What Are Some Dog Safety Tips for Parents and Children?

Tips for Parents:

• Never leave a child or baby alone with a dog or puppy.
• Do not feed your dog from your hand. He will learn that it is acceptable to take food from people and will start to focus on people holding food. This will include your children.
• Your child should never try to move your dog by grabbing and pulling on the collar. This can be seen as an act of play or even aggression by the dog.  The dog could possibly lunge or nip at the child.  Teach your dog to respond to verbal commands or hand motions for direction.  If your dog does not respond, have the parent command the dog.
• Never allow your child to reach out to a strange dog without the owner’s permission. Allow the dog to calmly approach your child.
• When visiting friends, never allow your child to play in the back yard with their dog unsupervised.
• Do not allow your child to feed a dog unless you are there and assisting.
• Your child should always walk through a door before the dog.
• Never get a dog for your child as a substitute for a toy. Unlike toys, dogs should be shown respect and treated with care.

Tips for Children:

• Do not go near or pet a strange dog, even if the owner is nearby.
• If you are being chased by a dog while on your bike, stop and get off your bike. Stand still and hold the handle bars.  Allow the dog to sniff you and then slowly move away.
• Never pull a dog’s ears or tail. Do not poke them or jump on them.  This could easily scare them and make them nip or bite.
• Do not get your face or hands close to a dog when they are taking a nap or eating their food.
• Never tease a dog or do things that might make them angry at you or your friends.
• If you see a dog that is tied to a stake or tree, do not get close to the dog.
• Do not run around in front of dogs waving your hands and screaming. They will think you are playing and will want to chase you and knock you down.
• If a dog runs at you while he is barking and looks mad, stand completely still and put your hands over your face. Stay quiet and do not scream.  Wait for him to leave or for an adult to come for the dog
• If a dog knocks you down, roll up in a ball and cover your face. Stay quiet until the dog leaves or an adult comes for the dog.

Dogs are great companions, but they are still dogs.  As parents, it is our responsibility to keep our children safe and create an environment where they can understand and love our canine friends.  There is nothing worse than having a small child frightened by a dog and then scared of dogs the rest of their life.