National Dog Bite Prevention Week

National Dog Bite Prevention Week

I was walking my two dogs Buddy and Molly last week when some people approached us and wanted to pet them. I told them not to approach Molly and explained that she is unpredictable, but Buddy was okay. They continued to approach Molly and I had to tell them to stop. When we first adopted Molly, she was fearful when people approached us on walks and she hid behind me until they passed and she cowered when anyone tried to pet her. She fears some men, but with a lot of work we are working through her issues, gaining confidence, and trust in people. While we are working on this, we do not let people pet Molly during a walk.

Many people do not know how to approach a strange dog or look at the dog’s body language and understand what the dog is trying to tell them. This is National Dog Bite Prevention week and according to Center for Disease Control dog bites affects more than 4 1/2 million and most of the victims are children. If the people we encountered had really looked at Molly, they would have seen that she was apprehensive when they approached. She was backing away and her tail was between her legs.

When approaching a dog one should always ask the owner first, then approach from the front so the dog can see you and do not make direct eye contact, which the dog may be perceive as a threat. Let the dog sniff you and do not pet the dog from above on the top of his head because he cannot see your hand. Pet him under his chin and watch his body language to see if he is comfortable. It best not to approach a dog that is tied up and you should not try to take a dog’s food or toys.

Children should be taught not to disturb a dog when it is eating, sleeping, or playing with toys and should always be supervised by an adult. Children should ask an owner if they might approach and pet the dog. I have been around dogs most of my life and I respect them and in turn I have never been in unsafe situation. We will continue to walk Molly and work on building her confidence and it makes my day when someone asks to approach the dogs in a safe manner.