Babies more at risk of dog bites

NEW YORK - Parents should wait until their children are school-aged before they get a dog, according to a new study, because most dog bites happen to very young children.

Even then, parents might want to think twice about getting a dobermann pinscher or german shepherd.

Dr Johannes Schalamon and associates at the Medical University of Graz reviewed 341 cases of children treated for dog bites at a trauma centre in Austria over 10 years.

They found that children aged 1 or younger had the highest risk of being bitten, although children up to age 10 also had a high risk.

"Parents should postpone purchase of a dog until children are of school age," the researchers recommended.

"Throughout evolution dogs have lived in packs with a specific order of dominance. In view of this rigorous hierarchical system in a pack, dogs may regard newborns as well as toddlers as subordinate," they added. But "school-aged children can be trained successfully in precautionary behaviour when approaching a dog".

The researchers also found that the risk of being bitten by a german shepherd or a dobermann was about five times higher than for a labrador retriever or a mixed breed. No dog bites involved fighting breeds such as pit bulls. The study was published in the March issue of Paediatrics.

- REUTERS