Lesley 
Many bites could be avoided if owners recognized the subtle signs of dogs feeling stressed, anxious, or fearful. If you notice your dog exhibiting any of these signs remove them, if possible, from the situation to avoid your dog escalating to a dog bite. Share this poster with your child and learn together how to identify these important body language signals!
Thank you to Cattle Dog Publishing for creating the useful poster!
How to identify dog body language is a very important skill to develop. To be an advocate for both your child and your dog and to be sure there isn’t miscommunication, learn how to identify both signals when dogs are happy and enjoying interaction as well as when you need to step in to intervene.
This post will shows body language when things are going well. See our other post for body language to indicate stress and a potential dog bite.
Relaxed loose body language – Overall the dog seems to be enjoying interacting with children and looks relaxed and happy. If lying down, he may have his head over his paw or paws crossed. The whole body may be wiggling with the tail. He may also be sitting in a relaxed manner with a happy expression on his face.
Mouth may be open and you can see their tongue and it can look like they are smiling, (not hanging way out as though they are hot, tired or stressed)
Eyes look soft, happy, relaxed, and peaceful or squinty
Ears are relaxed – not tightly pinned down or very erect and rigid. They may be turned to the side, lowered but relaxed.
Tail may be wagging softly – Also look at the base of the tail. It most likely will be level with the back or hanging in a relaxed way, but if it is wagging it will be wagging loosely and in a relaxed manner. A note about wagging -as I’ve mentioned in my “Stop, Look and Paws” learning activity – a wagging tail itself is not always a sign that a dog is happy. It can mean they are excited and want to interact, but the interaction may not always be positive. You need to look at the whole body for overall relaxed body language
Dogs are strongly influenced by the emotion or activity level in a room. Generally, most children have a higher level of energy than adults when it comes to daily life and often the result of this high-level activity can be a child running from room to room or place to place.
This high level of movement is very attractive for dogs, especially young dogs! It will be no surprise to you that for a dog, chasing things that moving is a natural instinct.
In my experience it is almost impossible to get children not to move quickly or run from room to room or place to place. However, we can teach them to be aware of the dogs approach and give them an alternative behavior to avoid the final interaction of jumping from the dog.
The game is quite simple and won’t take very long to learn the rules and play a couple of practice rounds. Before you know it, your child will be automatically doing this as they go from room to room.
Prior to starting the game your child will need to learn their “Red light” part.
Start by practicing 3 things that will be a part of “Red Light”:
1. Stop feet from moving. Standing with feet together will work the best.
2. Fold arms across chest with hands tucked.
3. Turn head and gaze away from the dog.
When starting this game it may seem a little counterintuitive as we are going to actually engage the dog to chase by having the child start running and moving. The only way to practice stopping the dog’s jumping and nipping behavior and empowering your child is to set the dog up to do the behavior that we want to control.
To start the “Green Light” part of the game:
The child can do any movements with their arms. They can jump up and down as they move – anything that seems to get the dog’s attention to move towards the child.
The only exception, and a very important rule, DO NOT call the dog’s name, because you always want the dog to come when called and when they reach you it should always be a positive result not ignoring them as in this game.
“Red Light “ part of the game:
The child has to watch the dog or be aware of the dog’s approach and as soon as they see their dog getting close, a foot or so away, the child needs to immediately stop moving feet, tuck arms and look away.
The goal is for the child to stop before the dog makes any physical contact!! I can’t stress this part enough.
The child can start moving again once the dog starts to move away which can happen within a few seconds. Then they can start the “green light” part again!
95% of the time this works! Parents are usually amazed and children tend to think this is some type of magic! So what about the 5%? Occasionally, even if the child does everything correctly, the dog may still jump on the child.
In this particular case the adult needs to be the “referee”.
Initially when you first play, you need to supervise and if you find that your dog still jumps, even though your child does everything correctly, you will play referee. As referee you will use something that makes an abrupt sound to interrupt the jumping behavior and momentarily startle the dog out of what they are doing to give you an opportunity to redirect the dog. There are multiple things that make abrupt sounds, penny cans,
Doggie Don’t, small bullhorn, heck, you could even use a wooden spoon on the bottom of a pot!
