How Parents Perceive the Potential Risk of a Child-Dog Interaction

Jan Náhlík, Petra Eretová, Helena Chaloupková, Hana Vostrá-Vydrová, Naděžda Fiala Šebková and Jan Trávníček
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Jan Náhlík: Department of Animal Husbandry Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Studentská 1668, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Petra Eretová: Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Helena Chaloupková: Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Hana Vostrá-Vydrová: Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Naděžda Fiala Šebková: Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Jan Trávníček: Department of Animal Husbandry Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Studentská 1668, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Dog attacks on children are a widespread problem, which can occur when parents fail to realise a potentially dangerous interaction between a dog and a child. The aim of the study was to evaluate the ability of parents to identify dangerous situations from several everyday child–dog interactions and to determine whether the participants connected these situations to a particular breed of dog. Five sets of photographs depicting potentially dangerous interactions from everyday situations between children and three dogs (one of each breed) were presented via an online survey to parents of children no more than 6 years old. Data from 207 respondents were analysed using proc GLIMMIX in SAS program, version 9.3. The probability of risk assessment varied according to dog breed ( p < 0.001) as well as to the depicted situation ( p < 0.001). Results indicated that Labrador Retriever was considered the least likely of the three dogs to be involved in a dangerous dog-child interaction (with 49% predicting a dangerous interaction), followed by Parson Russell Terrier (63.2%) and American Pit Bull Terrier (65%). Participants considered one particular dog-child interaction named ‘touching a bowl’ a dangerous interaction at a high rate (77.9%) when compared with the other presented situations, which were assessed as dangerous at rates of 48.4% to 56.5%. The breed of dog seems to be an influential factor when assessing a potentially dangerous outcome from a dog-child interaction. Contrary to our hypothesis, interactions involving the small dog (Russell Terrier) were rated more critically, similarly to those of the Pit Bull Terrier. These results suggest that even popular family dog breeds, such as Labrador Retrievers, should be treated with more caution.

Keywords: dog; dog-child interaction; breed; danger assessment; online survey; dog attack (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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