It's about safety for children and dog owners.

"They're unpredictable, they're still pack animals and they still have a fight drive and people don't understand that," says Washington County's Dog Warden, Deputy Kelly Schubert.

She says a pet owner can face charges if their animal is not properly restrained.

"Actually the law is failure to restrain, you have to restrain your dog with an adequate fence which could be a fence, a leash, tether, or supervision with an adult but if you have a dog off leash with an adult present, the dog has to be able to listen, on command," says Deputy Schubert.

Deputy Schubert says the incident with the Pleasant's County toddler is different since the dogs were being properly restrained by the underground fence and on their own territory.

"Dogs are pack animals and they're going to act as a pact, and a two year old child who comes over waving arms, screaming, laughing, high pitched voices, and they're about the same size as dogs stand high from head to head so if one dog comes up and kids like to grab stuff, grabbing ears, tails. If a child goes up pulls on an ear and the dog nips, the other dogs going to go into that pack mentality and act with the other dogs.," continues Schubert.

Toddlers pose a higher risk by not understanding the boundaries dogs need.

"About 70 percent of animal bites in West Virginia are cause by dogs. The group that's most likely to be bitten is children under the age of five and they're also more likely to be bitten on the head, the face, and the neck," explains the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department's Patrick Burke.

All area dog bites are reported and investigated by the Health Department, being checked for rabies and ways of prevention.

Even dogs that are not typically aggressive with people or children can react in different ways when approached in a different situation.

"There's no evidence that suggestions that any particular breed is more aggressive than another," says Burke.

Deputy Schubert says all families should teach their child to be on the defense.

"People with children, with small children, if you have neighbors with dogs, show them the fear, show them the respectful fear, respect them to not go over there, to not to approach. Any people that have small children, if if they're walking up to somebody whose walking a dog, ask permission, have the children ask permission to pet the dog before they go and approach it because you don't know how dogs are going to act with children," explains Schubert.