My first dog memory is when I was 4. I was walking along with my 5 year old friend, Andy Jane, and we both spied an adorable little terrier sitting on a front stoop. Andy Jane, always an animal lover, dashed up to the dog to pet him. She came away with bloody wounds - and I came away with a complete fear of all dogs that kept me from the joy of owning a dog until much later in life.
We were part of a statistic that, sadly, grows every year. It is estimated that in the late 1990's, between 1 and 2 million dogs are involved in a biting scenario every year. The numbers are not verifiable because many bites go unreported.
More shocking than the number of bites is the fact that most of the time the dog knows the person they are biting.
Now, looking back, I understand all of the things we did wrong as youngsters. The most important lesson we should have been taught was to never approach a dog, even if we knew the animal, without the owner standing by to give permission. If the owner had been available, he would have told us that his dog was too old for the excitement of our adoring hugs and discouraged our visit.
But, considering our ages, and the easy access to the dog, there were some things the owner could have done that would have prevented this tragedy.
The most obvious was to keep the 11 year old dog in the backyard so as not to attract dog-loving little girls. Another solution would have been to sit with the dog to monitor the traffic walking on the front sidewalk in order to intercept visitors. Certainly, at ages 4-5, a No Trespassing or Beware of Dog sign wouldn't have helped us know of the danger.
Certainly, it is hard to blame the dog, who was just minding his territory. Dogs who aren't normally around small children are often confused by the noise, shrill screams and running approach of kids. Dogs can interpret the screams as a prey animal approaching. Running toward a dog may be interpreted as a gesture of attack by the dog. Instinct kicks in and the dog is doing what comes naturally, protecting himself and his owner/home.
Dogs should be corrected about biting and mouthing behaviors when they are puppies. It is often funny to listen to their growling as they play and wrestle with your wrist or fingers. In fact, in the mind of the dog, this activity becomes a game of domination as far as the dog is concerned.
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