Nearly 90 million dogs live in homes across America. While dogswill always be man's best friend, our pets are still animals withsometimes unpredictable instinctive behaviors, and accidents dohappen.

In 2011, there were approximately 4.5 million reported dogbites in the U.S., 800,000 of which were serious enough to requiremedical attention.

April 8-14 marks National Dog Bite Prevention Week.So State Farm has teamed up with dog trainer Victoria Stilwell andmembers of the National Dog Bite Prevention Coalition toeducate adults and children about ways to reduce dog-relatedinjuries.

Related: Homeowners' insurance, liability issues and'dangerous' dogs

Over the past decade, State Farm has paid more than $1 billionfor dog-related injury claims (HO, Farm/Ranch, Manufactured, andCommercial property). In 2017 alone, State Farm paid $132 millionas a result of 3,600 dog-related injury claims.

Bite injuries: Painful and pricey

Although the total number of canine-related injury claimspaid by State Farm decreased by 42 claims (1.15%) between 2016 and2017, the total amount paid increased by more than $10 million(8.7%).

Most dog bites are can be prevented by practicing responsible petownership and educating people — especially children, who make upmore than half of dog bite victims — about safely interactingwith canines and understanding their body language.

Dog bite prevention tips

Professional dog trainer Victoria Stilwell recommends thefollowing tips to keep children, pet-owners, and others safe:

1. Learn canine body language. Too often peoplemisunderstand or miss signals that a dog is uncomfortable. Forexample, a dog that yawns might not necessarily be tired. Yawningcan also be a sign of stress.
2. Give dogs space. Dogs can feel threatened whenstrange people touch them, so take pressure off by giving them thechoice to come into your space first to say hello.
3. Be humane. Dogs that are raised and trainedhumanely are more confident and less likely to bite than dogs thatare trained using punitive methods or equipment designed tointimidate and cause pain.

A note about coverage

Homeowners should talk to their insurance agent about coverageunder a standard homeowners policy.

Pet owners should consider a personal liability umbrella policy (PLUP) toprovide extra coverage in case their dog does bite someone.

Renters should consider getting renters insurance because mostlandlords do not provide coverage should there be a dog biteincident.

For more information on dog bite claims, safety measures, andmore on National Dog Bite Prevention Week, visit State Farm's website.

Related: 12 factors impacting dog biteclaims