The best way to use a tool that makes a sound is to link it to your voice with a verbal correction. Even shouting the word “Hey!” or “eh, eh!” will do the trick.
That said, it is much more common for the dog to continue jumping because the child did not stop their movement in advance of the dog reaching them.
One final word. Since this is a variation on “Red Light, Green Light” children may expect the words to be verbally called out. You or they can actually do this as well, but it is not necessary to play the game, however, it may still be fun to do!
Since the 2019/20 school year, North Bay Animal Services and Kids-n-K9s have worked together to bring dog safety presentations and dog body language education into our community by way of local schools. Although Kids-n-K9s has been visiting schools the since 2017, it wasn’t until our local animal shelter helped to kick it into high gear by providing free of charge, the Stop, Look & Paws sets to each child. Kids-n-K9s continues with the complimentary presentation to each kindergarten or first grade class with an in-person visit or through Zoom to make a personal connection to each child.
Here are just a few “Thank You” comments from teachers and students!
“With great appreciation to North Bay Animal Services we thank you for your donation. Mrs. Zoromski (Kids-n-K9s)came to teach us and we learned from her, thanks to you, what we should and should not do! We are wiser and smarter. Thank you, from the children in the kindergarten classes at Meadow Elementary.”
“Thank you North Bay Animal Services for donating our dog safety activities (Stop, Look & Paws). We learned how to be safe around dogs. We got to teach our family by using the cool sticker activity. We can use it over and over again like a cycle. Sincerely, Cinnabar kindergartners”
“Dear North Bay Animal Services, Thank you for helping to make the dog safety presentation available for kids in our community. We’ve enjoyed Lesley‘s visits the last three years. The kids love it. Also, we love the sticker game. It is so awesome! First Grade Teacher, Harvest Christian Elementary.”
“Mrs. Zoromski, Thanks again for meeting each of our classes. The kids loved the presentation and the information was presented in a way that was meaningful to them. The kids also enjoyed the dog safety sticker activity books from North Bay Animal Services. Thank you for reaching out to us! Kindergarten Teachers – Sonoma Mountain Elementary”
Often dog bites occur because no one noticed and acted on the early warning signs given by the dog. My clients usually say, “He didn’t give us any warning…he just bit.” What is more likely is that the signals that the dog was giving were not recognized. To help with this, I’ve put a list of body language cues and behavior to be aware of that can indicate the dog maybe preparing to bite.
1. Observe the dogs face for early signs of stress and stop child/dog interactions if you see them.
2. If a dog actively moves away from the child or situation, do not let the child pursue them. It’s likely the dog is making a choice to feel safer or more comfortable. If the child continues to pursue him, the dog could feel forced take the next step and say, “Leave me alone!” with a bite.
3. Listen for growling. It may be soft, with no teeth showing, but it should be interpreted as the dog communicating that he wants the attention from the child to stop.
4. Look for an impression that the dog does not seem to be enjoying the attention and the following:
• stiff body – with a frozen stance or hunched back
• hard starring eyes, or half moon eyes – (whites of the eyes are showing)
• tightly closed mouth
If you see any of combination of these signals, avoid the dog as these actions often occur moments before a bite.
Sometimes it’s the children’s behavior that needs to be addressed. Just because a dog seems to tolerate when a child is laying on it, hugging it, pulling ears, legs, or the tail doesn’t mean the dog should tolerate this behavior. If the dog turns to leave or hides under an object, like a table, do not allow the child to grab for them or reach under the object for the dog. Look at the dog for signals they are or are not enjoying the attention and redirect the child. In my Stop, Look & Paws sticker activity, I address these issues in a way that will engage the child to make safe choices before a real life scenario occurs.
If kids are looking to interact with the dog that’s great, so help them find ways that are appropriate to interact. There are ways that children interact that can be fun for both children and the dog. In my future blogs I’ll give suggestions on ways children can interact that is fun for children and dogs.
