A Chicago dog trainer has revealed the “dangerous” habit parents should avoid doing with their canine in view of their kids.
Shir Limazati is a certified positive reinforcement behavioral dog trainer, and owner of Another Chance Training. “I have a 9 year old Chocolate Labrador Retriever named Chance who I named my company after,” Limazati told Newsweek. “However I also named it for my philosophy on training and life itself.”
Limazati doesn’t believe in second chances. To her way of thinking, that’s not always enough. “I believe you get as many chances as it takes – both for dogs and for humans.”
Shir Limazati and her dog Chance demonstrating the thing all parents should avoid doing with their dog in front of a child.
Another Chance Training
A key facet of her work focuses on helping families with kids and dogs in the home. “I not only teach the parents how to work with and train their dog – but we also cover how to teach their kids how to train their dog, how to give their dog personal space, boundaries, and how to safely coexist,” she said.
A firm believer in positive reinforcement over any force based methods, Limazati’s experience as a behavioral trainer has seen her encounter dogs with varying levels of anxiety whether it be leash reactivity, stranger danger, fear of the vet, and fear of kids.
In the past five years she’s dealt with well over 3,000 different cases and while each family’s situation is unique, she noticed one particular problem arising again and again during the initial consultation phase.
“So many times I have come across in conversation in these consults that a family who had their dog first, and human baby second – that upon the baby or toddler approaching the dog, often towards their face, they get bit or scratched,” she said.
“Since I know with my background that babies, toddlers and young kids often mimic their moms and dads – I wanted to make an educational video to help parents prevent such scary events.”
Limazati is right to encourage caution in this respect. In 2021, a study published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine concluded that dog bites remain a prevalent in the pediatric population with children aged 1 to 5 most at risk. The research was based a study of nearly 1,000 children who were victims of dog bites from 2013 to 2018.
Limazati posted the resulting video to her TikTok, @anotherchancetraining, as a reminder of the importance of parents with dogs setting an example to their kids.
“Of course there is much more to keeping your kids safe around dogs. But a healthy place to start is by recognizing that the adult giving affection to a dog is often tolerated differently than a kid giving affection to a dog,” she said.
“By doing things with your dog that they would not tolerate with your kids in front of your kids you are setting up a scenario that could result in scary consequences such as a dog bite or worse.”
While effective training is an important part of caring for a dog, Limazati believes it’s important for parents to properly educate their kids on how to not just care for dogs but engage with them in a safe and considerate manner from day to day.
“Parents in a way are educating future pet parents. Just like we teach human children the basics of life – we teach them about money, we teach them about house chores, we teach them how to socialize in school, and more – how to be a responsible pet parent is absolutely part of a child’s upbringing education,” she said.
“At the very least, a child should learn what to do or not do if they go to a friend’s house who has a dog or they are in the park and a dog approaches them. How often do we see kids running up to stranger dogs and putting their hands on them without an adult around or asking permission.”
Her message to anyone concerned by the video is simple: be proactive and hire a certified trainer to help both dog and child coexist safely. “Even if your dog is neutral, friendly , young, old – all dogs and kids can benefit from being involved in a training journey,” she said. “Make sure the trainer you hire is experienced with kids as well. And always err on the side of caution – you will never regret being extra cautious.”
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