It is always unfortunate when we hear about a dog biting a child, and most often it could have been avoided.
We can keep children safe and limit the chance of an incident occurring when proper education and management are employed. Here's a simple list of Do's and don'ts. DOS
There are five key elements to preventing a dog bite
1. Understanding general canine behavior helps ensure one can more accurately read when they are stressed, anxious or fearful. This allows better control over situations and limit situations that could provoke a bite. Dogs will give early warning signs before resorting to biting in most cases, these early warning signs can include "whale eyes", yawning, flicking their tongue and turning their head to look away. 2. Early socialization plays a large role into how the dog will develop and how they will react to certain things as they age. It's important to introduce the dog to new things in calm, controlled environments where the interactions are positive. Allow the dog to interact with a wide variety of people including those who use different mobility aids, children, elderly folk and folks who wear various religious clothing. 3. Training goes hand in hand with socialization. It is important to maintain and continue your dogs training throughout their life and to avoid using aversive and violent training methods such as shock collars, spray collars, hitting, etc; as these methods often result in fearful and anxious dogs who are afraid of the pain they'll receive if they misstep. Force free is scientifically proven to be the most effective method. 4. Management can come in many forms and the level of management one employs depends on the dogs temperament, known triggers, potential triggers, socialization level, what they've been exposed to, etc. By taking all these elements into consideration an owner can form a management plan that best fits them and their canine companion. Management can come in the form of patches on vests, muzzles, short leashes, not letting the dog off leash and not leaving the dog unsupervised. 5. Respecting a dogs boundaries and limits is something that cannot be stressed enough; disregarding a dogs boundaries is one of the leading causes of dogs, who would otherwise have never bitten, to bite. As owners we have a responsibility to ensure our dogs boundaries and limits are respected, this can be as simple as telling people not to bother them when they're sleeping in their kennel, to removing a dog from a situation that's pushing their boundaries of what they can handle. To read more about how to prevent dog bites and expansion on the points made here, please go to: https://dogearlywarningsystem.weebly.com/preventing-dog-bites.html#/ Dog bites can happen for a variety of reasons such as
We expand on these reasons here: https://dogearlywarningsystem.weebly.com/dog-bites---why-they-happen.html#/ If a dog bite occurs, it is important to seek immediate medical attention. For minor injuries stop the bleeding, clean the injury site with warm soap and water and apply a sterile bandage to it before going to a medical professional. For major injuries call emergency services, while waiting for them to arrive apply pressure to the wounds to stop bleeding, if possible clean the injury sites and keep the injury sites elevated as possible. In the following days, carefully monitor the injury sites. If you notice they're becoming red, painful, warm to the touch, swollen or if you develop a fever, go back to the doctor immediately. There are 5 bacteria to be concerned about in the event of an incident
We added a new page to our education section titled "Dog bites and the law - liability and you" that we hope answers all your questions and who is liable if a dog bites or attacks.
Here's the link to the page: https://dogearlywarningsystem.weebly.com/dog-bites-and-the-law.html#/ And here is a summarized version of the webpage: In short, who is liable is determined by multiple things like the location the bite occurred, previous history of the dog and if the necessary precautions were taken to prevent the dog bite. If the incident happens on the owners property, the injured is there lawfully and the proper steps were not taken to prevent the incident from occurring, the liability falls on the owner. Regardless of if warning signs are posted If the incident happens on the owners property and the injured is there unlawfully, the liability falls on the injured; regardless if warning signs are posted If the incident happens off the owners property the owner holds liability if the were aware of the dogs previous bite history or likelihood of biting, regardless of any signs indicating the dog is dangerous ( Red bandana, "DO NOT APPROACH/PET" patches on harnesses or "DO NOT PET" slips on a leash or collar, as these alone do not indicate a dog is dangerous) and the owner did not take the appropriate steps to prevent an incident from occurring. If the incident happens off the owners property the injured holds liability if the dog did not have a bite history or a know behavior that could lead to a bite and/or if the owner took the appropriate steps to prevent an incident from occurring; regardless of any indication that your dog could be dangerous ( Red bandana, "DO NOT APPROACH/PET" patches on harnesses or "DO NOT PET" slips on a leash or collar, as these alone do not indicate a dog is dangerous) We will be joining the lovely A Pet's Pantry Society at the Pet Expo! Come say hello, learn more about D.E.W.S, meet our team members and buy your pooch the perfect bandana.
We are located at booth 116 next to the Doggie Demo Area and the Dog Meet and Greet area. The Pet expo takes place Sat., Jan. 25, 2020 – Sun., Jan. 26, 2020 Admission prices are as follows: General admission 15$ Youth (6 - 15 years old) 10$ Family pass (2 general, 2 youth) 40$ Children under 5 get in free Tickets can be purchase here: http://petexpo.ca/tickets/ Tickets will be available at the door |