Psychology and wellbeing - Reasons Why Dogs Bite Children

A research team of University of Pennsylvania analysed the circumstances surrounding 111 cases of dog bite over a period of four years. All the 103 dogs involved had bitten children and had been referred to the same veterinary behaviour clinic.

The analysis of Ilana Reisner and her colleagues, published in the October issue of the journal Injury Prevention, highlighted distinctive patterns of behaviour, but not among any particular breed.

The children were familiar to the dogs in 69 cases and unfamiliar in the remainder. Three fourths of the dogs were male.

Bites involving children younger than six were most often associated with resource guarding (44%), whereas older children were more likely to be bitten with territory guarding (23%).

Food guarding was the most common factor associated with bites involving familiar children (42%), whereas 53% of unfamiliar children were bitten under circumstances involving territory.

Three quarters also exhibited anxiety, when left by their owners, or when exposed to noise, such as thunderstorms or fireworks.

Demonstrable fear may signal a tendency towards biting when faced with a perceived threat, say the authors.

And young children in particular can be noisy and unpredictable in their movements, both of which could frighten an already anxious dog.

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.

The authors suggest that pain could have contributed to the dogs' behaviour. One in five dogs had never bitten anyone before, and two thirds had never bitten a child before.

Adapted from ScienceDaily and MedpageToday.