Yesterday we left off wondering what went wrong when Bruna decided to chase the boy from next door out of our yard, nipping his ankle. Let me start off by saying there is no one easy answer to this.

First and foremost- as a pet care professional it is very important to me to explain how crucial it is for dog owners to explore training with a qualified, reputable, experienced, and (possibly) certified pet dog trainer…especially if your dog exhibits signs of fearfulness or reactivity (aggression) towards anyone, be it human or animal. If you have a dog who is reactive towards children, this is a serious issue that should be handled with the care and attention that a well educated, professional dog trainer should be hired to help you with. If you require assistance in finding someone you can feel good about bringing in, I would be more than happy to help you find just the right person for the job! The first step in bite prevention is prevention after all, and that’s what I am here to encourage 🙂

The next step in bite prevention, is to educate yourself in dog body language and appropriate interactions between people and dogs so that you can pass that knowledge on to your kids, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandkids, and so on. There are a number of educational tools that you can use to help kids of all ages understand the best ways to greet and interact with dogs, as well as what to do if they feel afraid and intimidated by one that may seem dangerous or they may be afraid will come running after them (the way Bruna ran after the boy next door).

Because there is so much information to cover, we’ll be starting tomorrow with a few days of do’s and don’t and why’s and why not’s. For today, I’ll leave you with a glimpse of Bruna and my neice Charlotte’s present day so you can see that with the right training for both the dog AND the child, friendships can certainly blossom!

 

XO