Dog bite prevention for kids: the free SAFE program
More than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs in the United States every year, and more than half of all dog-related injuries involve children. SAFE teaches children four simple steps — played as a game — that make them safer around the dog they live with and the dog they meet in the street. The videos, the children’s books, the wall charts and the coloring pages are all free.
Bite figures: American Veterinary Medical Association. Shelter figures: ASPCA, 2025 data from Shelter Animals Count.
SAFE is four things to do, and children can remember all of them
There are two versions, because the two situations need opposite things. With a dog your child already lives with, SAFE is about how to touch. With a dog coming toward your child in the street, SAFE is about what to do with your body. Teach both.
A dog you know
Your own dog, grandma’s dog, the dog at the sleepover.
Soft touch, not too much
Pat the dog gently on their chest and side. Children and adults usually make a beeline for the dog’s head, and many dogs find having their head touched uncomfortable and invasive. The chest and side are more neutral areas that most dogs are comfortable with.
Ask the dog if they need a break
After a brief period of gentle petting or play, stop — and see what the dog chooses to do. If they have had enough and walk away, that is fine. Let them have the break they asked for.
Be a Friend
Don’t bother a dog who is eating or sleeping. Children find dogs fascinating and want to interact at every opportunity, but dogs need space, especially at mealtimes and naptimes. Make those times off limits.
Enjoy, but not as a toy
Dogs aren’t toys. Parents sometimes let their guard down with a tolerant dog who allows children to poke, prod, dress up and climb. Just because a dog tolerates it doesn’t make it appropriate, safe or fair. If your child wants to play, create something the dog enjoys too.
A dog you don’t know
A strange dog is coming toward your child and you are not standing next to them.
Stay Still, and chill
Stop moving. Running, squealing and sudden movement are what turn a curious dog into an excited one, and an excited dog is the one that jumps, nips and knocks a child over. Standing still is boring, and boring is exactly what you want to be.
Arms Crossed, like a boss
Fold your arms across your chest. Hands tucked away are hands that can’t be grabbed at or jumped for, and crossed arms stop a child reaching out toward a dog they don’t know.
Face Away, like you don’t want to play
Turn your body side-on or away from the dog. To a dog, facing them head-on and staring is confrontational. Turning away says you are not a threat and you are not an invitation.
Eyes Down, on the ground
Look at the ground, not at the dog. Direct eye contact is one of the clearest challenges you can give a dog. Dropping your eyes takes the pressure off and lets the dog lose interest and move on.
Two short videos — one for dogs you know, one for dogs you don’t
Animated, under two minutes each, and made to be watched with a child rather than handed to one. Each video has a page of its own with the full explanation for the adult in the room.
Be SAFE around dogs you know
Your own dog, grandma’s dog, the dog at the sleepover. Most bites to young children happen in familiar places, with dogs the family already trusts.
Read the full guideBe SAFE around dogs you don’t know
The dog in the park, behind the fence, at the end of someone else’s leash. What to teach a child to do with their body when a dog they don’t know comes toward them.
Read the full guideDog bites can be prevented
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, more than 4.5 million people in the United States are bitten by dogs every year — and more than half of all dog-related injuries involve children. In many cases, better education for children and their parents would have prevented the bite.
Children are curious, loud and sometimes a bit rough — all of which can contribute to why a dog bites. Even a family dog can be pushed past its limit by a combination of factors. SAFE teaches children of any age what to do when a dog they don’t know approaches, and how to interact properly with a dog they do. Four simple steps can defuse a dangerous situation, especially when no adult is standing right there.
Three things that lead to most bites on children
Contrary to how it is usually told, bites rarely come out of nowhere. The more adults understand about dog behavior, the more they can teach their children.
Hugs and kisses
When children under four are bitten, the bites often land on the head and neck (AVMA) — and this is exactly the age group most likely to throw their arms around every dog they meet. Hugging does not feel affectionate to a dog. It feels like being trapped.
Stress signals ignored
Most dogs try to communicate stress long before they bite — yawning, tongue flicks, shaking off, looking away. When those signals are repeatedly ignored, some dogs escalate to growling, and then to biting.
Lack of supervision
Parents are busy multitasking the day away, and watching every interaction between a dog and a small child is genuinely hard. The reality is that most bites happen when no adult is actively supervising.
Five things that make a real difference
Show love without hugs and kisses
Teach your children other ways to show the dog affection — gentle petting, giving a treat, helping to prepare the dog’s meal. If they want to kiss the dog, teach them to blow the dog a kiss instead.
SUPERvision
If you are not there giving active, adult attention, you cannot guide your child or the dog. Children under 12 need supervision around dogs. When you can’t give it, separate them with baby gates or a crate, and create child-free zones the dog can retreat to.
Modeling
Children copy you. If you are rough with your dog or discipline him physically, your child will do the same. Be kind, be fair, and teach your dog the rules of the house through reward-based training — with your children involved in the process.
Education
Learn how dogs communicate with their bodies. Dogs talk to us constantly; most people simply don’t know the vocabulary. The chart below is a good place to start.
Play the SAFE game
Watch the two videos above with your children, then download the free children’s eBooks, wall charts and coloring pages and keep playing after the screen goes off.
Then make it stick
One conversation isn’t a habit. The Dog Smart card game, the body language poster and the postcards keep this in front of your children long after the video ends.
Dogs really can speak. You just have to know the language.
These signals range from a yawn to a lip lick to a head turn, and they are the warnings that come before a growl and before a bite. If you see a dog giving them while interacting with your child, it is your job to step in and redirect one of them.
Our dog body language poster sorts the signals into a traffic light: green for a dog who is relaxed and open to you, yellow for a dog asking for space, red for a dog telling you to stop. Children who can’t yet read a paragraph can read a traffic light.
The same chart comes as a pack of 50 postcards, printed on both sides. The poster is for a wall — a classroom, a break room, the back of a kitchen door. The postcards are for handing out: a presentation, a shelter adoption pack, a school night, a team that works near dogs.
Teach children to respect a dog’s space and a dog’s body. Just because one dog tolerates being crawled on or ridden like a horse doesn’t make it appropriate, safe or fair to that dog or any animal. A dog is not a toy.
The same signals are on the Dog Smart cards, which is how children end up learning them without being taught them.
Your children are watching how you do it
Even dog-savvy adults throw good judgment out of the window when they meet a particularly cute pup. Ask the owner’s permission, let the dog choose to approach you, pet gently on the dog’s side, and give the dog the choice to end the interaction. No hugging, no kissing — which is as hard for adults as it is for children.
Ask the owner first
Every time, out loud, where your child can hear you do it. “May we say hello to your dog?” A no is a perfectly good answer and your child needs to watch you accept one.
Let the dog come to you
Stand still and let the dog close the distance if they want to. A dog who stays where they are has answered the question, and the answer was no.
Pet the side, not the head
Reaching over a dog’s head is the single most common way adults make a dog uncomfortable. A gentle hand on the chest or side is what most dogs actually enjoy.
Let the dog end it
Stop after a few seconds and see whether the dog asks for more. If they move away, they are done — and your child has just learned what consent looks like from a creature who can’t say it.
And no hugging or kissing
Ask your child whether they enjoy being hugged and kissed by someone they have just met. This is the rule adults break most often, in front of the children who are learning from them.
Walk through it properly
How to meet a new dog takes the greeting apart step by step, for the adult who is about to model it.
Get the free SAFE kit for kids
Children’s eBooks, printable wall charts and coloring pages, plus the two SAFE videos. Nothing to buy — tell us where to send it and it is yours.
