Should all dogs be muzzled by law if they are around children?

Question

Dogs of any breed can and do attack children. Their owners will tell you that their dog is gentle and harmless, and they will tell you their dog is good around children. Well it is wearing a bit thin now. This thing that if you train and show the dog who is boss it will be OK. Not true. In fact it is very naive of any dog owner to think this way. Owners do not know 100% that their dog can be trusted, and so should not say so.

I do not dislike dogs. My question was about muzzling them near children. There are so many irresponsible dog owners going on about how good there dogs are around children. If they want to believe that and maybe face the consequences later well so be it. In the mean time we have to find a way to protect our children from misguided dog owners. Just because your dog has never bitten anyone doesn't mean it won't one day. All I am saying is the risk should be removed no matter what breed of dog you own.

I dont think you can compare being ripped to bits by a dog with a bite from a child. I can only imagine what the latest 5 year old victim went through. We are talking animal killing and maiming children. Why take chances? How much is a muzzle, a few quid. The laws concerning attack prevention are obviously not working.

Answer 1

I agree, I have a dog and he is good natured BUT I would never trust him when there are kids around or leave him unattended while they're there. Because you just never know

Answer 2

A ridiculous suggestion. What you are saying about dog owners not knowing if their dog can be trusted is daft. What do you mean by 'be trusted?' Do you mean that the dog can never bite? All dogs are capable of biting. I know mine is, and because of that I don't put him in situations where he might feel the need to bite. I would never leave him alone with a small child, or a non dog person of any age. I trust him 100%- it is the people I do not trust. For example, a dog is eating, and a child puts their hand in his bowl. The dog growls. Whose fault is that? It sure isn't the dogs! The child/parent ignores the growl. The dog bites. Whose fault is that? Not the dogs! Very, very few dogs will bite unprovoked. Understand their warnings. Most dogs do not like being hugged around the head. What do children do? Hug them around the head. People should not tell you their dog is harmless- it is a dog and they are creatures of instinct and habit. If they fell threated and cannot get away, they will react with instinct. So you be proactive. Don't believe them when they tell you their dog is harmless. People ask me all the time 'do your dogs bite?' and I never say no. I say, 'not without good cause.' People can take that as they will. But muzzling them around children? Forget it.

Also, I have seen muzzles on dogs and their owners assume because they can't bite they don't need to control them. I have seen a dog that fear-bites, muzzled and cowering in terror at the approach of other, friendly dogs. He had his only means of defence taken away, and he thought he was going to be attacked. How would you feel? It is the same as people who think that their dog is under control because it is on a lead. They must still be taught to walk to heal. If your only means of control of say, a 9 stone bullmastiff, is a thin metal chain on a collar, you are in trouble. Not that the dog would hurt anyone, but if it got away and got into the road, say, you'd lose your dog.

I know of someone who had a GSD. A wonderful, obedient, faithful companion. Not an agressive bone in his body. They had a kid, 2 years after getting him as a puppy. When the kid was about 3, the dog started acting strangely. Whenever the toddler came near, it would get up and move. If he couldn't, he would growl, and one time snapped at her. The owner was very upset- their must be something very wrong with the GSD. Off to the vet, who found a biro shoved into his ear canal. A medal for that dog please, who showed absolutely incredible restraint in not biting that child. This was of course, the owners fault, because the child had obviously done this to the dog whilst the parents weren't looking. But what a very different end that could have been. And still, if the dog had bitten, it would not have been his fault.

Answer 3

In th last 27 years of having had 100's of dogs come through my house for training or whatever, I have only had ONE dog that I felt completely comfortable living my kids with. ONE. It is true that most people CANNOT guarantee you that nothing will happen, BUT, I want to err on the side of caution. I will not live my sons with any dog unsupervised in a room. I love my dogs but I love my kids more. Should all dogs be muzzled with kids? NO. Should people accept responsibility when they get a dog and raise it properly? YES. As I have stated before, all of my dogs are formally trained in bite work. The only time they are allowed to bite is in my defense or when I tell them to, PERIOD. There are no excuses and there will never be any for unwarranted aggressive behavior. My dogs understand their order in the pack structure and they accept it. And I will NEVER accept my dog, or any one else's act aggressive with a kid, in any way shape or form, regardless of the circumstances. Have you ever seen a level 10 correction? It has been administered a few times with other people's dogs when they dared growl at a child. The problem is not the dog, the problem is the owner who never took the time to train a dog properly about pack drives. All my dogs know them and they all accept them and me as the alpha male in the house. When a dog bites a child it is because the dog has his pack instinct screwd up, the handy work of some "loving" owner who insisted that their dog just needed some understanding. Whatever. A dog properly raised and trained will not bite a child, or anyone else. It is a shame because the number of these incidents are increasing. That tells you that we as humans are not doing a good job nor are we learning and as a result more dogs end up getting killed.

Answer 4

No parent should allow their children near a strange dog. Kids have a tendancy to approach most any dog not knowing whether it's friendly or not.

A large number of children bitten are due to lack of supervision on both ends (child's parents and dog's owner).

None of my dogs have ever bitten anyone and have always been "fine" around children. However, if a small child were to walk up and poke one of them in the eye or pull on an ear, yeah there is a possibility they might get bit.

Children should be taught also!

Answer 5

It is very naive to think that the thugs and irresponsible will bother complying with ANY law, especially one as stupid as this.

ANY man can rape me, should we castrate them all, just in case? I don't know 100% that a man can be trusted.

