers boarding, daycare, and training for a variety of behaviors and goals.
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As a trainer who specializes in aggression cases, I hear all the time that my clients worst fear is that their dog will bite their children. This is the fear for many dog owners, especially the owners of rescue dogs where the history is often unclear. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), every year there are an estimated 4.5 million dog bites. The Humane Society estimates that 51% of these bites are to children. Due to their size, children are more likely to end up with a severe injury (like a facial injury) due to a dog bite than an adult. Most dog bites that I see are what we call “Human Error Bites”. This means that the human did something (consciously or not) to cause the dog to react poorly and bite. These bites can often be prevented if the owner knows dog body language and practices safe body handling with everyone!
There are certain things we do regularly as humans that affect our canine counterparts! Prolonged eye contact, hovering body language, and fast movements are all things that humans do that make most dogs uncomfortable. And as much as we love to hug our friends, hugs make our four-legged friends uneasy.
Dogs can be very tolerant of those they have grown close to but that doesn’t mean they will tolerate guests. Be sure that everyone is respectful of your dog’s boundaries and be sure to respect the boundaries of any dog you meet! Make sure that you know your dog’s tolerance level so you can intervene before a situation becomes dangerous. Kids and dogs should always be supervised.
Dogs show stress and anxiety in the following ways: licking of the lips, pacing, shaking, yawning, excessive drooling, stiffening, slowing of movement, splitting (going between two people or animals to separate them in tense moments), whale eye (widening of the eyes), growling, lunging and biting. So, the moment you or your guests see one of these signals it’s best to stop whatever you (or they) are doing so no one ends up injured or stressed.
One of the first things I teach all of my clients are the boundaries for respect. They, their children and their guests should all follow these guidelines:
Boundaries for Respect
· Don’t let anyone climb on the dog
· Don’t pull the dogs tail, ears, feet, lips, etc.
· No hitting the dog, even playfully
· Do not put your face near or in the dog’s face
· Do not play with the dog’s food items or tease the dog with treats
· Do not chase the dog
· Do not hug the dog
· Do not touch the dog while sleeping or startle the dog
· Do not step over the dog or hover over them
· Do play nicely with the dog
· Do pet the dog gently
· Do lay next to the dog
· Do let the dog sniff the child gently (and always let the dog sniff before touching it)
· Do be patient with introductions
These guidelines help reduce tension in the interactions between guests/children and your dog to help prevent a bite!
Kane
Jennifer and Andrew welcomed their first child in December. He is already adored by his three fur siblings.
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