Statistics show that a very high percentage of the dog attacks are towards children, we talk about 80% of the total cases.There is no casual figure, there is a reason for it.
In this article of Animal Expert We will talk about the main causes of aggression of dogs towards children, how we can avoid these situations and other details that we must take into account, read on and discover why dogs attack children :
Communication errors
As a general rule, adults should always monitor the interaction between children and dogs, otherwise there is a high probability that a bad communication will end with a bite, which can be very serious depending on the size of the dog.
There is a tendency to trust a dog that has never shown signs of aggression before, however, dogs speak in a specific body language that even adults may not know interpret, what happens to children then?
They are still experiencing cognitive skills (such as perception, attention or memory), which will not fully develop until about six years old, which makes them especially vulnerable to comprehension errors.
Before an attack, the dog sends us a series of previous signals such as calm signals, showing teeth or grunt.All this tells us that the dog feels in comfortable, enough to attack.These physical signs are obvious to us, but not to children, who think it's a game .
Negative behaviors of children towards the dogs:
- Stare
- Pounce on the dog
- Pull the tail
- Pull the ears
- Annoy
- Do not let rest
- Shout at him
- Embrace it effusively
- Put your fingers in your cavities
Unpleasant experiences
Children are usually very invasive , something that not all dogs are able to understand and respect.For them they are "little beings" who scream and can even reach to do damage.That's when a negative association begins to occur.
If, in addition to the child acting in an invasive way, we re-irrigate the dog for snarling , (remember that he tries communicate their discomfort) we are causing learning by association, also known as classical conditioning.The dog begins to relate to the child as something unpleasant and even as something bad, increasing their stress levels and even making them try flee, and if that is not possible, bite.
How to avoid a dog's attack on a child?
To prevent the aforementioned situations it will be essential to always be present in the same room when the child and the dog are together.It does not matter if we have full confidence in our 10-year-old dog years, sometimes, a finger in the eye, age problems (such as osteoarthritis) or a moment of hyperexcitation can cause an unexpected response .Let's avoid something happening by monitoring the interactions.
From a certain age, we can begin to explain to a child that dogs can bite and do a lot of damage, we will teach them to identify appeasement positions such as turning away, turning their heads, licking and turn the whole body.Educating our little one we will make the coexistence very positive.We will also teach them to respect their toys, food or the sofa, resources that can be protected at some time by the dog.
What to do if a dog grunts or bites a child?
Aggression is a very serious behavior problem , especially if it is focused on children, in which case it becomes a problem against public health.We must totally avoid contact between dog and child and the immediate solution will be to find a provisional home for the dog until we can go to a specialist.
Keep at home A dog that grunts or attacks children can lead to severe aggression, so in no case is it recommended to do any type of therapy or treatment on our own, without specialist supervision.
If you want to read more articles similar to Why do dogs attack more Children? , we recommend you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.
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