The statistics are consistent across countries: most dog bites to children involve a dog the child knows, usually the family’s own, most often in the home, and most often with an adult present.
That last detail is the important one. Adults are usually there. They are just not seeing what is happening.
What dogs do before they bite
A bite is the last item on a long list. The list usually runs something like this:
- Moving away. Getting up and leaving is a dog’s first and politest option
- Turning the head away, avoiding eye contact
- Lip licking when there is no food
- Yawning when not tired
- Whale eye — the whites of the eyes showing in a crescent as the dog turns their head but keeps watching
- Closed mouth where it was previously open and relaxed
- Ears back, body low, tail tucked
- Freezing — sudden stillness. This is the most serious signal and the most misread
- A growl
- An air snap
- A bite
Adults commonly notice nothing until step nine, and then tell the dog off for growling. That is the single worst response available, because a dog punished for growling learns to skip it — and the next warning is the bite.
Never punish a growl. Thank the dog for it, remove the child, and fix the situation.
What supervision actually means
“Supervised” does not mean an adult in the room with a phone. Research on video of bite incidents found adults present and looking directly at the interaction in a large proportion of cases.
Real supervision means:
- Actively watching the dog’s body language, not the child
- Being close enough to intervene physically within a second
- Interrupting before the dog needs to. If you see step three, the interaction ends
- No phones, no cooking, no conversation with your back turned
If you cannot supervise at that level, separate them. Baby gates, a crate, a closed door. This is not a failure; it is the only realistic plan for a household that also has to function.
Rules for children
Teach these early and enforce them every time.
- Do not hug or kiss the dog. Hugging is a primate gesture. To a dog it is restraint, and face-to-face contact is how most facial bites to children happen
- Do not disturb a sleeping dog. Ever
- Do not approach a dog who is eating, or who has a chew, toy or bone
- Do not follow a dog who walks away. If the dog leaves, the interaction is over
- Do not climb on, sit on, or ride the dog
- Do not take things out of the dog’s mouth. An adult does that
- Do not go into the dog’s bed or crate. That space is theirs and is never invaded
- Stroke the chest or shoulder, not the top of the head
- Be calm and quiet around the dog. No screaming, no running at them
The consent test
Teach children this and it does most of the work:
- Stroke the dog for three seconds
- Stop and take your hands away
- Does the dog nudge for more, or move away?
If they ask for more, continue. If they move away, stop. It teaches children to read consent, and it is the single most useful thing you can give them.
Rules for adults
- Give the dog an escape route in every room, and a place children never go
- Feed the dog separately, behind a door
- Give chews and bones only when children are elsewhere
- Do not let the dog and a toddler occupy the same floor space unsupervised. Toddlers fall onto dogs
- Watch your own body language — leaning over a dog, reaching over their head, and staring are all rude in dog terms
- Take pain seriously. A large proportion of bites come from dogs in undiagnosed pain. A previously tolerant dog who has become snappy needs a vet, not a training class
- Teach the dog a “go to your mat” cue, so they have somewhere to go when the house gets loud
The photograph problem
Pictures of children hugging dogs, lying on dogs, or sitting on dogs circulate constantly, and in a large number of them the dog is showing whale eye, a closed mouth, a turned head, or all three.
If you learn to see it, you cannot unsee it. Those images normalise exactly the interactions that precede bites.
New baby, existing dog
- Start before the birth: get the dog used to baby equipment, sounds and routines while there is no pressure
- Bring home a blanket with the baby’s scent first
- Never leave a baby and a dog together, even for a moment, even for a photograph
- Keep the dog’s routine as stable as you can. Resentment is not the risk; stress and disrupted sleep are
- Involve the dog rather than excluding them — walks with the pram, a chew while you feed the baby — so the baby predicts good things
New dog, existing children
- Choose a dog whose history with children is known, where possible
- Give a rescue dog two weeks of decompression before any close interaction
- Set up the gates and the dog-free zone before the dog arrives
- Teach the children the rules before the dog arrives, not after
When to get help
Immediately, from a qualified behaviourist, if:
- The dog has growled, snapped or bitten at any family member
- The dog stiffens, freezes or stares when approached near food, toys or resting places
- The dog actively avoids the children
- Any adult in the house feels uneasy about the dog around the child
Early intervention works. Waiting rarely does, and the stakes are not symmetrical.
