Are bull terriers dangerous for children?

Answer

Dear Rose,

The answer to this question needs to be nuanced.
Whether or not a dog will bite depends on many factors such as the health of the dog (aggression triggered by pain, for example), is the dog well socialized, the training of the dog, genetic predisposition, …
Genetic predisposition does play a role, but no research has yet been able to clearly demonstrate the link between a certain dog breed and aggressive behavior. In other words, there is no such thing as “an aggressive breed”. Which also immediately means that there is no such thing as “a safe breed”. Any dog ​​can bite.
Children are also more likely to be bitten. One of the most important risk factors for bite incidents is the interaction between the dog and the victim. Children simply cannot read the behavior of dogs well. Warnings from the dog prior to biting are often misunderstood by the child and, furthermore, children often treat dogs as their “equal”. Most biting incidents with children therefore occur in the home situation with a dog that is familiar to the child. A project is currently underway with an interactive CD-ROM (www.blauwe-hond.nl/) in which children and their parents are shown how to deal with a dog in the home situation.

Regards,
marjan