Kids and Dogs; Tips To Prevent Dog Bites

Spring is in the air! That means spending more time outside, for both dogs and kids.  It's a great time to reinforce child safety around dogs. Kids and dogs can be great friends. However, children should be taught how to safely approach a dog and how to interact safely with dogs to help prevent dog bites.

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Kids should be taught how to properly approach and interact with dogs

According to a study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) approximately 4.7 million dog bites occur each year in the U.S. and nearly 1 in 5 dog bite victims need medical attention.  

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Children are the most common victims of dog bites, with over half of dog bite victims being 14 years old or younger.  Aside from causing painful injury and being traumatic, dog bites can spread germs and cause infections, such as rabies and Tetanus. 

These statistics demonstrate the importance of teaching your child how to recognize stress in dogs and how to safely interact with a dog.  Know the signs yourself as well and always supervise interactions between your kids and dogs.

SIGNS THAT A DOG IS STRESSED 

Being able to tell if a dog is stressed and may not welcome petting or other interaction can help prevent dog bites.  Here are a few signs that indicate a dog is experiencing stress:


🐶 Stiff tail or body language

🐶 A very slow wagging tail

🐶 The dog shows you the whites of their eyes (A wide-eyed "whale eye")

🐶 Licking of the lips

🐶 Yawning

🐶 Growling

🐶 Turns their back to you. Dogs often turn away from you when upset or stressed

🐶 Dog is moving away when you try to pet or hug him. He clearly doesn't want to be pet, leave him alone!

🐶 Snapping - If a dog snaps at you, immediately walk away. A snap is often the step before a dog bite.

Dogs need personal space too! Respect their boundaries

WHAT KIDS SHOULD NEVER DO TO DOGS

I've seen kids do some things that clearly create stress or even aggression in dogs, which could potentially lead to a dog bite.  These actions should be avoided:


👧 Don't run up to a dog, it can be scary to dogs and could be mistaken as a sign of aggression! Approach calmly and quietly and allow the dog to sniff your hand before attempting to pet him.

👦 Don't approach a dog yelling or squealing in high pitch tones, as many kids like to do.  That can be scary to a dog and could be mistaken for aggression.  Approach calmly and quietly. Allow the dog to sniff your hand before attempting to pet her.

👧 Never, ever pull a dog's tail! 

👦 Never jump on a dog's back or try to "ride" him, no matter how small the child is or how big the dog is!

👧 Don't approach a dog when he is sleeping, eating or has a chew stick or toy in his mouth.  Never try to take anything out of a dog's mouth!  Ask an adult for assistance.

👦 Never approach a strange dog without asking the owner first.  If no owner is present, stay away.

👧 Instruct children to also ask their own parent or guardian for permission before approaching a dog's owner to ask to pet their dog.  Parents or guardians should accompany kids when they approach someone's dog and supervise the entire interaction.

Follow these dog bite prevention tips whenever you encounter someone else's dog.  They can help significantly reduce the likelihood of your child being bitten by a dog.

Do you have any other Dog Bite Prevention Tips to share? Please share them in the comments, we love hearing from you!

Other posts you might like:

Is your dog at risk for Anaplasmosis (Tick Fever)?    
How Animal Cruelty Hurts Communities
It's Baseball season! Take Your Dog Out To The Ballgame

Dog Friendly Fun in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

If you read my blog regularly, you've probably figured out that dog friendly vacations and great dog friendly hotels are my world!  I love sharing the adventures we go on with our dogs, Icy and Phoebe. 

Traveling With Pets Takes Planning

When we first started traveling with the dogs and I had to plan pet friendly getaways, it helped me a lot to read about how other pet parents found great places to visit with pets.  It isn't always easy to find great pet friendly hotels and activities.  We've been traveling with our dogs for several years, and now we're in the pet travel groove! We have shared many of our wonderful dog friendly adventures on this blog, and we'll continue to do so to help others plan their own great pet friendly vacations!

We stopped for a photo on a bridge along this beautiful dog friendly trail in Waterville Valley, NH

Our latest travel adventure with Icy and Phoebe was a trip to the Waterville Valley, New Hampshire ski resort.  No, the dogs didn't do any skiing, I did! New Hampshire is one of six states that make up New England, and it's one of my favorite New England states to visit.  The other states that make up the New England region in the Northeastern United States are; Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.  All these states are beautiful in every season and each one has something special to offer.  However, we love New Hampshire the best, in both Winter and Summer.  Waterville Valley is one of the best dog friendly vacations we've been on, so we go back as often as we can.

Waterville Valley resort has some great things to offer

🐶 Of course, the very best thing about Waterville Valley for us is that they are dog friendly!

🐶 In the middle of the resort is a charming little town square, with a few restaurants and stores around it. There's also a live web cam in the middle of the square, so you can sneak a peek at the town square action anytime.  There's a live web cam at the base of the ski area's mountain too.  We're such geeks, we love checking out the live webcams for weeks before we go, to see how the snow looks and how crowded it is at the mountain! Click here to see the Waterville Valley live webcams, called "Mountain Cams" (I Love that!).

