Safety Around Dogs for Kids

Often children do not know how to behave properly around dogs, putting themselves at a greater risk for injury. Whether your family has a dog or not, teaching your child how to behave and approach a dog correctly will help keep him safe. Properly training your dog to also know how to act around children and other humans will keep your guests safe when visiting your home.

  1. Preventing Bites

    • Teach your child how to be conscious of a dog's warning signs. Dogs typically give silent warnings before an attack, and knowing what these signs are helps keep your child safe. Properly training your dog to not bite and to feel comfortable around new humans also helps prevent bites. Dogs should be socialized at a young age to new surroundings, other dogs and other humans. An older dog that shows aggression towards guests or other pets can also benefit from training to curb the desire to bite.

    Training

    • Trained dogs make welcoming pets to children and others visitors to your home. Taking your new dog to training classes can help teach basic commands such as "sit," "stay" and not to bark excessively. Obedience classes also provide interaction with other humans, children and dogs in a safe and secured environment with a trained professional dog handler on hand. Utilizing basic commands when at home and outside the class can also reinforce your dog's good behavior, and can help prevent a disaster when meeting new children on the street.

    Properly Approaching Dogs

    • Children should be taught how to properly approach a dog whether she has one as a pet or not. First your child should ask the dog's owner if her dog is friendly. If so, your child should then calmly approach the dog with hand extended. Before petting the dog, the child should allow her hand to be sniffed as dogs naturally do when greeting other dogs and humans. Then if the dog is receptive, your child may gently pet the dog without pulling any fur and keeping her hands out of the dog's face.

    Do's and Don'ts

    • Children should never run up to any dog whether he knows the dog or not. Dogs are predatory animals, and see flight of any kind as a chase. Your child instead should calmly approach the dog, keeping his hand extended in greeting to be sniffed. He should also stay at a safe distance if a dog growls or shows teeth; this is a sign of aggression, and your child will get hurt if he continues to approach the dog. Your child also should never approach a dog that is eating, nor should he take a toy from a dog's mouth. Instead he should wait patiently until the dog drops the toy, and then attempt to initiate play.