Software program for safe child-dog interactions to be tested

Birmingham, Ala.

-- Children are often most at risk of being bitten by dogs, usually because they have not learned the correct way to interact with them. A new study conducted by psychologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is evaluating whether a computer software program can improve the way children behave with dogs in an effort to reduce the chances of dog bites.

Through a series of games, the software program, called The Blue Dog and developed by The Blue Dog Trust in the United Kingdom, teaches children such things as not to pet dogs when they are sleeping or eating, not to pull a dog's tail or ears and to avoid making direct eye contact.

The researchers are looking to enroll 100 children ages 3 to 6 who have at least one dog in the home. The researchers will evaluate how the children behave with a live pet-therapy dog before and after using the software to see whether it is effective. Researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, are also conducting this study.