August 2004
Volume 1 Issue 3
A non-profit organization dedicated to Dog Bite Prevention
Doggone Safe is the first federally incorporated non-profit organization in Canada dedicated to dog bite prevention education and victim support. Doggone Safe provides services in Canada, the US and around the world through its website and network of volunteers.
In This Issue
Be a Tree Teacher Kit Coming Soon in French
Funding Proposals for School Bite Prevention Program
Why Doggone Safe Does Not Use Live Dogs
Click here to join the Dog Bite Victim Support Group - this is a forum for families of child dog bite victims to talk about their experiences and concerns, learn from and support each other.
Find out about the Be a Tree Teacher Kit (donation is made by the manufacturer to Doggone Safe for every kit sold)
If you have purchased a Be a Tree Teacher Kit, then Doggone Safe will help you to secure funding to expand your program. Doggone Safe will assist with writing a funding proposal and identifying potential funding partners. Such partners could include local businesses, corporations, service clubs or community granting agencies. The funding request could include an amount to allow the presenter to be paid as well as an amount to provide additional learning materials such as colouring books, story books posters, stickers and other items that the sponsor may choose to pay for. These materials can be customized and branded with the sponsor's logo and with your logo or contact information if you are a business. To become involved with this program and to obtain other advantages of association with Doggone Safe, you can sign the licence agreement that comes with the kit.
Doggone Safe does not use live dogs in its bite prevention programs. This is because we noticed that the live dogs we used to use (highly trained and socialized service dogs - Newfoundlands and a German Shepherd) were very happy to be petted by the first 25-30 children and after that they started yawning or licking their noses or trying to lie down facing away from the children. Since we had just taught the children that a dog showing these signs does not want to be petted, it was contradictory to allow the petting to continue, even though the chance of these dogs actually being stressed enough to bite was neligible. Since most children wanted to meet the dogs, this caused a problem. We also found that many children are distracted by a live dog and they want to look at the dog and ask questions (how much does he eat? how much does he weigh?) that were not relevant to the topic of the presentation. We have discussed this issue with many other experienced bite prevention educators and all agree that live dogs do not have a place in a bite prevention seminar. Delta Society Australia uses a stuffed dog as do others and we are working toward securing funding so that Doggone Safe can also have a stuffed dog that children can practice their skills with.
Another reason that Doggone Safe does not allow presenters operating under the Doggone Safe name to take live dogs into the classroom is that there is no way to evaluate the dogs or the handling skills of the presenter. Even certified service and therapy dogs handled by professional dog trainers and behaviourists will show signs of anxiety and stress when large groups of children are allowed to pet them and so it is better if the dogs are not subjected to this. The classroom is not the place for people to show off how nice their dog is, or how nice their breed is and surrounding a dog with children sets the dog up to fail. If dogs are taken into the classroom as part of another presentation separate from Doggone Safe, we recommend that this be done as a demonstration only (grooming, tricks, obedience, service work etc) and that the children be allowed to watch but not to interact with the dog. This will avoid any chance of a dog reacting and hurting a child and will avoid stress to the dog.
Case File stories are based on actual bite incidents - names are fictitious.
Franny was an adorable bundle of Golden Retriever puppy. She bounced and jumped and gave kisses to everyone. She pushed the other puppies out of the way to get more love from anyone who would pet her. She strutted around the puppy kindergarten with her head held proud and her little tail as high as it could possibly go. She charmed everyone with her sweet face, fluffy fur and engaging manner of putting her paw on an arm, or pushing her face into people's laps. She was the darling of the class - but she didn't fool the instructor, an experienced dog behavior specialist. "That dog is going to bite someone someday", she predicted.
By the end of puppy class, Franny was sitting and heeling and being a very good puppy. The owner was very pleased and decided that Franny did not need any more lessons. She was a bit annoyed by some of the dog's antics, such as jumping onto the kitchen table to steal food from the children's breakfast (while they were eating it) and insisting on walking ahead of the baby stroller during walks, but was not concerned. The instructor offered a discount on lessons and eventually even offered free lessons to ensure that Franny, who was showing signs of pushy behaviour, would be properly trained and would not become a bite risk to the family's young children.
Franny did not come to any more classes. Two years later at a busy family gathering Franny attacked and severely mauled the family's four year old child. Biting and then re-biting until the child fell to the floor and stopped moving. Franny was put down and the child required several rounds of plastic surgery to her face.
This is another tragic story of interspecies misunderstanding. Franny was a pushy puppy and her behavior was seen as cute and was encouraged with petting and attention. She became more and more bold and was allowed access to the kitchen, control over resources and space in the home and control over her position on walks. Unbeknownst to the family, Franny had crowned herself queen and had taken over. On the day of the attack Franny had lost control over her kingdom, with the arrival of numerous noisy guests. She was stressed and anxious because of the the noise and activity and the presence of strangers. The child victim became insubordinate in some way in the dog's mind and she reacted by attacking and re-attacking until she had the situation under control.
This tragedy could have been prevented in a number of ways. Continued training may have helped a healthy and respectful relationship to have developed between the dog and the family. Professional help from a canine behaviour consultant was indicated in this case. An understanding of dog behaviour and communication would have allowed the family to realize that the dog had elevated herself to a leadership position and posed a danger to the children. On the day of the attack the dog was probably showing many signs of stress, which went unnoticed. If the use of a crate was a regular part of the management of this dog and the dog was crated when the house was in an uproar the dog would not have had the opportunity or the need to attack. This attack came as a surprise to the family, even though the dog had given warning signs right from the earliest puppyhood. This story emphasizes the need for continued obedience training past puppy class and the need for education of parents about dog behaviour and communication and how to foster healthy, respectful relationships between the dog and human family members.
Doggone Safe is very pleased to announce a new partnership with I'm Safe Productions, a Maine-based firm dedicated to the promotion of child safety. I'm Safe Productions produces cost-effective safety education materials such as colouring books, story books, stickers and posters that complement the Doggone Safe Be a Tree Program. These educational materials can be used by teachers to reinforce the safety messages in subsequent lessons and activities. The I'm Safe materials can be branded with sponsor logos or otherwise customized for individual programs with the names of towns or school boards included in the artwork on the glossy covers.
For More Information...
For more information about Doggone Safe and for useful tips about bite prevention please visit the Doggone Safe website. Any materials found at the site can be used at websites or in printed matter without permission (unless specifically noted) provided proper credit is given. A link back to the Doggone Safe site is appreciated.
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe...
If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you wish to subscribe - please send an email to joan@doggonsafe.com with the word subscribe in the subject line.
If you wish to unsubscribe - please send email to joan@doggonsafe.com with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
Privacy Policy...
Doggone Safe will not share its mailing list with third parties