Follow up article from the Cape Coral Daily Breeze

Just a few days after the tragic death of two year old Liam Perk, the Cape Coral Daily Breeze has a really good follow up story.

First of all, it sounds like the community is rallying around the boy's family -- setting up a bank account for donations. Great job by the community.

Secondly, the article does a great job of *gasp* trying to educate people on child/dog interactions to help prevent other tragedies.  Even though the specifics behind why the Weimaraner attacked the young boy aren't known, the newspaper's willingness to interview local canine experts and dog trainers in their community for information is more than welcome.

Here's the advice:

From Patrick Logue, an advanced dog behavioral therapist and trainer:

"Dogs use body language and vocal tones to communicate," he said. "You want to make sure kids don't play too rough with a dog, even if they're having a good time. "A dog might nip at a child even if it's playing because that's how a dog communicates."

From Alice Roberts, a member of the Dog Obedience Club of Lee County:

"I think one of the main tips with very small children is they should always be under supervision when there is a dog around," she said. "It's a tragic thing that happened this past week, even gentle dogs should be attended to when there are small children around."

Logue also advised against allowing a young child to discipline a dog and said that children should not pull on a dog's collar, ears or tail. Young children shouls also not be allowed to feed or walk  a dog without adult supervision, nor should they pet a stranger's dog without first asking permission.

All of this is great advice. My hope is that more and more newspapers will take this approach to covering major dog attacks so that we can continue to educate parents/dog owners on ways to prevent future attacks -- even when other breeds of dogs are involved.

Comments

[Paula Grecco]

I would bet none of this educational approach would have been taken had this been a "pit bull". There would have been lurid headlines and politicians screaming for breed bans. And then everybody would feel all safe because "pits" are illegal and nice dogs like Weimaraners are safe. Makes for better stories to blame the dogs and ban them.

[Dawn]

Right on Paula! I was thinking that exact same thing when I read the article!