Dog bite statistics and common sense
In my last post, I introduced you to some of the canines in my life. That information will be handy to remember for this post.
When this story came out this week, my hackles went up to be sure. I just knew it was going to be used in Rep. Lesch's dog ban debate. But the more I read the article, the more the common sense jumped out at me.
"The study found that children between the ages of 1 and 4 had the highest rate for both hospitalization and emergency room treatment. "
Of course, any time a child between the ages of 1 and 4 has an accident they are bound to get hospitalization/emergency room treatment.
"The study also said that in 75 percent of the cases, the victim was familiar with the dog or dogs involved. "
Very good point - dogs are pack animals by nature. Sometimes, when interacting with their human "pack" they forget that we are humans and not dogs. I have more than a few wounds on my arm (over the years) from wrestling with my dogs. I will never forget when Kessa (Doberman) and I were playing one day and she put her mouth around my wrist to "capture" me - I had her toy in that hand. Her canine tooth happened to hit the crystal of my watch and crushed it. Kessa was devistated. She really thought she had hurt me. If my watch had not been there, that could have been a serious injury.
"Dog bites also occurred 48 percent of the time in the home and 18 percent of the time in yards.
Among other findings:
- Dog bites were most common between May and August.
- 96 percent of bites to children younger than 1 year of age occurred when the child was provoking, teasing or approaching the dog.
- Among children ages 5 to 14 years old, the leading cause for getting a dog bite (31 percent) was walking, running or biking past a dog." (emphasis mine)
Kids do not know how to behave around dogs. A lot of their squeeling and carrying on sounds like prey to them and it triggers long dormant instincts. Running triggers instincts - especially in herding breeds (like German shepards and Border Collies). It is canine nature.
Just as parents teach their children how to safely cross the road, they need to teach their children how to safely approach a dog - whether the dog is a stranger or not! Which is something all of the radio and tv reports mentioned. I have lost count of how many children have come up to Lucky (who is a very docile, well trained dog and the Junior Logician gets all the credit for that) in a manner that would have been seen as aggression by a lesser trained dog! I have many times corrected kids not to run up to Lucky or bring their hand "down" toward her head to pet her (a dog that has been abused will ASSUME you are going to hit them and they will bite). When the Junior Logician was growing up, I taught him that he was to walk to a dog and ask permission to pet the dog FIRST - just in case the dog was not as friendly as his were. It takes work and vigilence. Something many parents just don't seem to have anymore.
When this story came out this week, my hackles went up to be sure. I just knew it was going to be used in Rep. Lesch's dog ban debate. But the more I read the article, the more the common sense jumped out at me.
"The study found that children between the ages of 1 and 4 had the highest rate for both hospitalization and emergency room treatment. "
Of course, any time a child between the ages of 1 and 4 has an accident they are bound to get hospitalization/emergency room treatment.
"The study also said that in 75 percent of the cases, the victim was familiar with the dog or dogs involved. "
Very good point - dogs are pack animals by nature. Sometimes, when interacting with their human "pack" they forget that we are humans and not dogs. I have more than a few wounds on my arm (over the years) from wrestling with my dogs. I will never forget when Kessa (Doberman) and I were playing one day and she put her mouth around my wrist to "capture" me - I had her toy in that hand. Her canine tooth happened to hit the crystal of my watch and crushed it. Kessa was devistated. She really thought she had hurt me. If my watch had not been there, that could have been a serious injury.
"Dog bites also occurred 48 percent of the time in the home and 18 percent of the time in yards.
Among other findings:
- Dog bites were most common between May and August.
- 96 percent of bites to children younger than 1 year of age occurred when the child was provoking, teasing or approaching the dog.
- Among children ages 5 to 14 years old, the leading cause for getting a dog bite (31 percent) was walking, running or biking past a dog." (emphasis mine)
Kids do not know how to behave around dogs. A lot of their squeeling and carrying on sounds like prey to them and it triggers long dormant instincts. Running triggers instincts - especially in herding breeds (like German shepards and Border Collies). It is canine nature.
Just as parents teach their children how to safely cross the road, they need to teach their children how to safely approach a dog - whether the dog is a stranger or not! Which is something all of the radio and tv reports mentioned. I have lost count of how many children have come up to Lucky (who is a very docile, well trained dog and the Junior Logician gets all the credit for that) in a manner that would have been seen as aggression by a lesser trained dog! I have many times corrected kids not to run up to Lucky or bring their hand "down" toward her head to pet her (a dog that has been abused will ASSUME you are going to hit them and they will bite). When the Junior Logician was growing up, I taught him that he was to walk to a dog and ask permission to pet the dog FIRST - just in case the dog was not as friendly as his were. It takes work and vigilence. Something many parents just don't seem to have anymore.
Labels: Breed Specific Legislation
posted by The Lady Logician at
6:40 PM
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