Dog bites, a common cause of traumatic injury, tend to be a greater source of morbidity and mortality in children than in adults. We evaluated 13 children, who, during a 10-year period, required surgical intervention for dog bites. The greatest cause of morbidity in these children was the penetrating component of the dog bite. Most initial evaluations focused on the crushing component of the bite, but in children with serious dog bites, wounds must be evaluated with respect to both the crushing and penetrating injury components.