Statistics show that a very high percentage of dog attacks are on children, approximately 80% of all the cases. This is not a casual number, there is a reason for it.
In this article on our site we will talk about the main causes of dog aggression towards children, how we can avoid these situations and other details that we must take into account, keep reading and discoverwhy do dogs attack children :
Communication errors
As a general rule, adults should always supervise the interaction between children and dogs, otherwise there is a good chance that a miscommunication will end with a bite, which can be very serious depending on the size of the dog.
You tend to trust a dog that has never shown signs of aggression before, however, dogs speak in a specific body languagethat even adults may not know how to interpret, what happens then with children?
They are still experiencing cognitive skills (such as perception, attention, or memory), which will not fully develop until around age six, making them especially vulnerable to misunderstandings.
Before an attack, the dog sends us a series of previous signals such as calm signals, showing teeth or snarl. All this tells us that the dog feels uncomfortable, as much as to attack. These physical cues are obvious to us, but not to children, who think it's a game
Negative behaviors of children towards dogs:
- Stare
- Pounce on the dog
- Pull tail
- Pull the ears
- Bother
- Don't let rest
- Yell at him
- Hug him warmly
- Put your fingers in their sockets
Unpleasant experiences
Children They tend to be very invasive, something that not all dogs are able to understand and respect. For them they are "little beings" that scream and can even cause harm. This is when a negative association begins to occur.
If, in addition to the child acting in an invasive way, we scold the dog for growling, (remember that he tries to communicate the discomfort of him) we are triggering learning by association, also known as classical conditioning. The dog begins to associate the child as something unpleasant and even as something bad, increasing his stress levels and even causing him to try to run away, and in case that not possible, bite.
How to avoid a dog attacking a child?
To prevent the aforementioned situations it will be essential to always be present in the same room when the child and the dog are together. No matter how confident we are in our 10-year-old dog, sometimes a finger in the eye, age issues (such as osteoarthritis), or a moment of hyperarousal can trigger an unexpected responseLet's prevent something from happening by supervising the interactions.
From a certain age, we can begin to explain to a child that dogs can bite and do a lot of damage, we will teach them to identify posturesof appeasement such as backing away, head turning, smacking, and whole body turning. By educating our little one we will achieve a very positive coexistence. We will also teach them to respect their toys, food or the sofa, resources that can be protected at some point by the dog.
What to do if a dog growls or bites a child?
Aggressiveness is a very serious behavior problem, especially if it is aimed at children, in which case it becomes a problem against public he alth. We must totally avoid contact between dog and child and the immediate solution will be to find a temporary home for the dog until we can see a specialist.
Keeping a dog that growls or attacks children at home can lead to severe aggression, so in no case is it recommended to do any type of therapy or treatment on our own, without supervision of the specialist.
