Very Good Sentences - why just preaching supervising dogs & children won't work

I confess that while I'm usually a very optimistic person, the skeptical side of me often greets headlines with cynicism. When I saw the headline of this post, I clicked through, prepared to be annoyed -- and instead, found a very thoughtful piece about "Why Supervising dogs and kids doesn't work".  As any regular reader knows, I often talk about the need FOR parental supervision of dogs/child interactions -- so you can understand why I was skeptical. Instead, I was greeted with a very good introductory paragraph:

"It's sound advice given frequently: Supervise your dogs and kids while they're together. Breeders warn parents, 'Don't leave the dog alone with children, no matter how friendly the breed.' Veterinarians advise, "Never leave a dog and a child in the same room together."  Dog trainers explain, "All dogs can bite so supervise your dog when you have children over.'  Everyone knows the drill. SO why doesn't it work? There are an estimated 800,000 Americans seeking medical attention for dog bites each year with over half of these injuries to children ages 5-9?

"The bites are not a result of negligent parents leaving Fido to care for the baby while mom does household chores, oblivious to the needs of her children. In fact, I've consulted with hundreds of dog bite cases and 95% of the time the parent is standing within 3 feet of the child watching both the child and dog when the child was bitten. Parents are supervising. The problem is not lack of supervision. The problem is no one has taught parents what they should be watching."

While I'm not sure I agree with the 95% number the author mentions (and this certainly isn't the case in the really major attacks that make headlines), there is certainly evidence to show that her overall thought is exactly right -- including even very disturbing videos of parents filming dangerous child/dog interactions without any awareness of the canine warning signals. 

She goes on to talk more about what parents should be looking for. This is great, as dog behavior is very predictable, while child behavior is what is  erratic. But I think it's a good reminder to all of us that "supervision" isn't really enough -- knowing what to look for is also required.

Comments

[Anthony]

Look, dog safety comes down to scary pictures, indignant outrage, pseudo-scientific rants and breed bans. I don't know why people are wasting time talking about learning dog behavior and supervising your child and dogs together.

[Brent]

When you put it that way, all of this learning stuff does seem like a lot of work.

[Randy]

It is quite a hill to climb to assume that most all parents could be taught to recognize "dog" behaviors in the real every body busy world. Don't get me wrong is a great idea and applies to all breeds just don't know how you ever get there. That is why at least as it relates to small children I prefer to have a dog (or any animal) in the house that is not physically capable of causing significant damage to a child. Just seems prudent for those with small kids other arguments aside.

[Brent]

Randy, I guess I disagree. Our shelter has had more than its fair share of small dogs surrendered for biting the children -- and many of them have been facial injuries that have resulted in permanent scarring.

I guess my expectation would be that when parents have children, they have a bit of reading to do to learn how to raise the child. If they have a dog, and a child, a little bit of reading will be required about how to manage that reaction and understanding dog behavior. They don't have to be dog trainers, they just need to understand a handful of basic warning signals and behaviors. And I think a lot of the onus is on the animal welfare community to not just say "always watch your dog/child interactions" -- we also need to tell them what they actually need to be looking for.

[Cheryl Huerta]

YES, YES, YES... If one doesn't know the signs that ALL dogs give us how can they stop anything??? BRILLIANT!

I will pass this on for sure!

Thanks Brent for another useful tidbit!

[Dog hero]

insightful thank you

[Dog hero]

you should do a break down of some of the recent dog attacks and put the link on a comment or email to misswoohoo11

[Randy]

Fair point Brent. I guess to be absolutely safe would need to eliminate small "nippy" dogs from the house hold too, lol. Yep, knowledge of behavior and warning signs would be a BIG help for any parent too.

[Tegan]

I had much the same reaction, Brent! Initially I was like, "What is this article? As if supervision isn't the answer!", and then was pleasantly surprised and very happy with the article overall - so much so that I've shared it on pretty much all my social media outlets.