Now that you have read this blog post, look at the photo of the boy kissing the dog. Do you see any of the signals given by the dog that would concern you?
I hope this information is helpful to keep child/dog interactions safe. Check our other post for body language cues that indicate your dog is enjoying interacting with your child
Usually people come to me with questions to help them change an unwanted behavior with their dog towards their children. However, occasionally people come for guidance to stop an unwanted behavior that their child is doing towards dog.
I have had parents ask for help with a varying behaviors that range from not-so- serious to very serious. Not-so-serious might be picking up the puppy too much. A much more serious behavior would be laying on or kicking at the puppy. Usually parents have already tried lecturing and have been unsuccessful.
In any of these situations I start with fact gathering questions. Some examples of information I would like to know would be: How old is the child? Why is the child doing the behavior?(angry, they think it’s funny), describe when and where the situation usually happens, does the parent think they have the ability to always supervise when the dog and child are together or are others supervising?
In some of the more serious situations, I needed to discuss the option of rehoming the puppy or dog for it’s own safety and the safety of the child if the child’s behavior doesn’t change. Take a normally social puppy/dog who loves kids and then allow a child to jump on it, kick or poke at the eyes continuously and you will see a social dog go to a fearful dog and then an aggressive dog. At a minimum, the dog will not trust the child and avoid their presence. Keep in mind, given the right circumstances any dog can bite!
One of the most helpful strategies I’ve used in the past to help change a child’s behavior is to set up a Behavior Modification Plan (BMP)
BMP are common for teachers to use in the classroom. I, myself have used BMPs many times to help children learn new behaviors or stop old behaviors. This takes some effort to set up, but can be very motivational for children to change a behavior and it can give parents a clear strategy.
A BMP identifies a very specific goal for a child to either start as a new habit or stop an old habit completely. The BMP is like a contract or agreement with your child. The contract or agreement has two separate parts.
The first part is a page that has a place to write the specific behavior goal that the child will try to reach (i.e “I will help my puppy by petting him gently when he is on the ground and not pick him up.”). Write it on the BMP with your child. Either they can write the sentence or they can dictate to you and you could write their sentence. Try to word it in a positive way. In addition to the goal, this would be the time for the parent to share that if they reach the goal they can earn a reward! This could be that at the end of a week the child gets a small toy. Remember when the dentist had a treasure box full of small trinkets? You can even pre-collect a box to use so the child has a choice and see the possibilities at the time you introduce the BMP. At the end of the month, they may earn a larger reward if they achieve their daily and weekly goals. It could be a trip to a favorite place, like a to see movie or go to a restaurant. Because it is difficult for kids to keep on the right path for a whole week it will be important to continue to use something positive to track their progress. This is where the second part comes in.
The second part is another page that looks like a calendar with open boxes to either use a smiley face, a star, a sticker or stamp, to track day-to-day progress. For this discussion, let’s just say you are using stars. Depending on the age of the child, the day may be broken down into two parts – a.m. and p.m.. Each day, you monitor your child and dog and if your child can get through the morning or afternoon and achieve the goal, they either earn a star or not. If they were successful record the star and let them know that they did a great job! If they weren’t successful just say, let’s try again. No lecturing. No excuses.
You also have to decide how many “stars” must be earned in a week to reach a goal and win the prize. If there are 14 opportunities, you may decide that there has to be at least “10” stars before the prize is given.
An important element of this is that as a parent you do not give reminders of what the child is supposed to be remembering to do. They will learn to take responsibility on their own. Once they start earning those stars and prizes they will usually feel a sense of accomplishment and motivated.
Hang the chart in a location to easily seen as a reminder and to be able to track success. The links in this post will give you the pages needed to get started. You can print multiple copies of the calendar page and fill in the month and days at the top.
Constant supervision is required and should be anytime you have a child with a dog. When you can’t supervise, temporarily separate the dog from the child.
In my opinion, a good balance of both positives and negative consequences work the best to achieve goals. It is just important to find the appropriate “right” positive and negative for the individual child, their age and the situation. If you are struggling as a parent to help your child change a behavior, a Behavior Modification Plan may be just the thing to help turn things around in a positive way.
