KC DOG BLOG

It's National Dog Bite Prevention Week

This week is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. Over the course of the week, I entirely expect to see way too many references to numbers that are largely anecdotal -- and outdated. The numbers (800,000 people receive medical attention because of dog bites) weren't really based on a legitimate sample size -- and was done nearly a decade ago and has ignored that dog bites are going down in this country.

With that said, far too many people are still bitten by dogs -- and the bites are largely preventable. Children are the most likely to be bitten, as most are not equipped to recognize canine behavior and warning signs that would prevent the bites from occurring. This is one of the main reasons why it is so important for parents to monitor the activities of their dogs and children to stop a situation before a bite occurs.

With that in mind, Jennifer over at Dogs and Storks --  (who I interviewed a few months back) has posted a series of videos she's pulled from YouTube that show children and dogs interacting together. Some of the videos show good interactions. Some are just dreadful. I mean, dreadful. While none of the children in the videos gets bitten (so they're all safe), it is so much to the credit of the canines in the video.  It doesn't take much of an imagination when you watch some of the videos to figure that if this is going on while the adult is watching with the video camera rolling (and seen as cute), that the recipe for one of these children being bitten is certainly there.  So please check out the videos (most are only about :30 long) -- and do what you can to prevent dog bites in your family.

Baby playing the tug game with dog.

Baby playing with sleeping dog.

A good interaction between dog and baby -- model this behavior.

A dog is clearly frightened by the infant.

Another dog that really has no idea what to do with the infant -- and the adults laugh at the dog's reactions throughout.  I fear what happens when this dog grows up and finds that subtle signs to be left alone are completely ignored in the household.

And honestly, this last one is a complete credit to the dog that this child didn't get bitten. I have no doubt that this scenerio plays out in a large number of the stories where the dog "snapped for no reason."

I think Jennifer does a great job with these videos and I hope that everyone learns something from them so we can make vast decreases in the number of children that are bitten by dogs -- and better educate people on WHY these bites occur.

At some point, we have to educate owners

I'm not sure how we got here. But we need to change it...quickly.

At some point, in this country, we decided that we thought it was possible to punish people into being responsible dog owners. We can't.

And the idea that we can has failed us miserably. It has failed the dogs.  It has failed owners. And it has failed children. 

Last week here in Kansas City, some volunteers took a dog from a home (the owner game them to 'ok' to do so) because the dog was a mess.  The dog had 30-40 wounds on its body.  The dog later died in spite of receiving veterinary care.  This wasn't the first time that the owner had had problems with cruelty and neglect. Since 2003, the owner of the dog has been cited for 18 different animal control violations - -and had 12 different dogs confiscated from the property. That's one about every 6 months. 

Some people can't be educated on raising dogs. Certainly we should prevent them from owning dogs. But some people just don't get it -- and just taking their dogs, every 6 months, and giving them a fine, isn't going to allow them to get it. They have to be educated about proper care for animals.  Just taking their dog, putting it in the shelter (which likely meant it ended up being killed at the shelter), and allowing the cycle to repeat itself, is definitely not helping the situation for the dogs.

The same is true for people.

Last fall, the city of Omaha passed a whole gaggle of laws aimed at punishing irresponsible dog owners.  Rules included limiting the amount of time a dog could be tethered and mandating muzzling and insurance for certain breeds of dogs.

Last weekend, there were three significant dog bites in Omaha.

One involved a Rat Terrier that bit a child as it was "being disciplined" for digging in the kitchen trash. It was disciplined near the child and lashed out at the child.

One involved a 3 month old child that was bitten by Husky in the stomach. The bite caused four ribs to be broken. The Husky had been in the home only 2 days, and was left alone with the infant for a length of time long enough for the attack to happen with the caretaker being far enough away to not hear the infant's screams. The dog had clearly not been in the home long enough (2 days) to be socialized with the child to the point of warranting ANY time alone with the infant. Meanwhile, the Nebraska Humane Society apparently wants to continue the misinformation by stating that the "family was not at fault." Huh? Don't leave your dog alone with your infant child -- ESPECIALLY if you've had the dog for 2 days. It is your fault.

The third incident involved a woman's 'pit bull' that attacked the woman in her home. In spite of the city's well-publicized ordinance that mandated that all 'pit bulls' be licensed, altered, and have a $100,000 insurance policy on them, the owners did not meet any of the required criteria. Meanwhile, the dog had a history of aggression having bitten someone in November, but that attack was ignored and was a precursor to this attack.

