Advice on keeping children safe around dogs this Child Safety Week

Greater Manchester has seen an increase in dog attacks over the last few months and as such, GMP, in conjunction with the Child Action Prevention Trust during Child Safety Week (5^th – 11^th June 2023), is providing advice to ensure children are safe when around dogs.

PC Mark Richardson, who is with the tactical dog unit with Greater Manchester Police, provides valuable advice to anyone who has care of a child on how to act around dogs.

• “Dogs should be approached in a sensible way. If you and your child are walking past a dog, then being calm and not drawing attention to it or yourself, is the correct way, as this also keeps the dog calm
• Do not make eye contact with the dog, as this will get their attention and it will want to come over to you and your child
• Body language can have a big impact on how a dog reacts. So if your child is excited to see a dog and runs over to stroke it, this can spook the dog and it may not react well
• Looking at the body language of a dog is often an indicator of how they are feeling. If their head and ears are low, this is an indicator that they don’t want to be approached or stroked and it’s better to leave them alone
• It isn’t just big dogs you need to be aware of. Small dogs can also cause injury if you’re not aware of what the dog is doing. For example, if they are playing with a ball and your child tries to take the ball of them with the intention of playing with them, the dog won’t necessarily know this and can react to this negatively
• Children will often want to cuddle a dog as their way of showing love to them, but this can startle the dog and cause them to bite
• Looking at the body language of a dog is often an indicator of how they are feeling. If their head and ears are low, this is an indicator that they don’t want to be approached or stroked and it’s better to leave them alone
• Even the loveliest looking dog has its limits and has the potential to bite. Don’t put your child in a position where these things can happen.

Be aware of what the dog is doing and being alert to the possible dangers is the best way of keeping your child safe around dogs.”

For more information on keeping safe around dogs and the Dog Safety Code, please visit: www.cfsg.org.uk/dog-safety/ or the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) for advice regarding younger children - Child Accident Prevention Trust | A safer world for all our children (capt.org.uk).

Also visit https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtOassNNHEL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== to see PC Mark Richardson and his dog, Yoda, in action.