DogBoston’s Dog Blog

Jo sent me an article which documented the results of a recent study conducting by a team who wanted more insight into why dogs bite children.

Their most news worthy finding is that oftentimes dogs that bite children have often not bitten kids before (2/3) - but they tend to have underlying behavioral or medical problems…

The research team studied 111 cases of dog bite over four years. All the 103 dogs involved had bitten children and had been referred to the same veterinary clinic.

Findings (some obvious, some not):

• Young children were much more likely to be bitten when dogs felt their food or other resources, such as toys, were under threat.
• Older children bore the brunt of dogs’ territorial behavior.
• Children with whom the dog was familiar were more likely to be bitten in relation to food guarding, while unfamiliar children were more likely to be bitten in relation to territory guarding.
• Three quarters also exhibited anxiety, when left by their owners, or when exposed to noise, such as thunderstorms or fireworks.

Furthermore, when the dogs were examined, half had medical conditions, most of which affected their bones or skin. But growths, eye problems, liver and kidney disease, hormonal problems and infections were also picked up. This suggests pain could have contributed to the dogs’ behavior. Keep your pets healthy.