Folks, we can't continue to go through this conversation thinking we can legislate responsible dog ownership. Sure, we can put laws in place that show what we want people to do -- but we must follow the laws up with real conversations about responsible dog ownership practices.

Calgary, Alberta, has, statistically, one of the most successful animal controls in North America.  One thing that makes Calgary's animal control laws work is that they have the laws -- but they don't use the laws to punish the owners that violate them.  They use the laws to create conversations to educate owners on responsible dog ownership.

Most people want to be good dog owners -- and if you show them how, they will do it.

Just taking a dog from an owner doesn't teach them anything. It just ends up killing the dog and causing the process to repeat.

Not teaching people how to appropriately discipline dogs (and to not do it in front of children), doesn't help the people to do it right the next time.

Telling owners "it's not your fault" when they leave a three month old child alone with a new dog does not help them understand that they should not do it again.

Passing a host of breed specific ordinances that will be followed only by the people who are responsible dog owners who are jumping through the hoops to follow the ordinance, will not make irresponsible owners into responsible ones. Teaching them to recognize the warning signs of aggression (and let's face it, having bitten someone before, is not a subtle sign) will help them recognize the signs so they are able to stop the behavior early -- instead of letting the aggressive behavior build up.

We're not going to be able to punish our way into a whole society of dog owners. We're going to HAVE to create forums for educating owners into responsible dog ownership.  The idea that we can legislate it has proven to be a failure. Legislation cannot replace education.

And pretending that we're "doing something" by creating things like breed specific laws ADD to the lack of education by saying, these breeds are bad.  But other breeds are safer.  We've taken the owner responsibility out of it -- which is exactly the OPPOSITE of education.

We must bring proper education in canine behavior and ownership back into the equation. In the end, it will be better for the dogs, better for the owners, and better for the children.

Preventing Dog Bites in Children

  Already this year we have had five dog-bite fatalities in the United States – which is a huge number in such a short amount of time. All of the victims have been under the age of 5 years old. It is no secret to those that have followed dog bites (and fatalities) over the years that a large percentage of victims of major attack victims are young children – most often by a dog that is owned or being cared for by the family.

Because this is an informational blog, I went to the experts in canine-behavior to try to relay information on the best ways to handle dogs and young children in the same household. So I went to Jennifer Shryock CDBC, the founder of Dogs & Storks™. Dogs & Storks™ is a nation-wide network of dog trainers and canine behavior consultants that work with new and expecting  families in preparing for a life where dogs and children co-exist peacefully. While the advice here is meant for educational purposes, it is not meant to be a replacement for good old common sense and the help of a trained professional in your area.

 

Here’s our interview:

 

KC Dog Blog: In the process of writing my blog, I read a lot of stories about dog bites – and it seems that a lot of the victims are young children. What is it about children that make them so vulnerable to dog bites or attacks?

 

Jennifer Shryock:  Children are dog height, loud and unpredictable. Dogs that are not socialized around children will often be less tolerant and caught off guard by their behaviors. That said, even dogs that have been socialized around children have their threshold and degree of tolerance. It is important for handlers of dogs to be alert to the subtle signs of stress and discomfort that dogs offer to help asses a situation involving dogs and children. 

Often there is miscommunication between kids and dogs. Children communicate with dogs as they do with other people.  For example: Kids often make eye contact at greeting, hug to show love and try often to even kiss the dogs on the mouth. All of these things are human behaviors but are rather rude and offensive to dogs, especially from an unfamiliar child. This can often lead to a bite as the dog is uncomfortable and crowded. Prior to the bite the dog may have licked their lips, turned away, yawned, or done some other behavior indicating stress and discomfort of the situation. Once these fail to increase the distance of the child then a dog may escalate to a more intense response such as a growl or snap. It is important to be an observer of your dog and intervene to protect your dog and the child.

 

KCDB:  Last year, about 25% of the fatality victims of dog bites were infants under 2 months of age. Are young children introduced to a family particularly vulnerable?

JS:  Infant deaths are tragic and I hope that through education we can decrease the number to 0!  A new baby is just that, NEW AND UNFAMILIAR. This automatically puts a new baby at higher risk.  It is best to include the family dog in daily routines involving the baby so that the dog can become familiar with the baby’s smell, actions and sounds. In order to do this however you must prepare your dog during the 9 months prior to baby’s arrival and have a plan for CONSTANT supervision!  Just as new parents are learning about their new baby and their cries the family dog is also learning how to react and is adjusting to this new family member as well.

 

 

KCDB:  Given that children are more vulnerable to bites, is it wise for families with young kids to have dogs?

