All Dogs Have The Potential To Bite

By nature, dogs routinely use their mouths for sucking, chewing, exploring, carrying, playing, defending themselves, etc. They come to rely heavily on the use of their mouth and don't know they shouldn't use it to bite people. Most people hope that their adult dogs will have developed good habits regarding mouthing and biting. But hoping isn't enough! Owners must take responsibility for teaching their dogs how and when to use their mouths appropriately. They must also learn to recognize the early warning signs of a potential bite. Above all, they need to take action to prevent THE UNEXPECTED BITE.

Dogs May Bite Because...

Dogs may bite either intentionally or unintentionally. When dogs bite either humans or another animal they are in one or more of their three drives: 1) pack 2) prey or 3) defense drive. Some of the reasons dogs bite are dominance, possessiveness, protectiveness, maternal instinct, predatory reflex, fear, redirected anger or frustration.

The Warning Signs

Owners see signs of defensiveness when their dog freezes, cowers, backs or runs away, growls, snarls (showing teeth), snaps, bristles (hackles up) or becomes agitated (pacing nervously or intermittently crouching as if about to attack). Because there is no bite at that time the owner may fail to recognize these reactions as warning signs. There may not be a bite yet because the dog is introvertedly defensive or his threshold of tolerance to that one situation is greater than his instinct to bite...for the moment.

The "Unexpected Bite"

When a dog has a history of not biting, owners tend to believe he will never bite. However, his threshold of tolerance may decreases as he:

1. grows older;
2. is ill;
3. in pain and/or on medication;
4. matures socially or;
5. reacts to a change in his environment, or;
6. has a combination of any of these events, and his response can then change to the UNEXPECTED BITE.

Suppose a dog is uncomfortable in hot weather, around children, sudden motion and high-pitched noises. In the presence of only one of these triggers. he may not bite. If, however, on a hot day, a little child is playing near him and then suddenly darts through the sprinkler spray, and squeals with excitement the dog's stress is immediately increased — and there it is — THE UNEXPECTED BITE.

Or maybe a dog has a low threshold of tolerance to pain, fears being cornered and is defensive about being grabbed. His defensive reactions would escalate quickly if, on the same day that he got a shot from the vet ,he is hugged tightly (cornered and grabbed), once again — THE UNEXPECTED BITE.

You can see from these examples that it is not necessarily each individual stimulus that produces a bite. It can be caused by a complex of several stimuli. In both examples, the owner may be shocked, thinking, "he never bit anyone before" --- or "he’s never showed any signs that he would bite”. But, there is never a bite before the first bite. and the warning signs were there; they were just not understood. Owners must be educated that the signs of defensiveness are potentially serious and by working with their dog, they can assure that the first bite never happens.

Anti-Aggressiveness Training

It is the owner's job to establish leadership (not domination) and to proactively build their dog's confidence and reduce defensiveness around domestic stimuli. Ideally, anti-aggressiveness training would be routine. And, If a dog shows any defensive behavior or overt aggression, a diagnostic session should be done as soon as possible to determine: 1) the dog’s genetic predisposition 2) the contributing environmental factors and 3) any physical factors that are contributing to the defensiveness and 4) which drive the dog was/is in (treatment is different for each drive). If a dog has already bitten, it’ is not too late to prevent a second bite. And, euthanasia or re-homing may not be the only solution.

The Happy Ending

With an accurate diagnosis and a comprehensive treatment program including the dog owners 1) establishing a kind, superior and trusting relationship with their dog, 2) teaching their dog self-control (rather than stopping at just controlling their dog) and 3) creating associations whereby their dog views all potentially defense-producing situations as positive and non-threatening many dogs may be able to stay with their families and owners will have greatly reduced the possibility of their loved ones, or anyone, becoming a victim of THE UNEXPECTED BITE.