If you need more help or have questions to setting up your own Behavior Modification Plan, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Is your dog entertaining himself by destroying your home with destructive behavior and driving you crazy at the same time?
Is he being a “bad boy” on purpose? The answer is no. He’s burning some energy doing a favorite past time of dogs – chewing.
Dog’s simply don’t know which objects are ok to chew and which are not. It is normal and expected to have your dog experiment with various household items. It is your job to catch him in the act to give him feedback about appropriate objects.
Until your dog is trustworthy to be left unsupervised, use a crate or some type of pen.
In addition, be sure you are burning enough of his energy up with long walks and provide plenty of various dog chew toys. You can do some aversion training to deter interest, but talk to a trainer, to find out the best way to go about it. Some Bitter Apple may help on some objects, but not a remote as you will end up touching it and then eating some food that now tastes like Bitter Apple! Yuck.
Bike riding with your dog in your neighborhood is so addictive that you will never go back to walking again!
Depending on how old your child is, it may be possible for them to hold walk the dog with using their bike, however, be sure to master this yourself first and be sure you have them follow all of the safety guidelines in this post. In addition, I would accompany them to supervise this form of exercising your dog. I would consider a child as young as 12 years old, but this really depends on the child and the dog.
Bike riding is a great way to give a more satisfying walk to your dog since you are going at a quicker pace…not the boring .02 mph that many people walk. I also like the bike ride because I can go farther faster and in this busy world who doesn’t love that! Healthwise, your dogs are going to be moving at a faster pace and that keeps your athletic animals trim.
If your wondering how your dog gets any freedom here is the answer. We always start and finish the walk with the bike but, go to a park during the ride to give them off leash freedom to play ball, meet other dogs or just sniff around. We love this so much we have trained every dog, even visitor’s dogs!
Before you start:
Before you attempt this, make sure you have trained your dog to walk politely with no pulling next to your side on leash. Then you can easily move on to a bike.
Be sure you are comfortable on a bike going at a slow pace and maneuvering on sidewalks and through neighborhood streets. It is going to be important for you to be confident and in control. This not a workout for you, but it will be for your dog.
Some dogs are more sensitive to new and different things and may need a slower introduction. Other dogs will pick this up immediately. If your dog is the sensitive type, you may want to do a short walk with your dog, holding your bike and moving the tires, shifting gears, using the brakes, moving the peddles. I would recommend this after a regular walk so they are more relaxed.
As I mentioned earlier, your dog should be trained to walk politely on leash next you and take guidance from you willingly before you ever start to ride a bike with your dog. You can use a training collar Pinch or also called a prong collar in metal or plastic are my favorite because when you give a light “pop” on the leash the pressure is broken down equally around the neck. If you have been trained how to use it your dog will not be pulling on the collar and only feel it when you give some feedback. Your leash should be short, but loose when your dog is next to you.
Collars are always controversial. Here is my personal opinion and why. Flat collars or slip chains can be too hard on the neck and trachea. You may be able to use a Martingale collar if your dog is already very well trained to walk without pulling. Same goes for a Gentle Leader of Haltie – if your dog is already comfortable with a nose style haltie, you can try it, but no harsh pulls. Harnesses give the dog too much control especially if you have a high energy, large breed dog. My preference to stay safe and still make it fun for the dog is to use a training collar. If you don’t know how to use a collar like this, hire a trainer. Training collars will be resting on the neck and the leash will be slack the majority of the time. When you need to give a little leash guidance you will do so lightly.
I also use regular 4 – 6ft. leash about ¾” thick. Hold the leash by weaving it back and forth to sit on top of the bike handle under my hand. As mentioned earlier, always keep the leash short, but loose with some slack.
Do not let your dog pull you by his neck as you ride.
(There is a sport called “joring” where dogs are in special harnesses and are meant to pull you. If you have a safe place to do this, go for it. )
Do not ride your bike with puppies. Check with your veterinarian about when your puppy’s growth plates will allow bike riding safely.