 

JS: Yes!  There is no replacing the role of dogs in our lives. Children learn so much from family dogs. Families have always had dogs and always will.  What is important is that they have proper expectations of the dog as an animal trying to fit into our world.  We are very complicated and dogs do an amazing job fitting in…despite what the media leads us to believe. Dogs and kids have been a beautiful combination for ages and that won’t change. It is important that families do their research and respect their dog as being the animal they are.  We can not expect our dog to babysit or entertain our kids. We can expect them to participate in adult supervised activities with our kids and be a loving part of a family.

 

 

KCDB: What steps should a family take to introduce a new child into a home with an existing dog? 

 

JS: Oh….so much. Whether adopting or pregnancy…families usually have time to prepare for the arrival of a child. There are many resources online but of course…I must recommend my own.  http://dogsandstorks.com/  and our blog http://dogsandstorks.blogspot.com/   There you will find loads of information and is a great starting point.  As a canine behaviorist, a mother of three (soon to be 4) and a house with 4 wonderful dogs and 6 cats, I am always learning and updating information. However, the four most crucial things are:

1.        Socialization!  Socialization!  Socialization!

2.        reduce attention seeking behavior

3.        Strengthen your dog’s manner

4.        Practice & reward desirable behavior around baby items

KCDB: What steps should a family take to introduce a new dog into a home with existing children?

 

JS:

1.     RESEARCH and take your time finding the right match! Often families make a decision without first doing the research. All breeds of dogs come with their special traits. Taking into consideration your lifestyle and what you want in your dog is key. 

2.        Educate the kids about boundaries and talk about what dogs like and do not like.  www.doggonesafe.com has a great game that teaches much of this called DOGGONE CRAZY. This is a great way to help kids learn that dogs have limits too.  They just can’t say “please stop hugging me!” the way we do. They will lick their lips, turn, pull away and then maybe growl. Kids can learn to be doggie detectives and gather the clues dogs offer. Check out a kid directed lesson on dogs on www.familypaws.com scroll down to the Doggie detective. 

3.        Once the dog is in your home take it slow. Give the dog plenty of breaks from busy activity so they can recharge. 

4.        Find a positive dog training class where all members of the family can participate in.

 

KCDB: Tell us about Dogs & Storks. What is the purpose of Dogs & Storks and why was the group formed?

 

JS:  As a certified dog behavior consultant I became frustrated by the number of dogs in rescue that were surrendered due to a baby on the way or an unfortunate situation already having happened. I felt strongly that more resources were needed and in 2002 I created the Dogs & Storks program. We now have presenters all over the U.S.and have expanded to Canada. I believe that we must provide education BEFORE there is a problem. As a Mom and dog owner I learned A LOT along the way and am still learning. Our family also has fostered over 70 dogs over the last 8 years and these opportunities have been educational and eye opening. I share all of this with families. Things like:  helium balloons might not be a good idea in a home with a ball crazy German shepherd….how do I know …well I had a ball crazy German Shepherd. If it was round…it was his. So in our program we identify dog sensitivities and how to handle them around newborns and all the equipment involved.  We predict, plan and hopefully prevent through a plan! 

I have successfully raised our 3 kids and we have never had a bite. This is not luck…it is diligent supervision and management along with respect between all of us and our dogs. We have four dogs of our own, Our dogs are Bailey (Siberian Husky), Windsor (blue brindle Pit Bull), Carin (Malamute /German Shepherd mix) and Duke (GSD) and we also have 6 cats that really run the show!

  

KCDB: Anything else you’d like to ad? 

 

JS:  I love dogs and will never be without them. It saddens me to see how little people pay attention to what their dog is communicating. So many injuries are preventable with more knowledge, observation and proper expectations. Dogs do their best and they are predictable….we need to be better at observing and guiding them through our complex human world.

 

You can get more information on Dogs and Storks at http://dogsandstorks.com/ and at their blog, http://dogsandstorks.blogspot.com/ -

Whipping out the good stuff

Caveat is gettin' out the good stuff today....including publishing links to a couple of abstracts on some actual scientific research on the dog vs dog aggression topic.  I just bought the study and am looking forward to reading it.  Check her out...

Good Stuff from around the blogosphere

There's a lot of great stuff out there in the blog realm, and since I got the weekly roundup out yesterday, I'll highlight some other things going on today.

My friend, and KCDA president Shannon has started a blog.  Shannon is taking off the next 5 months to go to a top-notch dog training school in the St. Louis area. She is chronicalling what she's doing and learning there and it's been really quite interesting stuff.  So check outOld Dog, New Tricks.

