\u201cHe just snapped.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bite came out of nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
We hear statements like this quite a bit in our business. As trainers, our job is to help people deal with the aftermath of traumatic instances of aggression from the family pet.<\/p>\n
Communication between dogs and people is wrought with missteps and misunderstandings. Never is this more clear than when we deal with a dog who has chosen to put his teeth on a person, or worse, a child.<\/p>\n
The goal today is to clear something up: very seldom does a bite incident with a family dog happen out of the blue.
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nOh, the bite itself is very, very fast. But in fact, it\u2019s likely the dog believes they have been left with no other alternative than to use their teeth. It\u2019s a snowballing problem that usually has built over time to the breaking point.<\/p>\n
Believe it or not, this is good news.<\/p>\n
Good News? What do I mean?<\/u><\/p>\n
The good news is with proper education, you can avoid potential problems well before the dog breaks skin. Many times when we deal with a dog that has bitten and dive more into the history of the dog, we learn things people don\u2019t see as relevant. Such as:<\/p>\n
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- The dog would avoid conflict and run and hide from certain situations<\/li>\n
- The dog would snarl softly occasionally<\/li>\n
- The dog would lift its lips when pushed<\/li>\n
- The dog snapped at other animals in the house<\/li>\n
- The dog would get very still, nearly statue-like in certain situations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Do any of the above guarantee a dog will bite? No. But it does tell you the dog is uncomfortable with facets of their environment and will eventually have to deal with that discomfort in some way. If you don\u2019t teach them how<\/em> to deal with it, they choose. And sometimes they don\u2019t choose in a productive way.<\/p>\n
Fight or Flight<\/u><\/p>\n
In nature, we often talk of the fight or flight instinct. Fight means what it implies, but flight implies avoidance. When we come to aggression, this is the primary decision the dog has to make. Confront the threat, tell it back off forcibly, or avoid the threat entirely. Some dogs will choose flight 99.99% of the time. Others won\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Threat<\/em>, in this context, could mean any number of things. It could mean a hoppy, skippy child singing and attempting to give the dog a hug. It would mean a dog or human trying to take away an object of high value (bone, favorite toy, food or water). It could mean a new person \u2018invading\u2019 the family home. It could mean any number of things.<\/p>\n
This idea of fight or flight also helps explain why some dogs that appear vicious on a leash (the option for flight has been taken away) play just fine off leash.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d never actually bite.\u201d<\/u><\/p>\n
Dogs aren\u2019t robots. Even super-duper well-trained dogs aren\u2019t perfect. They make mistakes. The best thing we can do as dog owners is be educated about the warning signs our dog isn\u2019t comfortable. How can you tell your dog isn\u2019t comfortable? Remember that list?<\/p>\n
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- The dog would avoid conflict and run and hide from certain situations<\/li>\n
- The dog would snarl softly occasionally<\/li>\n
- The dog would lift its lips when pushed<\/li>\n
- The dog snapped at other animals in the house<\/li>\n
- The dog would get very still, nearly statue-like in certain situations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Many times people don\u2019t mention the fact their dog has growled because they don\u2019t see it as relevant. It seems so far out of the ballpark for their sweet pup to bite, the fact that he has growled doesn\u2019t rate as important information. But it is. Very important.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at a situation and see what the dog does and offer what some human equivalent of such as action might be, for clarity. After all, we\u2019re only human.<\/p>\n
Scenario: You are sitting on the couch with your dog. You\u2019ve spent endless evenings with your dog on the couch. Your husband approaches the couch and then\u2026<\/p>\n
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\n Dog Action<\/strong><\/td>\n What he might say, if only he could speak English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Growls and retreats further onto your lap<\/td>\n Hey, I don\u2019t like this.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \u2026Well, you think. That was odd. That\u2019s never happened before. You put it out of your mind. The dog was probably having a bad day. He was over tired. He just had his vaccinations two days earlier. Your husband stepped on his toe earlier in the night and he was still \u2018mad.\u2019 [Insert excuse here]<\/p>\n
This happens several more times, not every night, but with increasing frequency, over the period of two months. Then\u2026<\/p>\n
\n\n
\n Dog Action<\/strong><\/td>\n What he might say…<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Continues growling but now does not retreat and begins to hold his ground.<\/td>\n What is this guy\u2019s problem? Doesn\u2019t he understand this couch, this human, are MINE?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Another two months have gone by, and the growling has increased to become a nearly normal part of the evening routine. You and your husband know he\u2019d never bite, and your husband is getting sick of being growled at, so he starts scolding the dog, wagging his finger at him. Now the dog lifts his lip and lunges at him, then retreats to your lap. This behavior is getting annoying. But the dog would never actually<\/em> bite, so it\u2019s not a problem, just an inconvenience.<\/p>\n
\n\n
\n Dog Action<\/strong><\/td>\n What he might say…<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Growls every night, with lunging when challenged.<\/td>\n I can\u2019t believe they aren\u2019t getting the message. THIS IS MY COUCH. I will NOT be scolded. I may have no other choice but to show them I mean business.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n One random night, your husband sits down, and immediately the dog lunges toward his face and bites, drawing blood.<\/p>\n
\n\n
\n Dog Action<\/strong><\/td>\n What he might say…<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Lunges and bites<\/td>\n I tried to tell him, many, many times. I had no other choice, to get my message across.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n This may seem like a crazy example, or maybe not. I can tell you we hear stories like this all this time, but we have to dig for the truth. Usually we hear, \u201cHe\u2019s such a sweet dog and he\u2019s never done anything like this before. He wasn\u2019t provoked at all, he just snapped!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dogs don\u2019t often go straight to using teeth and force. Not often, but sometimes. Nine times out of ten when a dog has been in a stable home and aggressions \u2018pops\u2019 up it follows a pattern similar to the above. Sometimes it\u2019s not so crystal clear, sometimes people just don\u2019t see it until it escalates.<\/p>\n
Will your dog bite?<\/u><\/p>\n
When people approach our dogs to pet, they often ask, \u2018will they bite?\u2019 It\u2019s a loaded question, because I can only answer the question within the context of the situation. Is my dog comfortable? Is her body language relaxed? Is she willing to go meet the people?<\/p>\n
A different situation, a different day, a different dog, with different people? I would have to go through that evaluation each time before answering the question to the best of my ability.<\/p>\n
Though, realistically, you can never 100% say a dog wouldn\u2019t bite. Fear, pain, mental deterioration with age, hormonal fluctuations are all potential reasons a dog may choose to use their teeth.<\/p>\n
If you see any of the above issues cropping up with your dog, please consult a professional trained to deal with aggression in dogs…like us!<\/p>\n
We can help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cHe just snapped.\u201d \u201cThe bite came out of nowhere.\u201d We hear statements like this quite a bit in our business. As trainers, our job is to help people deal with the aftermath of traumatic instances of aggression from the family pet. Communication between dogs and people is wrought with missteps and misunderstandings. Never is this…<\/p>\n