The study used images and video clips of dogs showing behavior signals in three categories: frightened/aggressive, defensive/aggressive, and happy/playful. These were reviewed for accuracy by an experienced dog trainer with a bachelor of science degree in animal behavior. They were shown to children ages 4 to 5 and 6 to 7 years who were then asked questions to assess how well they identified the dog’s emotional state, how confident they were about their interpretation, and how likely they would be to approach the dog.
Study Method
Children rated the dogs’ emotions on a chart using cartoon images and a five-point scale. They also rated on a five-point scale questions about how they would act toward the dog, including “Would you pat this dog?” “Would you cuddle this dog?” and “Would you sit next to this dog?”
The children were relatively good at recognizing angry dogs but less able to recognize frightened ones: only 56 percent of 4- to 5-year-olds and 76 percent of 6- to 7-year-olds accurately recognized frightened dogs.
Knowledge Doesn’t Mean Safety
However, the ability to recognize a frightened dog did not mean that a child would behave safely by avoiding that dog. Children were unlikely to approach an angry dog, but 81 percent of children answered that they would approach dogs they recognized as frightened. Statistical analysis also found no difference in the likelihood that children would approach a frightened dog compared to a happy one.
Children’s intuition about how to behave around an angry dog seems good, so why the difference with fearful ones? Coauthor Sarah E. Rose of Staffordshire University says, “It is possible that young children may think that it is okay to approach a frightened dog as when they themselves feel frightened, physical comfort can be reassuring. They fail to recognize that the dog’s feelings and reactions in this situation may be different to their own.”
The study also looked for effects of age and whether children lived with a dog or not but did not find consistent differences. “Children do show some improvements in correctly recognizing the emotion with age, and there is also some evidence that those growing up in a house with a dog may be a little better at recognizing the emotions,” she says. “But these findings are not consistent for all emotions.”
Lisa Radosta, DVM, DACVB, says, “This study shows at least one reason–there may be others–that children are the most common bite victims. They are not adept at recognizing frightened dogs, and even when they are able to recognize them, they don’t know how to interact with those dogs.”
Practical Prevention
This has implications for parents, behaviorists, and the design of dog-bite prevention programs. Dr. Radosta says parents need to educate themselves and their children. “The best practical advice is to prepare the dog for the child before the child is born and educate little ones with pictures that they can comprehend as soon as they are born,” she says. “We read with kids from day one, why not read picture books about dogs and cats?”
Adults also need to be aware of both their dog’s signals and the risk that a child may approach a fearful dog. “Adults don’t recognize fearful behavior and they do not understand that any animal can bite if the circumstances are stressful enough. As a result, chances are taken that should not be taken,” she says. “Make sure to practice proactive supervision all the time.”
The authors note that while there is evidence for at least short-term benefits for dog-bite prevention education programs, this mostly evaluates children’s ability to recognize risky situations and their performance on tests of knowledge, rather than their ability to recognize dog signals and how they behave in response. The results of this study suggest that programs should explicitly teach children both how to recognize behavior and that fearful behavior means that a dog wants to be left alone, rather than wanting the hug that they themselves would find comforting.
“Children seem to have a relatively good understanding that they should not approach an angry dog, but this is lacking for frightened dogs,” says Rose. “We recommend that children should be explicitly taught not to approach frightened dogs.”
This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.
Linda Lombardi writes about the animals who share our planet and our homes for magazines including The Bark, websites including National Geographic and Mongabay.com, and for the Associated Press. Her most recent book, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, is The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion.
Hunter, a 2-year-old mixed breed, enjoys looking out the windows in the lobby of our clinic. By starting his visit there, asking his mom questions and listening to his heart and lungs, we can make sure he is comfortable enough to continue his exam in the exam room. But it was a different story when he first came in almost two years ago. Because of a previous frightening experience at another clinic, he was wary of us and the handling and procedures being done. He would bare his teeth, growl, and even try to nip at Dr. Gamble’s hands when she tried to touch him. Through consistent Victory Visits, pre-visit training and medications, and desensitization to areas where vaccines and other needle pokes are typically given, we are now able to provide him and his owner with a comfortable and rewarding experience every time he is in. Now he sits patiently and lets Dr. Gamble examine him—with the help of some cheese and marshmallows, not to mention smears of his favorite treats, peanut butter and canned food. During Hunter’s victory visits, we commonly work on the desensitization process without actually following through with an injection. “Happy visits, along with some training classes and behavior work on our part, have made a world of difference to Hunter,” writes his owner, Beth. “Hunter is now excited to see Emily, Heather, Dr. Gamble, and many other staff members as soon as he walks through the front door. He is a much happier dog at the vet thanks to Gamble Pet Clinic’s Fear Free work.”
Recently, there was an event called Woof Fest held during a downtown pub crawl. Our clinic sponsored “Dog Trivia,” and I focused the questions on a pet’s emotional health, such as “Is this dog’s body language calm or stressed?” and “A dog wagging their tail is always happy. True or False?” Hundreds of people played our trivia game, and it was such a rewarding experience to educate the public on the topic.
Sammy had grown up in a hoarding situation and was fearful at the time of his adoption. Unless he was sedated, the six-year-old dog would bark and lunge or even eliminate from fear during veterinary visits. A prescription for an SSRI helped and the team tried additional medications at different doses, but Sammy would push through the medications and continue to show fear aggression. At first, he was unable to generalize that humans weren’t scary, so it was important for him to see the same person at the hospital on each visit. That wasn’t easy, but eventually the right person came along who was able to take the time and effort for Sammy to become comfortable. It took six months of Victory Visits spent eating chicken, practicing chin rests and lying on his side, and undergoing desensitization to having his leg shaved, the scent of alcohol, application of a topical product for numbness, and the pretend poke of a needle, but in July Sammy underwent his first successful blood draw. Now we are routinely doing happy visits to keep the momentum going.
Bruno is a goofy 8-year-old Bull Arab Cross (a type of Australian working dog). He has always been very friendly at the vet, but once pats stopped and the examination started, he would become suspicious and communicate his discomfort with aggressive behavior. Fortunately, Bruno’s owner has been committed to training. They had private training sessions and attended a Ready, Vet, Go! course. As part of Bruno’s training we incorporated a lot of owner education on subtle body language changes, as well as start and stop cues for Bruno. Bruno was trained with a sustained chin target, using a towel on a chair, as his start cue, meaning “I’m ready for procedure.” If he lifted his head, we immediately stopped the procedure. Bruno was also trained to be comfortable with a Baskerville Ultra Muzzle. We spent time teaching Bruno specific body parts such as tail, ear, and scruff, so that he knew what was about to happen. Over time we were able to pair several good vet clinic experiences (training on a Sunday in clinic) with lots of his fave foods, body scratches, and games. We also introduced veterinary equipment, including syringes, blunt needle, alcohol swabs, and stethoscope. When we weren’t actively training, he was taught a default “chill” behavior and rewarded for relaxed head, tail, and big breaths. He had several socialization visits at the vet, and when he required surgery for a lump removal we did practice runs with pre-visit medication to see what would work best for him. A planned course of action on admission saw him anesthetized as soon as possible to limit buildup of anxiety. Since then Bruno has had further training sessions and socializing vet visits. Recently he had his vaccinations and we were able to give his injection without any restraint by utilizing his muzzle and target training. Bruno is a great example of what teamwork can achieve when you have a committed owner and a Fear Free-trained vet and trainer, not to mention a goofy, food-motivated dog!