During the ride:
Be very aware of your surrounding! If you are uncertain about your dog’s reaction to some stimulus, stop your bike and wait it out.
If you know how to give proper feedback with a training collar you’ll be prepared to let your dog know to ignore all of the unpredictable things that arise. Over the years, we have had cats, squirrels, turkeys, quail and even a fox cross our path and I was able to easily, allow our dogs to watch, but remain in control.
Some people use bars that attach the dog to the bike. In my opinion, I don’t think this is safe. If a dog runs out after your dog and your dog is attached to the bike a fight could be a disaster. I’ve had dogs run out and I will stop moving first. I get off the bike quickly to access the other dogs approach. If I can see it is friendly, I drop the leash (depending on where you are) and allow the dogs to great each other. You can drop the leash confidently if you are sure your dog won’t run off. If the other dog is acting territorial, I keep my dog next to me or behind me and stand still and a little sideways. It deescalates the situation and helps my dogs to see I’m in control. Usually the other dog stops at about 10ft. to give their warning or just assess us. I stay still, and quiet and as soon as they turn away I start to walk the bike and dog away. I don’t ride right away.
As you are riding keep your leash under your hand on the handle bar for quick correction and never put your thumb in a loop or loop it around the handle bars.
Your dogs are going to be getting a much more intense workout so be aware of the temperature and whether the pavement is hot. Go out when it is cool and take water breaks. If your dog is currently overweight, start with a short bike ride and slowly build.
A good odometer can help you track your daily distance.
Find a pace that your dog can do a fast walk – Keep some slack in the leash to keep pressure off of your dog’s neck. Correct with a leash “pop” and verbal “eh eh’ as needed.
Your dog should stay next to you – not pulling ahead or lagging behind. Practice on a short ride first with no distractions at a quiet time of the day to introduce bike riding.
Your pace will usually be between 5 – 9 mph. Ruby, our vizsla, could walk fast at 11 mph without breaking into a gallop whereas Mack, our medium sized dog with shorter legs preferred 6 mph. Adjust your speed as your dog ages as they will need to slow down. This depends on the height and energy of the dog. Again use an odometer for speed and distance to help.
Here is tip for turning your wheel. Before turning, give your dog some notice by saying a word like, “watch” just before you turn left or right. They will soon learn to pay attention to the direction of the tire. It is not necessary to say left or right.
Stop moving if you think your dog will respond erratically and allow the distraction to move past you or you can slowly walk to keep things calm (trucks, cats, other animals, people with strollers or other moving objects.) Eventually, once you know how your dog responds to various situations and you can keep moving.
Use a basket or backpack to hold water and small bowl, balls, poop bags or any for your other training supplies you might want to have available. Be cautious on hot days. I recommend going early morning before the temperature and pavement gets hot.
With practice you can do this with two dogs at the same time.
Have fun! You’ll never go back to walking again!
Most likely you do not have a dog with a naturally dominant personality. However, it is more likely that you have given a lot of leeway and privileges to your dog which can result in a dog who thinks it has the “right” to make decisions for the owner. In addition, many owners use use the word “protective” when describing a dog that is actually possessing them like an object. Dogs with a high sense of self-importance will possess objects as their own, because the top dog of any canine group does have legitimate ownership of all resources.
To effectively address all of the issues, changes in the household must lower your dog’s sense of status in the family pack. This is not done through force or intimidation, but through a focused effort of less freedom and more rules and consistent follow through overtime. You, the human, need to have the highest status in the household relationship, so that the dog can come off of “high alert” while they are living and working together with you and will defer to their human in situations when response and obedience is crucial.
Training addresses a dog’s behavior in real-time in response to owner control because in the scenario the owner will be able to disallow the dog’s natural urges. The urge is still there, but the owner can disallow it, with training. The owner can disallow unwanted behavior as long as they have earned the dog’s respect as the rule setter, boundary maker and legitimate leader, and the dog willingly defers.
