Warning to dog owners.

More than one percent of all emergency department visits are secondary to dog bites. Larger and more aggressive breeds of dogs cause most of the morbidity from dog bites, and most victims are bitten by the family dog. Four hundred and twenty patients presenting to an emergency department with dog bite wounds were studied in 1982. Forty-six percent of the patients were bitten by German shepherds; 80% of these dogs were owned by the patients' families. Twenty-one patients (five percent) had serious injuries requiring hospitalization. Although large breeds make good guard dogs, they also are a threat to household members, especially children; 35% of the victims were under ten years old. Physicians should advise parents not to leave children alone with dogs.