Study Shows Young, Unsupervised Children Most At Risk For Dog Bites

[~JoLu~]

Link: http://www.ucdenver.edu/about/newsroom/new...iteConcern.aspx

AURORA, Colo. – As dog bites become an increasingly major public health concern, a new study shows that unsupervised children are most at risk for bites, that the culprits are usually family pets and if they bite once, they will bite again with the second attack often more devastating than the first.

The study, the largest of its kind, was done by Vikram Durairaj, MD, of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, who found that dogs usually target a child’s face and eyes and most often it’s a breed considered `good’ with children, like a Labrador retriever.

“People tend to think the family dog is harmless, but it’s not,” said Durairaj, associate professor of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, who presented his study last month at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting. “We have seen facial fractures around the eye, eye lids torn off, injury to the tear drainage system and the eyeball itself.”

Some wounds are so severe that patients require multiple plastic and reconstructive surgeries.

Durairaj said dog bites are especially devastating to children because they are smaller and their faces are within easy reach of the animal’s mouth. The likelihood of a child getting bitten in their lifetime is around 50 percent with 80 percent of those bites involving the head and neck.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and 885,000 require medical attention. The total cost is estimated at up to $250 million.

The study looked at 537 children treated for facial dog bites at The Children’s Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus between 2003 and 2008. Durairaj found that 68 percent of bites occurred in children 5-years-old or younger with the highest incidence in 3-year-olds. In the majority of cases, the child knew the dog through the family, a friend or a neighbor. And more than half the time, the dog was provoked when the child petted it too aggressively, startled or stepped on it.

The dogs were not breeds usually associated with attacks. Durairaj found that mixed breeds were responsible for 23 percent of bites followed by Labrador retrievers at 13.7 percent. Rottweilers launched attacks in 4.9 percent of cases, German shepherds 4.4 percent of the time and Golden retrievers 3 percent. The study was done in the Denver area where pit bulls are banned.

“What is clear from our data is that virtually any breed of dog can bite,” Durairaj said. “The tendency of a dog to bite is related to heredity, early experience, later socialization and training, health and victim behavior.”

He stressed that familiarity with a dog is no guard against attack and if a dog bites once, it will likely bite again with the second attack often more vicious that the first. The first time a dog bites, he said, it should be removed from the home.

“I was called in to see a dog bite. A girl had a puncture wound to her lip. Two days later I saw the same girl, but this time her eyelids were torn off and she had severe scalp and ear lacerations,” Durairaj said. “The onus is on parents to recognize aggressive breeds as well as behaviors and never allow their young children to be left unsupervised around any dog.”

Edited November 14, 2010 by ~JoLu~

[Greytmate]

Interesting, and not surprising.

[LizT]

They needed a study to work out what most people should already know!

NEVER, EVER leave a dog and child alone together. I don't care how much you trust your dog,just DON"T do it. A child needs contant supervision and moreso when with an animal.

[Gspsplease]

American research from a few years back reported that blowing on a dog's ear can trigger an automatic bite/snap response, like snapping at a fly. I wonder if small children hugging a dog and breathing quickly close to the dog's head results in this snap reflex which then escalates? Anyway, apart from the normal warnings about unsupervised children and dogs, I always warn my pet dog classes to prevent all children from hugging dogs around the head.

Sandra

[capanash]

No need to look at overseas research on the subject, Monash University has already done this.

The Victorian Responsible Pet Education program uses their findings in their parent education programs.

[poodlefan]

No need to look at overseas research on the subject, Monash University has already done this.

The Victorian Responsible Pet Education program uses their findings in their parent education programs.

Yep.

Male children between the ages of 1 and 4 are at greatest risk and most bites are to the face and head. It's not a matter of "targetting" though - kids often approach dogs at face to face level.

And there is such an easy way to prevent this attacks - supervision or separation.

[LizT]

American research from a few years back reported that blowing on a dog's ear can trigger an automatic bite/snap response, like snapping at a fly. I wonder if small children hugging a dog and breathing quickly close to the dog's head results in this snap reflex which then escalates? Anyway, apart from the normal warnings about unsupervised children and dogs, I always warn my pet dog classes to prevent all children from hugging dogs around the head.

Sandra

You know, I really don't think dogs like being "hugged" in a human way. I think most just 'tolerate it" because they are used to tolerating most of the "weird (to them anyway) things people do to them.

[B-Q]

And we'll see the dogs get blamed, nealry all dog bites could be prevented if people acted intelligently around dogs.

1. All dogs will bite.

2. Supervise children, don't let them give a dog a reason to bite.

3. Ofcourse most bites end up on a childs face, its usually at a dogs face level. Also would it be too much to assume a lot of bites to children are because children got in teh dogs face?

4. Ofocurse Labs are up there on the list. They are so popular, and they're gerat with kids right? So they don't mind if the kid pulls their ears/tail or jumps on their BYB HD hips? Because labs love kids right?

5. Theres a difference between a "get out of my face" nip and an aggressive bite.

These are all issues that humans need to be responsible for and would probably vastly reduce the number of bites.

[Snoopy21]

Our dog seems to like being hugged. She will go up to the kids and shove her head under their arm from behind. She also face plants in our laps too. I guess each dog is different in what interactions they prefer. I would never let my kids hug someone else's dog.

The strange thing with this article is that the study was done by a MD who obviously assesses dog bites as part of his profession. Early on in the piece he is saying that any dog can bite, especially family dogs, but then at the end he says

“The onus is on parents to recognize aggressive breeds as well as behaviors and never allow their young children to be left unsupervised around any dog.”

So as a parent do I understand that any dog can bite or do I "recognise aggressive breeds"?

For me it is clear - any dog can bite, supervise your children and teach them appropriate behaviours around dogs. But that's pretty confusing for other parents who may not be very dog savvy. I also think that it is a shame that people may be put off having a dog in their family by articles like this with graphic descriptions of bites and emphasis on the family dog being the perpetrator.

[mita]

“What is clear from our data is that virtually any breed of dog can bite,” Durairaj said. “The tendency of a dog to bite is related to heredity, early experience, later socialization and training, health and victim behavior.”

The keys to prevention are in that summary. The list of factors involved in whether a dog will tend to bite or not, are all controlled by humans:

Selection of which dogs to breed from, the critical importance of the socialisation in early weeks of life (& the prior socialisation of the mother dog), training & further socialisation later, monitoring the dog's health (watching for signs of illness, pain or muscular-skeletal discomfort), supervision & training children how to behave around dogs. And watching babies & toddlers specially carefully.

AWL Qld has an excellent program of child safety around dogs with one aspect teaching children how to recognise the warning signals when a dog is getting discomforted or feeling vulnerable. PetSense is free & downloadable. Also the kit can be ordered in hard copy. Spread it around & help make a difference.

http://www.awlqld.com.au/petsense-program.html

Edited November 15, 2010 by mita

[poochmad]

Not surprising that most bites are to the face, considering the way some kids behave around dogs and also being at that height.

Only recently I had to advise my 5 year old niece not to stick her face in our dog's face (she was sitting on the floor and leaning in to him to touch noses) as he doesn't like it. Thank goodness he's extremely calm and not nippy as he could easily have nipped her (even playfully) and scared her (and god knows, my sister would have blamed the dog)...as he just sat there and let her do it. Thank goodness I was watching, but it just goes to show how innocent it can be and how kids just don't think, especially those not brought up around dogs.