Yes, I guess I agree. Lets muzzle all dogs. And then lets castrate all men, because I have a MUCH higher chance of being raped or assaulted than I do of being attacked by a dog. Lets outlaw cars/planes as well, as I have a MUCH higher chance of getting in an accident than I do of being attacked by a dog. Lets also outlaw PARENTS, because kids have a higher chance of getting killed by their parents than they do of getting killed by a dog. We also have a higher chance of getting struck by lightening than mauled by a dog, but I am not sure what we can do to about that.



You said - "There are so many irresponsible dog owners going on about how good there dogs are around children"

Yeah, *I* have an idea. How about if the parents SUPERVISE their children??? MOST attacks on kids happen because the parents let their kids wander or leave them with dogs, UNSUPERVISED! Why should I muzzle my dog because people are too stupid or lazy to PARENT???



Pinkdenial - "I think that society is relying too heavily on laws and not enough on personal responsiblity"

Absolutely right. No personal responsibility, from the public and right on up to the White House! Just pass more stupid laws so that nothing bad will ever, ever happen again!

Answer 6

That depend on the situation, I have a dog is a total sweetheart when he is with family. Been with us since he was 6 wks old Would I trust this dog around MY children alone? ABSOLUTELY! Would I trust this dog around someone elses children, NO NO NO. My dog think he is my third child and my girls (12, and 10) are his sisters who he protects and stays with 24/7. It is my responsibility as this dogs owner to keep him away from other peoples kids and it is these kids parents responsibilty to keep their kids away from him. If there are people over with kids I tie my dog in the back yard and do not allow them to go out there. WE both take responsibility for these children. It's my job as a dog owner and their job as parents. Would I let my children pet a strange dog? NO NO NO. Would I trust a strange dog (alone or not) with my children? NO NO NO!

Answer 7

You make some very valid points.

As a dog owner with access to small children, I would like to rewrite the law, though...children should be muzzled around dogs also. Yes, any dog will bite WHEN PROVOKED. Most dogs, however, when not given any provocation, will remain gentle. Children are masters at provocation. Dogs are also a lot easier to train and are less destructive then children. It is a two way street. After all, I know 100% that a small child is not to be trusted...and anyone that tells me different is being silly.

I've seen in my time quite a few reports of children being bitten by dogs, and while this is NEVER to be allowed, with rare exception the dog in question was provoked into response. Children can often be cruel without meaning too, and the dog may be injured by the child by accident. Unfortunately, the dog is often destroyed due to this, while the child is treated as special in order to make it feel better after the event.

While we train dogs in order to act well with children, if you have a child, train them to act well with dogs.

Answer 8

Why can't we muzzle the children? Or make them wear padded suits?

Let's get real here. If I'm walking my dogs on lead down a public walkway (there happens to be a median designated for bike riding and walking/dog walking here in my city) why are the children more important than me? We each have the same right to be there, only my responsibility is raised because it is MY job to control my children OR my dogs OR both as it is the responsibility of other people to mind their children or their dogs or both.

Here's where my issue lies -- why on God's green earth do children RUN up to a stranger's dog and get down in their face before even ASKING if it's ok to pet the pooch? My children were taught from a very early age to stay behind me AND to ask permission of the dog's owner before approaching the dog. To always stand higher than the dog and to present only the back of their hand to the dog as a greeting regardless of how 'friendly' the owner claimed the dog was. Some dog's aren't people friendly, period. Doesn't mean the owner's shouldn't have them, especially if they are under control (on lead) and obedient. Who's controlling the children? Are children meant to have free run of the world and everyone bow to their whims? NO! Children should be restrained as WELL as the dogs.

We should be instilling MANNERS in our children not giving them the run of the land with wild abandon.

My children share our home with 2 snakes, 3 cats and 2 dogs. If a stranger approaches my dogs when we're walking I say "they're usually friendly, but I can't tell you how they'll react" and 9 times out of 10 the kid will go right down to eye level with the dog and pet it practically nose to nose. Of course I tighten my grip on the dog so she can't lunge, but still....why don't the HUMAN's think and use reasoning?

Let's all be responsible for ourselves, and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY when something bad happens instead of trying to blame each other.

If some kid gets bit petting my dogs and I previously told them that I could not predict how my dogs would react... that's a 50-50 scenario of responsibility.

Keep your kids away from my dogs and we'll be fine.

Answer 9

I know 100% that my dogs WILL NOT aggressively attack my children, or any other child, or adult for that matter. My dogs are extremely good with children, even ones that aren't well disciplined by their parents in appropriate behavior around dogs they don't know (i.e. always asking before petting). Now my dogs have the capacity to show aggression, but only in a situation where a family member is in risk of being harmed (my dog came to the defense of my child when an aggressive dog bit unprovoked).

In reality, it is a parents responsibility that their child be taught proper behavior around dogs, regardless if they have dogs in their home or not. In many cases of a dog biting a child that I have witnessed, it was often because the child displayed inappropriate behavior towards the dog.

Answer 10

Well, as the mother of four kids I can tell you I cant predict what they will do either. So if what you are saying is logical I guess we should all start muzzling out kids too. Especially the ones with toddlers. My children have been bitten by more kids growing up than the dogs we have owned over the years. Anything with teeth can bite. Maybe the whole world should be muzzled.

Answer 11

I would say that' s depended on the dog, if that' s a really bad- tempered dog, it should be muzzled, but if that' s a friendly dog, why should it be muzzled? THe muzzle will only hurt the dog' s mouth if it is worn too long, and that means no freedom to the dog too. So it really depends on the situation.