It is not uncommon for toddlers to eat dog food, but it is not recommended. They often call dogs ‘man’s best friend’, but anyone who has young children will know they can also be a child’s best friend too!

Kids love dogs, and the feeling is often mutual, with a dog helping your kids to develop important social skills and respect for animals.

But dogs and children are both very excitable and impatient, and if one decides they don’t want to play, it can lead to trouble.

This is why it’s so important that you take into account the safety not only of your little ones, but your dog too, and make sure you teach your kids how to safely interact with their four legged friend.

Learning how to communicate

While a well trained dog can usually communicate fairly well with humans, being able to understand simple commands such as ‘sit’ and ‘stay’, it’s a whole different kettle of fish when it comes to communicating with a child.

After all, remember that your little ones are probably still learning how to communicate themselves!

As you’ll be all too aware, kids are prone to screaming, crying and just generally making a whole lot of noise, all of which can confuse and worry a dog.

Even though kids are often only trying to show their affection to a dog, and just want someone to play with, dogs can often easily get threatened by children’s actions.

Unfortunately, children are the most at risk from being attacked by dogs, and are most likely to be bitten by a family dog, rather than one on the street, which highlights how important it is to keep an eye on both child and dog.

Top tips

We spoke to dog lovers DoggieTags.co.uk who offer customised ID tags for dogs who gave us these top tips for maintaining a happy household:

Never leave your small child in a room alone with a dog, no matter how much you trust it.

Make sure your little one knows when it’s ok to play with the dog. For example, don’t force themselves on them when they’re trying to sleep.

Don’t allow your child to play-fight with the dog, as this can encourage aggressive behaviour in both dog and child! After all, you wouldn’t let your child fight in the playground so why do so with the dog?

Instead, introduce fun games like fetch or try and teach some cool tricks like shaking paws. Check out this list of ten games for kids and dogs for some inspiration.

Never allow your child to approach any strange dogs when out and about. Even if they seem perfectly safe, you can’t take any chances.

Living with a dog can be a great way for your kids to learn some extra responsibility and have a friend who will always be by their side.

However, as a parent, you have a responsibility of your own to make sure that your child is safe at all times, and the best way to do this is to ensure that there is a relationship between your child and dog based on trust.