When I was a growing up there was always a dog in the house and I was curious as to how our interactions around the dogs were and what measures were in place.

When I was a baby the dog sat beside my pram a lot of the time and my parents used common sense to make sure I was safe - as was the dog.

Things were different then, dogs were given space, not forced to love us or get pictures for Instagram, the old adage “let sleeping dogs lie” was used and we seem to forget it although it is still very relevant today, there has to be respect for both sides.

When letting dogs and kids interact it must be supervised, potentially use baby gates to separate the kids and the dog when you cannot supervise closely.

Teach kids how to interact with dogs, being aware of their body language.

Do not allow young children to approach dogs sitting or lying down.

Make sure your dog has safe places to go to get out of the way if necessary.

Teach your dog not to jump up on you and especially kids.

Just to add we had fun with the dogs as kids and they were part of the family and went on day trips with us.

There is no reason why you cannot enjoy a family pet, but common sense and safety are paramount.