International Dog Bite Prevention Month

May is International Dog Bite Prevention Month.  Did you know that the majority of dog bites come from a friend's dog or the family dog and that dogs never bite ‘out of the blue’?  Don’t be lulled into thinking that it won’t happen to your family.  Any dog can bite and anyone (even you or I) can be bitten.  To understand why, check out, ‘Do Dogs Bite Out of the Blue?’  http://www.dogsandbabieslearning.com/2010/03/27/do-dogs-bite-out-of-the-blue/

Your dog will tell you when they are feeling worried, frightened, or stressed; we just don’t know how to recognize and read the message.  Dogs communicate with their body language.  It is a rich and nuanced language that we will never be able to fully grasp being the verbal communicators that we are but there are some aspects that are easy for us to observe.  Below are a few resources that are well worth checking out (even if you don’t have kids!).

If you have children or grandchildren and a dog, the following video gives an excellent portrayal of what we consider happy childhood experiences with our dog but did you ever wonder what your dog might have been feeling?  Watch ‘Stop the 77’ to gain a new perspective.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABDrhNBwdpk

The ‘Stop the 77’ website provides a wealth of information to help you keep both your children and your dog safe. http://stopthe77.com/  Scroll down and print out the poster ‘Stay Safe around the Dogs you Know’ and watch the fun videos they posted.

On facebook, like ‘Proud of My Dog – dog training’.  Throughout the month of May, I will be posting other resources on how to have fun and stay safe around dogs.

Thanks for reading.