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you are a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure your childknows how to behave around pets he or she does and does not know.This includes knowing what to do if approached by a strange dogwhile on a bike or on a walk. If you are not familiar with how toteach your child normal and protective animal behaviors you shouldcontact your local animal shelter or veterinarian for references.

You can also visit www.doggonesafe.com for pictures and activitiesthat teach your child about being safe around pets. One of the mostimportant rules to teach your child is to never approach a dog heor she does not know unless the owner is present and he or she asksthe owner first. I

f you are a parent and a pet owner, never leave your child and petalone together. Make sure all interactions are supervised. Thereare special guidelines in teaching your pet how to accept a newchild in the home. These can be found on the doggonesafe Web siteas well.

If you are a teacher, you too can play a role in preventing dogbites by hosting education seminars. A great resource would be yourlocal veterinarian, humane officer or the HSUS Web site(www.hsus.org). We as veterinarians, humane societies and local petshelters also play important roles in educating the public and petowners about dog bite prevention. We need to do more to ensure bothpet owners and the general public are well informed. This can bedone through spending more time discussing pet behavioral issuesduring visits and by giving presentations to local schools.