Obedience training refers to the working relationship between the owner and the dog and the owners ability to disallow the dog’s natural urges. It does not remove natural urges or instinct. It can control them when the dog is under the owner’s control. When the dog is on his own, off-leash, away from the owner, however, he will act on his own, controlled by his personal instinct.
The desire or ability to “get along” with other dogs is determined by nature and personality. No one can “train” a dog to get along off leash(or on leash) with other dogs. Dogs come with their own individual personalities and sometimes those personalities clash.
On leash, one can address manners and control; off-leash, one cannot. This does not mean to allow your dog to go nose to nose with another dog while leashed. However, training your dog to walk politely on leash can enable you to walk your dog in public without a lot of dog to dog drama!
Start by working on good polite behavior within your own home. Don’t allow your dog to be pushy or dictate your actions. If your dog is pushy or demanding completely ignore him. If he walks away, you can then move on to the next activity. There are other techniques you can try if ignoring doesn’t work.
You need to master all indoor activity before being able to address issues outside your home. Use a leash indoors to help guide your dog. Leashes are helpful tools to quickly gain control. Once you have immediate responses and polite manners inside your home, take it outside and begin to practice in the presence of other distractions. Start in your backyard. Praise any effort your dog makes when he compiles. Always follow through on any commands. It is very important to prove to your dog that you will always follow through. Never try to intimidate or sound angry. This will work against you and will not help gain your dog’s respect.
Practice commands that involve your dog holding a “stay” and “recall”( the “come” command). When your dog complies, praise and feel free to reward his hard work with kibble or a treat. Finally, be sure you have trained your dog to walk politely on leash, with no pulling.
If you don’t know how to introduce or teach these commands, it is well work your time and money to hire a professional to help.
I’ve discovered that people often don’t know how to play with their puppy. One of the most common challenges my clients want help with is addressing an overly “mouthy” and “nippy” puppy. After years of observation, I’ve discovered this behavior is often the result of how we interact and play with our dogs.
In this article, I’m going to focus on why dogs are overly nippy with children when they are trying to play, and, how to fix it. Although it is normal for puppies to nip and grab things with their mouths, the way we play with them can make it into a problem, especially for kids.
First, let’s understand the problem a bit more. Most of us misunderstand the concept of playing with a puppy. We usually want to engage in roughhousing and wrestling, getting down on the floor with them, handling the dog all over using fast hand motions, or playing some chasing game. Sound familiar? All of this leads to over-stimulation, which leads to puppy nipping and mouthy behavior.
Let’s look at this from a dog’s perspective. Dogs use their mouths the same way we use our hands….to touch, grab things, just generally explore. If we are touching the dog a lot, it encourages them to use their mouth the same way we are using our hands.
Another natural behavior for a dog is prey drive. Dogs have an instinct to be attracted to moving things, which includes kids running.
Being conscious of your hand movements and avoiding running away, or generally fast movements, can begin to help limit your puppy nipping, biting and jumping.
So, what can you do to play instead?
My favorite way to interact is to get two dog toys to start a game while sitting on the floor (or short stool if your dog is too excited). I love to show people how to make the toy “come alive” by having it move along the floor with random bouncy, fast movements, which we know puppies love. Now we’re using prey drive to our advantage. As soon as the dog get’s close to the toy, very quickly toss it a few feet away. The dog will follow that movement and either pick up the toy and drop it, or carry it back to you where you are waiting. Repeat the process with another handy toy.
If your dog brings the toy back, I recommend not trying to immediately take the toy away…don’t play tug-of-war…keep the focus the other toy. You can also try to trade the toy for a piece of kibble, and when they drop the toy, toss it again right away as a reward.
Soon you can add the words “give it” when they trade for the kibble and maybe “fetch” when they chase the toy. The goal is to keep the focus on the toy, and keep it moving.
Remember, you can still have fun playing with your puppy, but play the right way to minimize overly “nippy” and “mouthy” behavior.
If you are looking for more games to play with your dog, I have more games to try like the Hide and Seek Game on the Kids-n-K9s.com site.
Have fun
