Systematic Review: Interventions to Educate Children About Dog Safety and Prevent Pediatric Dog-Bite Injuries: A Meta-Analytic Review

Abstract

Cognitive/behavioral interventions have potential to improve both children's knowledge and behaviors around dogs. Future interventions should include multiple follow-ups on dog-bite rates from an international perspective using rigorous randomized controlled trials.

Mandatory desexing of dogs: one step in the right direction to reduce the risk of dog bite? A systematic review

“…There are also programmes that target parents in settings such as antenatal care and both parents and children in emergency departments 18 19. While for some programmes there has been evidence of a change in knowledge and behaviour of children following the programme,15 20 there is no evidence that such programmes reduce the risk of dog bites 21. Training programmes for dogs (and their owners) have had mixed results depending on the style of training.…”

Evaluating a Website to Teach Children Safety with Dogs: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…We focused on another strategy recommended by experts [6,7,8], altering children’s risky and provocative behaviors near animals. Over the past few decades, public health experts have developed a number of programs with this goal in mind [6,7,8].…”

“…We focused on another strategy recommended by experts [6,7,8], altering children’s risky and provocative behaviors near animals. Over the past few decades, public health experts have developed a number of programs with this goal in mind [6,7,8]. Existing programs implement a wide range of techniques to train children in safety with dogs, including classroom-based instruction with live dogs; video-based training in laboratories, classrooms, and hospital settings; and computer software programs [6,7,8].…”

“…Over the past few decades, public health experts have developed a number of programs with this goal in mind [6,7,8]. Existing programs implement a wide range of techniques to train children in safety with dogs, including classroom-based instruction with live dogs; video-based training in laboratories, classrooms, and hospital settings; and computer software programs [6,7,8]. Taken together, the intervention approaches tend to achieve some success; the most recent meta-analysis concluded that video-based interventions were successful at improving children’s knowledge but not changing their behavior in simulated or live interactions with dogs [8].…”

“…Existing programs implement a wide range of techniques to train children in safety with dogs, including classroom-based instruction with live dogs; video-based training in laboratories, classrooms, and hospital settings; and computer software programs [6,7,8]. Taken together, the intervention approaches tend to achieve some success; the most recent meta-analysis concluded that video-based interventions were successful at improving children’s knowledge but not changing their behavior in simulated or live interactions with dogs [8]. Most effective at changing children’s behavior were interventions that incorporated lessons on recognizing dog’s emotions and desires in the context of experiential interactions with live dogs [9,10].…”