With the month of May being Dog Attack Prevention Month, I will post several articles over the next several weeks with tips and advice on keeping you and your fur babies safe….
This is the side of dog ownership that no one wants to talk or think about but it can be a huge problem and when a dog bites or attacks – everyone loses, including the aggressive dog.
The first thing everyone should know is….
NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING ABOUT A DOG
This is very important. You should never assume that a dog is “nice” based on their outward appearance or the particular breed of the dog. Even if the dog is wagging his tail, this doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants you to come right up and touch him. No matter what breed of dog, all dogs are still animals. And animals have certain instincts. These instincts can affect their behavior, but unless you are a dog psychic, don’t think you know what’s on their minds judging by their looks, or what they are doing.
A strange dog is just like a strange human. Never approach a strange dog, even if it looks friendly. Just as it is a stranger to you, you are to it, and anything could happen in a situation like this.
This is doubly important for a family pet. They are still animals and while most pets can be trusted, some things may lead to erratic behavior not exhibited by the dog before. So just because you’ve had Fido for years and he’s been the best behaved dog on the block, doesn’t mean Fido can’t have a “Jekell and Hyde” moment. Anything could set an animal off. Any animal.
Here are just 2 examples of things that can “go wrong”:
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Potentially Disastrous Situation #1
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You happen to see a dog, or several dogs, wandering down the street coming straight in your direction you have never seen before. What should you do?
To try and avoid a potentially deadly situation with a strange dog, you need to understand 2 things: 1)What You Should Not Do and 2)What You Should Do. The best way to learn what to do is to learn what not to do!
1. Never Look A Dog Directly In The Eyes.
They usually take this to be a form of aggression on your part, or a challenge. Always look away as if your attention is drawn to something else, but don’t take all your attention off of the animal. Use the “looking out the corner of your eye” technique with your head turned away from the dog so you can still watch what he’s doing and prepare for a confrontation if one occurs.
2. Never Back Away From An Approaching Dog.
The general rule here is to keep your hands down at your sides and stay as still as possible. “BE LIKE A TREE” is a common phrase taught to children when encountering stray dogs or dogs they don’t know. If you do begin to back away, the dog may see this again as a form of aggression, like a “showdown”.
3. Never Run From A Dog.
This should never be done and could make the attack even more deadly. Due to the predatorial nature of dogs, they take this as a signal that you are a potential prey victim to them. So they will treat you exactly as they perceive you, as their prey. Do not run, this will just lead to more disaster.
4. Never Scream, Kick, Throw Things At, Or Yell At A Dog.
This is taken as obvious aggression by the dog and they will more than likely attack for the simple fact that they, not knowing you either, do not know what you will do to them, even small children. So out of this fear, instinct kicks in, and they act on it by attacking.
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Potentially Disastrous Situation #2
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It’s a pleasant day outside, so you decide to let your kids outside to play with your dog while you get some important things done inside. The yard is fenced, so neither can escape, and the dog will guard the kids against strangers. Besides, the task will take you less than 10 minutes to finish. What could happen?
Yikes! A LOT COULD HAPPEN IN LESS TIME THAN THAT!! It doesn’t matter how long you’ve had the dog for, how friendly he is with your children, or how much you trust him. He still has the ability to BITE and cause massive damage to your child. This situation has much more disastrous potential when you put other factors into play such as: your children having friends over, or the dog is another family members pet and you are just “keeping an eye” on him for a while so that Aunt Sadie can get some errands done.
The dog could even escape from the yard, creating an even more deadly scenario for both your children (escaping from the yard) and other neighborhood children.
1. If You Or Your Children Have Friends Coming Over, Secure Your Pet In An Area Where They Cannot Bite Anyone.
Whether this is inside the house in a special room, like a home office, or a bedroom, it’s in everyone’s best interest to put the dog up if other strange children are coming to your home to play. Just because your children know how to behave around a dog doesn’t mean other children will. And just because your dog is good with your children doesn’t mean he will like someone else’s.
2. Always Supervise Play-Time With Family Pets And Children.
This may be awfully obvious, but some people feel that their children are safe at all times with the family dog. It simply isn’t true. Anything can happen. And if you’re not there to see for yourself what did occur, you won’t know what sparked this attack, no matter how minor the infraction. Some dogs can “play rough” and see nothing wrong with engaging in this type of play with the humans they love as brothers and sisters (part of their pack). On the same token, children also can “play rough” with one another, and depending on the circumstances could provoke the dog into biting on the basis that he feels it his job to protect another member of the pack. Either make your children wait for you to finish the task before going outside, or keep the dog inside with you until you are done.