There's another blog that I got introduced to that I really am growing to like -- the Pet Lover's Blog. Here site is a little cluttered, but she does a great job of covering different abuse cases from around the country.

The folks over at The No Kill Nation have declared August to be "bully month -- so they've had a lot of great stuff going up over there.  Check out a couple of my favorites here, here and here.

Pet Defense has an update on the trial in Aurora as constituents protest their breed specific legislation.

Dolittler has a very interesting post on whether or not kibble can lead to aggression in dogs.

The Pet Connection folks have an excellent post detailing the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association's view on mandatory spay/neuter ordinances.  Very compelling stuff.  Meanwhile, the city of Chicago seems more interested in what a retired game show host has to say on the matter.  Sigh.

Meanwhile, Caveat has a great find as it looks like a group of citizens are are asking for Toledo mob boss  head ofanimal control Tom Skeldon to be fired.  The group's various complaints include paying really high registration rates, Skeldon's draconian push to punish dog owners vs educating them, Skeldon's lack of cooperation with the public at large, and his insistence that scanning for microchips on dogs that come into the shelter is a waste of time. Keep in mind that this is the animal control officer that a certain dogs bite website wants to name animal control officer of the year. Um, yeah. In other news in Toledo this week, animal control officers shot an American Bulldog in Toledo this week that was attacking its owner and a four year old girl was attacked by her family pit bull.  Arguably no one has spent more time trying to justify their pit bull ban than Tom Skeldon -- and yet, the city continues to have dog bites by a variety of different types of dogs.

Caveat has also been the lone bandit in her coverage of the trial for the animal welfare act in Ontario. No media is covering it, but she's been doing a stellar job. Here's part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.

With so much great stuff out there, I barely have time to read it all, let alone post my own stuff, which always seems inferior by comparison.  It's great to see so many smart people spending time trying to educate the public on canine laws and ownership.  Hopefully people are listening.

New Community for the No Kill Movement

There is a new forum out there for people who want to learn more about the No-Kill movement. Thenokillnation.com is a new web community for people to share information about no kill, ask questions, share successes, etc.

The site has information you can read. A blog with postings of information (I have a guest-column up on the blog), and forums for dialogue. As the community grows, they may be adding state or regional forums for people closer together to share. 

Go check it out frequently -- I know they've been adding a lot of information very quickly.

The Pit Bull Paradox

There is a new video that I just got a note about called "The Pit Bull Paradox".   The video, created by the Latham Foundation for Humane Education is designed "promote understanding and appreciation of the breed and encourage lifetime adoptions by well-informed, responsible owners."

The video emphasizes the need to consider one's own lifestyle and personality and the dog's need for daily, hard exercise and consistent training.   Here's the trailer:

I'm looking forward to watching the video. More information and the ability to purchase the video for $35 are here.

Dogs Bite

I've been refraining from writing about this for awhile....but like cancer, you can't just ignore a problem and hope it goes away.

Several months ago, a new website launched called dogbites.org.  I'm not going to provide a link, as I'd rather not give them any undue web traffic.  Most of you are probably aware of the site already.

I want to make a note about the site. The site claims to be a "public information website with support of the following":

• Distinguish which dog breeds are dangerous to have in our neighborhoods.
• Help enact laws to regulate ownership of these breeds.
• Help enact laws that hold dog owners criminally liable if their dog attacks a person and causes serious injury or death.

There are several major problems with their premise.  Nowhere in their mission statement do they say that their goal is to improve public safety.   Their goal is completely dedicated to enacting laws against breeds of dogs.  As such, they spend no time or effort researching laws and policies that would actually improve public safety.  And even if they add "safety" to their list of objectives, their site continues to be based very much on emotion and media articles...not real world information like what types of policies actually work.

I'm always suspicious of any "group" that is completely anonymous (with the exception of their founder being outted) and nearly all comments on the site are anonymous.  And I also find it interesting that a site that says they're dedicated to public information is so diligent about sensoring opposing viewpoints.  Seems they don't want certain facts to get in the way of their opinions.

Most websites/blogs/etc have a bias.  I, of course, have mine...which was developed after doing a ton of reading and learning about all the information regarding breeds of dogs, dog bites and city policies.  It's also probably not much of  a coincidence that my view and opinion happens to be shared by most of the nation's leading experts in the field (all of whom have a stance on this issue born out of facts and not out of bias).  However, I've never made it a point to censor any comments on the blog (with very rare exceptions of spammers and rantic lunatics).  I figure that the way to truly create knowledge and effective policies -- policies that have positive effects for both human and dog populations -- is through open knowledge and conversation.

