Does That Dog Bite

Does That Dog Bite?
by Christie Keith

It happens all the time. A child comes running up to an on-leash dog, shrieking at the top of his lungs and waving his arms in the air.

"Don't EVER do that to a dog," the owner cautions."That's how little kids get bitten in the face."

The child will draw back, awe and fear on his face. "Does your dog BITE?" he will ask, curious and afraid.

It's common to see kids run up and shriek and throw their arms around tied-up dogs in front of stores, dogs on tethers in front of strange people's houses, and dogs in the back of pickup trucks. Worse, children run up to strange dogs and bark in their faces, or poke at their eyes.

Once, at an off-leash dog area in San Francisco, a little boy with two of his friends ran away from a group in front of a school bus and raced up to a dog and jabbed her in the face. The owner pulled her dog away, grabbed the boy's arm, and dragged him over to his oblivious teacher. She said that if her dog had bitten him she would have been justified, and it was sheer luck and nothing else that the little boy still had a face.

The teacher looked at her, bemused, and said, "Does your dog bite?"

When poked in the face, shrieked at, and pummeled, many good, well-behaved dogs will at least snap at a child. Dogs who are not used to children will snap more readily than a dog who is accustomed to the higher voices, jerkier movements, and smaller size of a child. Do not underestimate the perceived threat a child can be to a dog. Do not waste your time telling your child that good dogs don't bite, nor asking someone if their dog bites.

Parents need to understand a few simple facts. According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, most dog bites happen to boys under ten, and most dog bites are administered by small dogs. How big is the problem? The CDC estimates the number of bites at 4.5 million a year. Of those, 800,000 required medical treatment in 1994, and fifteen were fatal.

Clearly, the growl and snap with which a well-behaved dog will try to warn off a child who is frightening or hurting it are SERIOUS WARNINGS, not behavior to be mimicked or imitated.

No one wants to make children afraid of dogs, and it can be a hard balancing act to instill respect and caution without invoking "the big bad wolf." Many of the children who put themselves at the worst risk, though, are the ones who have a big, loving, tolerant dog at home, some tail-wagging Labrador or Newfie who lets the kids pull his tail and ride him like a horse.

Parents need to educate their children in how to behave around dogs. Here are some dos and don'ts for the parent:

 DO introduce your child to well-behaved dogs who are used to children. Fearful behavior can be interpreted as a threat by a dog, and a child who has had good experiences with a dog will be less inclined to be afraid of dogs.

 DON'T gasp, cry out, or shriek when you see a dog; children learn by example, and these behaviors can startle or frighten a dog into snapping or biting.

 DO teach your child to ask permission of a person with a dog if the child can approach or pet the dog. If the person says no, don't imply that there is something wrong with the dog. Dogs with arthritis, or some other painful condition, as well as older dogs or any dog who is not used to children, may not be comfortable around kids. The owner is just using common sense, and has the right to put his or her dog's needs before the curiosity of your child.

 DON'T ever allow your child to tease, hurt, confine, challenge, growl at, bark at, or otherwise confuse, frighten, or threaten any dog, including your own. Many "unprovoked" attacks on children are in fact provoked by the cruel or at least ignorant and behavior of children to dogs. Do not allow children visiting your home to treat your dog this way, even if your dog will tolerate it; the next dog the child meets may not.

 DO teach your child to approach a familiar dog, or a strange dog with the permission of the dog's owner, in a calm and friendly manner. Children and dogs are naturally friends, and letting them get to know each other in a quiet, gradual way is best.

 DON'T pass on your fear of dogs to your child. Fearful behavior can appear threatening to a dog, and can lead to trouble. If you are afraid of dogs, be sure an adult who is not afraid introduces your child to dogs, and shows the child how to behave around them.

 DO take advantage of school and humane society programs teaching kids how to act around and care for dogs. If you have a dog, let your child take it to training class or at least learn to teach the dog to walk quietly at the child's side on leash. This will instill confidence in the child without making him or her foolhardy around dogs.

 DON'T let your child stare into a strange dog's eyes. Teach the child to avoid the stare of a strange dog, to "be a tree" in the event of a confrontation, and not to run and shriek and in general act like prey. And yes, teach them in extremity to "feed" their jacket or backback to an attacking dog, or use their bike as a barrier. In the most desperate situations, teach them to roll into a tight ball, cover their face, and be quiet and still if a dog does attack them. In most cases, dog bites are a matter of a quick snap or single bite, meant by the dog to control the painful or frightening behavior of the child. They are not attacks, but an attack can be stimulated if the child screams, runs, or attempts to fight the dog. And of course, there are a few- a very, very few- dogs who will actually attack a child for no apparent reason. In most cases there is a reason, but it may be normal human childhood behavior which has been misunderstood by the dog.

Gina Spadafori contributed to this article.