The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls bites on children "epidemic," said Marsh Myers, director of education and cruelty prevention for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.
So the local chapter of the Humane Society includes a dog-bite prevention unit in all of its education programs for third- to fifth-graders at Tucson-area schools.
"A lot of the classic mistakes that children make, especially when frightened by stray dogs, is they run away and scream this high-pitched scream — and the dog kicks into its genetic hunter-prey mode: 'I'm supposed to chase this animal,' " Myers said.
Humane Society trainers recommend anyone in danger of attack or under attack practice the Ice, Tree and Rock approach:
l First is the ice: "You freeze and you're quiet. In most cases the dog will find you uninteresting and leave," Myers said. Trying to outrun a dog, he said, is usually futile, and may actually provoke the dog.
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l Once the dog is making some physical contact, "Be a tree. Stand straight and tall with hands by your side and don't make any noise."
l If knocked down, he said, be a rock: "Put fists over ears, forehead into knees and protect vital parts. Even if the dog bites you, on the back of legs or buttocks, they are less vulnerable to fatal bites than face, neck or belly."
The flip side of the approach has to do with preventing some of the most common bites to children, by the family's own dog — the biter in as many as half of all bites. And all too often, said Myers, cases of a family member being bitten by their own dog involve a dog that has been chained in the yard, treated harshly to make it "tough," or just deprived of human contact.
Myers advises families to rethink the concept of a tough guard dog.
He asks children in the dog-bite prevention classes, "Do you have to be a mean kid to be protective of your Mom and Dad? Why does the animal have to be mean or fierce to be protective of you?
"Defending the pack is something all breeds do."
To make the family dog a member of the pack, Myers suggests socializing the dog. "They are pack animals and their family is their pack."
Chaining them out in the backyard or forcing them to live outside without human contact won't engender loyalty, said Myers.
He also recommends training dogs at the Humane Society classes.
The classes help owners "understand why your dog does what he does, (and) how you can shape and mold that behavior and reinforce positive ones," he said. "Every time the dog does something you don't want, you withhold attention."
Lastly, in terms of bite prevention, Myers said all evidence points toward neutering dogs, as nearly all fatal bites in the United States are by dogs that have not been neutered.
While neutering won't absolutely prevent biting, he said it's proved to reduce aggressiveness and cuts down on the population of unwanted and unsocialized dogs.
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