What's interesting is that most "dog people" would support them in their 3rd goal of holding violating dog owners criminally responsible if their first two goals were founded on a real premise.   Unfortunately, their premise of enforcing breed bans, regardless of whether it makes policy sense or not is tragically flawed.

I would be hesitant to put much credibility in any site that remains purposefully anonymous, has blatant mis-information, and doesn't allow any dessenting dialogue.  I will continue to not withhold rational discussions from my site -- because I feel confident that the facts (both science and policy) will prevail. 

Thursday Links

I've been adding some new stuff to the blog roll this week as there are several other excellent blogs out there that I've recently discovered.

The first gets in for its awesome title, "Save the Pit Bull, Save the World".  It has a slightly more light-hearted feel than you'll get from me (although I'm really trying to loosen up the tone here a bit). 

Another that I've added is "The Tennessee Waltz", who has been doing a great job covering a lot of the recent insanity in Tennessee, and deserves to be linked to.  In fact, even if she wasn't doing a great job covering the news of dangerous dog legislations being proposed down there, I would still have linked to her for using the phrase "bow to Brent's wisdom" without complete sarcasm.

One final link comes from the folks at Marginal Revolution -- who are economists (yes, I truly have a side that is that geeky) -- and their post about the Law of Unintended Consequences.  They define the law as the results that happen when a simple system (government) tries to control a complex system (society)...and that even well-intensioned laws can sometimes yield results counter to the vision.  I've written about this several times here and this is why I am so persistant that city administrators need to focus on laws, policies and regulations that have worked in other places (with the focus on results) vs focusing just what other people have done.

Meanwhile, Christie, over at the Pet Connection Blog, has a great post about the city of Los Angeles, the No Kill Movement and AB 1634 that is well worth the read.  Here's a taste:

Do you want No Kill in your communities? Stop trying to legislate what pet owners do with their pets’ reproductive organs. Do what communities that have reached that goal have done: Implement the No Kill Equation. Stop blaming pet owners and reform the failed systems. Stop pushing for intrusive, divisive legislation with no track record of accomplishing what you want to accomplish.

"Culture of Toughness"

A couple of weeks ago, WCPO News in Cincinnati ran a story about a "disturbing trend" regarding 'pit bulls' in Hamilton County.

According to the story, three Hamilton County Neighborhoods were responsible for 250' pit bull' seizures in 2007.  "Pit bulls" are illegal in hamilton County, OH.

The three top neighborhoods are:

Price Hill - 118

Westwood - 75

Colerain Township - 57

Why these cities?  The SPCA director Andy Mahlman calls it a "Culture of Toughness"

Pit bull dogs in many cases appeal to some people who are not interested in the dog as a pet, but as a status symbol," said Mahlman. "They want a 'bad' dog, impressive dog, a mean dog."

While I don't completely disagree with Mahlman's assessment, I think that may be an oversimplification.  According to the Cincinnati Police Department's crime numbers,  The Price Hill Neighborhood (separated in this chart as East and West Price Hill) and Westwood are far and away the leading two neighborhoods in terms of overall crime. (I 'm assuming that Colerain Township is outside of the Cincinnati police patrol's juristiction as it is not listed in the crime numbers).

While it's easy to point out that the people  with the "culture of toughness" are the ones that own the 'pit bulls', I think it is also fair to say that a good number of the people in these neighborhoods are getting dogs to protect their homes from burglary (or worse).  If someone wants a dog for protection, and 'pit bulls' have a tough reputation and are easy (and cheap) to come by, then they will likely get a "pit bull" for protection.

I'll note that I did this analysis in Kansas City a few months ago and will note that their animal control problems also followed the city's crime problems.

Dog problems are almost always a symptom of a much larger social issue in many neighborhoods.  Bans on certain types of dogs do nothing to solve these problems.   Criminals who have the "culture of toughness" will continue to get whatever dogs they want (and in many cases, banning a certain type of dog actually makes them MORE attractive to the criminal element -- so in many ways, Hamilton County's ban has probably made this problem worse) as they are not into obeying the law in the first place.  And people who live in fear of these criminals will continue to use dogs for protection from the crime that they see in their neighborhoods. 

The dogs are never the primary problem...there is always another social problem (crime, poverty, etc) that is a driver.  You can't solve it with a dog law.  The dogs are a symptom.  You treat problems, not symptoms...otherwise the problem remains.