Young children can easily misread the family pooch

Children can very easily misread dogs, so it's vital to teach them ground rules when playing with the family pooch, writes animal expert Anna Baatz.

- animal expert Anna Baatz.

It's no wonder owning a family dog is popular in the UK-research shows that our wellbeing can increase with dog ownership, and there's even evidence that children's development can benefit if they share their home with a dog.

Unfortunately though, hospital admissions for dog bites are more likely to be children than adults. The majority of bites on children are from a dog known to them. And many bites happen while a parent or caregiver is actually present.

The movie The Secret Life of Pets 2 opens with Max, the charismatic terrier complaining that he doesn't personally love kids and is grateful for not living with them and being "piled on" by "hordes of children". Max is soon faced with a new child in the family, Liam, and he laments he doesn't feel safe in his own home.

Although Max's predicament is played for laughs, the truth is children can make dogs' lives difficult and uncomfortable. We certainly don't want our children to be bitten. But it's easy to overlook the dog's perspective.

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