How to Help Your Kid Get Over a Dog Bite

They say that a dog is a human’s best friend, and often, that’s true. Dogs and humans have coexisted and co-habitated for thousands of years.

Humans use dogs for friendship, protection, and even to do things like detect drugs or explosives. They serve as blind people’s eyes, and they comfort individuals with anxiety issues.

Some children love dogs, and many dogs appreciate children as well. However, sometimes a poorly-trained dog will attack a child. If a dog bites your kid, as a parent, it’s probably going to upset both you and the child very much.

You’ll have to take some steps to help your child get over their fear. Here are some tips for doing so.

Get a Therapist for Them

One thing you might do is take your child to see a therapist. Dog bites can also be traumatizing to adults, so this isn’t something you should expect your kid to get over immediately. It’s going to take time before they recover fully.

The therapist can:

• Talk to your child about their fears
• Work on some anxiety-reducing techniques

Eventually, with the therapist’s help, your child should get better. Depending on the dog bite’s severity, it might take months or even years.

Get Rid of the Dog

Perhaps the dog that bit your child was a stray, or maybe it belonged to a neighbour. If your neighbour’s dog bit your child, you might be able to force them to get rid of it. 

That will depend on whether your child antagonised the dog or whether the animal attacked them without warning. You might have to:

• Hire a lawyer
• Take your neighbour to court

You would hope they’d get rid of the dog without you having to bring a lawsuit, but if you feel like the animal continues to endanger your child, you may have little choice.

If it was your dog that bit your child, you’ll have to destroy the animal or give it away. You can’t have your traumatised child in the same house with the dog that bit them. They probably won’t even be able to sleep till the animal is gone.

Talk to Them About Their Fears

You can also talk to them about some coping strategies. You can explain that what happened was because the dog’s owner did not train the animal correctly. You can tell them that dogs aren’t bad. It’s just that some people mistreat them, and then the animal lashes out.

Depending on the child’s age, you might emphasise that you’re taking precautions to ensure no dogs can get to them. You can show them you’re locking all the doors and windows at night, so no dog can get in.

You Can Avoid Dogs for a While

If there are houses in the neighbourhood where there are often dogs in the yards, you can steer your child away if you’re walking them to school. You can avoid going to visit relatives or friends’ houses if they own dogs.

You might even need to take away any dog toys that your child has. You can take away any books about dogs if the kid doesn’t want to read them or look at them anymore. It’s all about seeing how bad your child’s trauma is and acting accordingly.

You Can Get Them Clothing that Conceals Their Scars

Some children who receive worse dog bites have scars afterward. These often fade eventually. In the meantime, though, perhaps your child doesn’t want anyone to see them, like their classmates, for example.

You can make sure to get them clothing that covers up their scars. They might need long-sleeve shirts and pants, rather than tee-shirts, skirts, or anything else that exposes their skin. You can also get them creams and lotions that cause scar fading in time.

You Can Gradually Start to Reintroduce Dogs into Their Life

If you feel like they’re ready, you might decide at some point that your child is prepared to encounter a dog again. You should only do this if a therapist says it’s okay and if your child says they’re ready as well.

You might visit a relative who has an older dog, or one who you know is very docile. You can supervise a dog-and-child visit.

It could be that after spending some time with a quiet, well-behaved dog, your child will start to feel better. It should not surprise you, though, if your kid has a slow, gradual recovery process.

Here is more information to help getting over a dog bite.

Infographic created by Tracy Tiernan-Attorney at Law, a dog bite injury lawyer