Kids & Livestock Guardian Dogs
Keeping Things Safe & Fun
Children and Livestock Guardian Dogs are a match made in heaven. But understanding dog behavior and safety with dogs is important in order to ensure children are safe and dogs are happy with the arrangement.
Keeping Kids Safe Around Livestock Guardian Dogs
Learning how to interact safely with dogs is important for children because humans and dogs communicate and show affection differently. Safety with Livestock Guardian Dogs is especially important due to their sheer size and power and their more protective and sometimes aloof nature.
We want to ensure children understand how to “speak dog” so everyone is happy, safe, and having fun. On this page are some great resources and ideas for helping children learn to interact safely with Livestock Guardian Dogs (or any dogs) while still having fun.
Understanding Dog Bites and How to Prevent Them
Dogs and children, they go together like peanut butter and jelly, right? Right. Until they don’t. Here are some statistics that may shock you:
Every year, millions of people are bitten by dogs. According to the CDC and the Humane Society, an estimated 4.7 million dog bites occur annually in the U.S., which might be an underestimation.
The Frequency of Dog Bites
Every 75 Seconds:
Dog bites occur in the United States approximately every 75 seconds.
Emergency Care:
More than 1,000 people require emergency medical care daily to treat dog bite injuries.
The Vulnerability of Young Children
Dog bites are particularly concerning for young children. A key factor is a lack of understanding of dog body language.
Children as Victims:
According to the Humane Society, 51% of dog bite victims are children.
Age Factor:
The American Veterinary Medical Association points out that the highest rate of dog bites in children occurs between ages 5-9.
Emergency Room Visits:
Being bitten by a dog is the second most common reason for children’s emergency room visits.
Severity of Injuries:
Children are more likely than adults to need medical attention and are often more severely injured.
Misunderstanding Dog Behavior:
Young children often misinterpret dog body language, focusing mainly on the dog’s face to make decisions.
Known Dogs in Familiar Places
Most dog bites involving young children happen during everyday activities and interactions with familiar dogs.
Family and Friends’ Dogs:
Most biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim’s family or a friend.
Home Incidents:
Around 80% of dog bites happen at home.
Stop the 77
When a dog bites a child, it’s a tragedy that deeply impacts both the child and the dog. Often times, it’s preventable through education and management. Please share the video with EVERYONE you know to help protect kids and keep dogs safe, too.
Go to stopthe77.com for more information.
Created by thefamilydog.com
Promoting Safety and Education
At Prancing Pony Farm, we emphasize the importance of safety and education to prevent dog bites. This is important with all dogs but in particular with Livestock Guardian Dogs. LGDs tend to love children when properly socialized with them as puppies and appropriately introduced to new children as they mature. But LGDs are big, powerful dogs with an instinct to be very protective of whatever they guard. This could include livestock or the children in the family.
LGDs can also be wary of strangers, including visiting children they don’t know well. Most dog bites involving Livestock Guardian Dogs and children occur over misunderstandings. Humans don’t know how to read dog body language. Livestock Guardian Dogs may misinterpret normal human play behavior (yelling, squealing, arguing with playmates) as aggression and a situation needing intervention. The dog may misread the situation and try to “protect” one child from another child or an adult. Dogs and humans speak different languages, and it can get them into trouble.
Understanding dog behavior and teaching children how to interact with Livestock Guardian Dogs safely can significantly reduce the risk of bites. Here are a few tips:
- Always supervise interactions between children and LGDs, especially in the presence of livestock, as LGDs could misinterpret something the child does with one of its charges.
- Do not have children, Livestock Guardian Dogs, and livestock together if the livestock will be stressed and upset (medical procedures, hoof trimming, etc.), as the LGD could become protective of the animals.
- Teach children to read and respect dog body language. (More on that later.)
- Introduce children to Livestock Guardian Dogs in a calm and controlled manner, giving both species plenty of time to get to know each other
- Educate children about the importance of giving all dogs space and not disturbing them while they eat or sleep. Livestock Guardain Dogs sometimes tend to resource guard, so respecting their space around food and other valuable items is especially important.
- Consider removing livestock when visiting children and Livestock Guardian Dogs interact, in case the dog gets concerned about protecting the stock from children they don’t know well.
Protected Contact
Protected Contact is a tool I use all the time with my dogs and my grandchildren. Most of my Maremmas and other dogs love children but a few are unsure of the noisy, bouncy creatures. And my smaller grandchildren are sometimes intimidated by the dogs, at least when they first arrive and the dogs are all excited to see them. So I use protected contact in two ways.
I put my house dogs, including my companion Maremma, Titus, behind a 2′ x-pen gate when the kids first arrive. (Surprisingly Titus will not jump this fence!) This allows kids and dogs to greet each other without the excitement getting out of hand. Then once everyone has settled down I let the dogs out and everyone is happy.
The other way I use protected contact is with my working Maremmas. Some of my dogs are very friendly with kids, and I’ll let my grandchildren interact face-to-face with them. But others are either a bit wary of kids or just too bouncy and intimidating for a small child because of their size. And since I don’t want to carry the kids around to visit the dogs, I have a better solution – protected contact! We ride around the property’s perimeter on the golf cart whenever my grandkids visit. I bring a large bucket of dog treats, which the kids feed through the fence or toss to the waiting dogs. The children aren’t intimidated by the dogs because there’s a fence between them, and the dogs have learned to associate children with yummy treats. They all come running when they hear the golf cart! The dogs that already liked children now like them even more, and the ones that weren’t so sure about kids have been won over through this creative counterconditioning method! And my grandkids, who are a bit timid around dogs, are being counterconditioned to like dogs, too!
Train Smarter, not Harder, with the DIAL Method
Parenting children is challenging! Adding a dog to the mix is tougher!
There are more balls to juggle, more bodies to teach, and much less time to do it all in.
But parenting is the most important job on the planet, so it’s all about getting it right—fast!
*AND… with all the sketchy dog training information out there, it’s easy to accidentally create more problems than you’re fixing.
And you definitely don’t need anything else on your to-do list!
What if you could…
⭐️ Skip hours of training and focus only on the bits that matter
⭐️ Instinctively know how to keep your dog and kids safe
⭐️ Squash the stress of trying to juggle everything
⭐️ Help your kids and dog become the very best of friends
DIAL into a whole NEW way of family dog life.
😵💫 Books take time (that parents don’t have) to read.
🫠 Courses take motivation (that’s in short supply) to finish.
🤩 But… 40min of TV? Now you’re talking!
Yep. The Dial Method™ is a game changer for busy parents that packs ALL the vital stuff that the pros know into a binge-worthy video mini-series.
*Content from thefamilydog.com. This program was made for companion dogs in mind so some of it will need to be adapted for working LGDs but it’s still an excellent and entertaining program. Highly recommended!
Recommended Reading
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Best Dog Behavior Book
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