⛷ One of the beautiful cross country ski trails runs right behind town square. It allows both foot traffic and (leashed) DOGS!  The trail is gorgeous and has a few bridges over babbling brooks as well as a really cool tunnel that goes underneath the main road.  We've had some fabulous long walks with the dogs on this trail. It's actually one of the things that keeps us going back!

⛷ The ski resort offers both cross country and downhill (Alpine) skiing. This is great for us, because I downhill ski but my husband cross country skis.  We take turns skiing and watching the dogs so it works out perfectly for us!  Believe me, it's not easy to find a ski resort that has both types of skiing, and is dog friendly.

🐶 Within the resort, there are a few pet friendly apartments for rent but you have to book early as they fill up fast.   There's only one pet friendly hotel in the resort, but it's a real dive and typically has awful (well deserved) TripAdvisor reviews. You can read more about our Trip to Waterville Valley    two years ago when we stayed there. It was one of the worst hotel stays I've had! What a shame, they could do so much more with that piece of prime Waterville Valley real estate. 

Seeing dog friendly signs like this one on vacation makes me smile!

The first time we went to Waterville Valley and I saw this trail marker it made my heart sing!  I'm so used to seeing No Dogs Allowed signs in so many places, it's refreshing to see a beautiful vacation resort that actually welcomes dogs! A ski resort that has both alpine and cross country skiing and it's dog friendly!?  Um... Yes, Please!

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No need to leave the dog home, bring her along on that fabulous ski vacation!

We have fun hiking for an hour or two on this cross country ski trail that allows dogs.  It's one of my favorite things to do at the resort, and needless to say the dogs love it!  

Into the Tunnel of Love with Phoebe!

Planning a dog friendly vacation takes time and research

It isn't always easy finding the right accommodations for both you and your dog.  On this trip to Waterville Valley we didn't plan early enough.  As I said earlier, there is only one pet friendly hotel in the resort and it's awful.  I will never stay there again.  I checked the resort's private vacation rentals to find an apartment or condo that would accept dogs.  There were several pet friendly accommodations but only a few were still available. Most of them are larger and geared towards families.  We didn't need a place that sleeps 6+ so there was little available.

However, after much searching we happened upon the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Plymouth New Hampshire.  This hotel is owned by Marriott Hotels and is about 18 miles from the Waterville Valley ski area.  It seemed like an OK option at the time, not right in the resort but it was feasible.  Well, it turned out the be a fabulous find! 

Phoebe was very happy and comfy in our Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel room!

The Plymouth, NH Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel is fairly new and totally updated.  It was super clean and the staff was really nice, especially the General Manager.  The rooms have a microwave, fridge, and coffee maker. The bathroom was wonderful, clean and spacious with plenty of hot water in the shower!  They didn't hit us with a million rules about what our dogs can't do at the hotel, they simply welcomed us.

The icing on the cake, and something we didn't know about beforehand, is that this hotel offers discounted ski lift tickets for Waterville Valley!  I paid only $41 for a Mid-Week full day lift ticket. The regular price of a Mid-Week lift ticket is $79! That is a fabulous savings, and well worth the 18 mile drive to the ski area.  

Dog Approved! Icy and Phoebe loved our room at the Fairfield Inn and Suites! They were so comfortable and happy there.

Waterville Valley is as beautiful in Summer as it is in the Winter.  I'm already planning our trip back this Summer. I look forward to doing lots of hiking with the dogs up there.  Icy and Phoebe, Get Ready for more New Hampshire adventure!

What is one of your favorite pet friendly vacation destinations? Tell us in the comments!

Snowdog Days

Here on Long Island, New York, we've had a fairly mild Winter in terms of snow.  Lots of colder weather and rain but very little of the white stuff.  My dog Icy was not pleased.  Being a Siberian Husky, she lives for cold weather and SNOW, which is why Huskies are often called "Snowdogs"!

Fortunately, last weekend Mother Nature obliged and finally delivered over 5 inches of snow for Icy's Snowdog pleasure.  Here are some fun photos of her and Cooper, Icy's Golden Retriever love interest, enjoying a romp in the snow.

This photo is my favorite.  Icy is so excited to play in the snow, she looks like a wolf rather than a dog, don't you think?

Siberian Huskies tend to be a lot more energetic than most dogs.  When you see them playing it sometimes looks like they're playing rough.   Icy doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body, but when she plays she is pretty rough and tumble.  Both dogs are 9 years old now, and Cooper  has slowed down considerably.  Not Icy though, she's as energetic and rambunctious as when she was a puppy!

Here's Icy saying "C'mon Coop, let's get wild in the snow like we used to"!  And Cooper is looking at her like "Haven't you had enough yet, you crazy Husky?"

In the end both Cooper and Icy finally relax after a fun romp in the snow they've waited so long for!

How about you, have your pets played in the snow this season?  Tell us about it in the comments - we Love when you Woof back at us!


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My very favorite photos, including this one, are the ones taken in Sedona, Arizona when we lived in Phoenix.  The dog friendly hiking in Sedona is incredible!

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