July 30th, 2009
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Kids – never approach dogs that are sleeping, chewing on toys or bones, in a crate, playing with a tug toy, playing with other dogs, hurting or in obvious pain, or mother dogs that are with their puppies.
Parents – 3 components to safety in dog-child relationships: 1. Educate yourself. Learn about canine body language, stress signals. 2. Manage the situation – do not allow your child to approach unfriendly dogs, be unsupervised with dogs, or approach dogs in the situations listed above. 3. Train your dog – this means socializing them well, training behaviors like “leave it,” “go settle on a mat,” crate training, a recall, and a reliable sit and down. To learn more, go to www.doggonesafe.com. |
One other time kids should not approach dogs is when they are eating. Some dogs can get very territorial about their food and eating area.