The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year in the U.S., and unfortunately, the most common victims of dog bites are children. This makes dog bite prevention a priority communication topic for cities across the country.

One city that’s working hard to educate about the topic is Fort Wayne, a BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ certified city since 2019. Supported in part by a grant from Mars Petcare, the city has developed a multifaceted program to teach pet owners about pet body language and behavior.

The goal is to reduce bites and avoid surrenders or euthanasia related to bites, while providing resources that create a safer community for citizens and pets.

What’s in the Program

Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control (FWACC) originally conceived the program with a focus on group workshops about dog body language and behavior, hosted by local expert dog trainers. After the first four-part series of sessions, they took stock.

Evaluating what they heard from pet owners during the sessions, FWACC determined that they could broaden their impact by providing online education about pet behavior that could be viewed by anyone in the community, while also helping specific pet owners in need of additional services with one-on-one support.

They produced a series of educational videos on YouTube for pet owners to learn about developing a relationship with their pet and understanding their pet’s behavior. In addition, they enhanced their pet owner training efforts to support direct consulting services with an expert trainer for dogs and owners that needed additional behavioral services.

See the Videos

Here are links to the educational videos produced by FWACC:

• Introduction and Understanding Your Dog’s Body Language
• How to Properly Greet a Dog
• Staying Safe around Stray Dogs
• Understanding What Your Cat is Saying
• How to Properly Greet a Cat

The city also offers a fun, interactive “Bite Free Superhero” program to teach children basic warnings signs and how to interact with dogs. See more about it here.

Want more tips? Check out the Responsible Pet Ownership Communication Toolkit for help spreading the word on topics from local pet ordinances to pet waste cleanup to emergency preparedness.