Why dogs bite!
Understanding aggression
There are many forms of aggression one is maternal aggression - a mother protecting her babies; Pain aggression may occur i.e. when you stand on their tail or paw, they are sick or after an operation, dogs instinctively turn and may bite to remove the thing causing pain; Territorial aggression - when they are protecting their home, garden, food etc; Redirected aggression - an example being if two dogs in their garden want to protect their territory from an intruder such as another dog or even human (usually the postman - because he has the cheek to return every day when he has been seen off the day before - this is how it is viewed in the dogs mind - the two dogs normally best of friends may often turn on each other behind the garden fence because they cannot get to the intruder on the outside!
There are several other reasons behind why dogs bite but at the end of the day they, like most animals only really have their teeth to defend themselves unlike humans who will use many other tactics as well as their fists.
Care must be taken even with good natured dogs, as there is no guarantee that their behaviour will remain constant. It is why we recommend teaching puppies bite inhibition from a very young age, teaching puppies it is not ok to play with humans as they do with their litter mates, it's especially important during playtimes not to allow biting games.
Interactions with other dogs and people throughout your puppy's and adult dogs lives have a very strong effect on the behavioural development and expression of aggression and aggressive behaviours which is continually modified by experience & learning.
The many and varied causes of outward aggression and dog bites towards humans cannot simply be grouped together as one cause or a bad dog we need to understand the motivating factors and classify the reasons behind the bite or attack!
Many dogs that have been abused or hit by humans may be uneasy with human proximity and our actions and feel impelled to defend themselves, their family or pssessions - the dog may act with aggression to keep the offending person or animal at a distance. Not all humams will understand this or even that it is a normal defence mechanism in dogs they give warnings if we ignore them on several occassions, they simply go to the bite next time!
Dogs display a series of warning signals and threats before they actually lunge and bite, such as growling, snarling, raised lip, hackles up and other body posturing that humans so often miss. A dog that is continually attacked by a human that ignores the warning signals eventually learns to skip these signals because we don't pay attention this is far more serious now as with a dog with no warning signals that go straight to the bite are very difficult to predict - even for experienced dog people this can be an issue.These situations often occur more with young children who simply do not know the warning signals.
It has been proven in behavioural studies that over 80 % of dog bites are aimed at children and men. Men unfortunately often will try to dominate a dog in a human way which often leads to further conflict situations, children often simply do not know a dogs rules or boundaries and if parents are smacking dogs, dogs become wary of human hands and if children copy parents this often leads to serious situations within a home environment.
We have to start to look at things from the dogs perspective. In a dog pack or wolf pack these situations would not occur because dogs or wolves will nontheir place in the heirarchical system. ALPHA dogs rarely if ever attack the undrr dogs or one another for no reason! There is however always a reason a dog has bitten a human even if the human cannot comprehend it at the time!
Small children in the home will be seen as young pups by the dog and adult dogs will not tolerate beligerant behaviour well so we must do what we can to teach our children about dogs, their boundaries and their warning signals.
Fearful dogs especially may use outward aggression more than even genetically aggressive dogs as they have neither the confidence nor the motivation to socialise and be friendly. Their need for defending themselves stems from an underlying lack of confidence and often trust in humans.
It is a dangerous mistake to assume that an adult dog will not bite just because it has never done so before! Friendly, happy, fearful and shy dogs have all been known to bite in certain circumstances, usually when they feel fearful, threatened, protecting themselves to keep humans away or they or their family or resources are under threat.
Expecting a dog that is signling to a human to back off or to give continual and obvious warnings before it bites is a dangerous mistake to make - working in rescue we rarely know a dogs past or what experiences they have been through and therefor most rescues work hard to try to assess the dogs behaviours and their triggers that may lead to the dog biting or even attacking people or other animals as well as in many other situations.
Dogs bite because often they need to defend or protect themselves from us humans and indeed many have good reason to feel that way, especially if they have been hit or attacked by humans on numerous occassions previously.
When a dog appears to be a normal, happy, friendly dog and suddenly (in the eyes of the non dog aware human) bites often the human may be taken by surprise, as perhaps the single subtle doggy warning signals went unnoticed - the poor dog is often accused of biting without reason or warning and is then assumed dangerous.
In my work often it is the human behaviour we have to look to change and adapt - we change the humans behaviour we can change the dogs reactions - some owners have so little understanding from the dogs perspective that rehabilitation attempts are difficult as changing human behaviour and understanding of other animal species is a difficult task - as we see things in a human way not as we should from the dogs perspective.
We cannot change the innate behaviour of dogs therefor we must expand our understanding of their nature amd communication and the ways they onteract with their own species if we are to ever raise happy healthy friendly and safe dogs and live safely with them in our homes and our society.
Attempting to further dominate a dog by rough handling or further human aggression will only further escalate problems in a conflict situation and fail in any attempt at changing it - when we think like dogs and act like dogs we will be able to live in harmony with them.
Dogs are indeed mans (and womans) best friends when we know how to raise and interact with them correctly. Sadly many dog owners experiencing serious problems do not get help from experienced dog trainers or behaviourists when problems first start to appear and with little understanding of the aggression being displayed or why the dog behaved that way owners sometimes make matters worse before deciding to get help or simply decide its the dog at fault - the dogs sadly are often then either given up for rehoming or euthanased! š£
Statistics confirm that 95% of the dogs that react aggressively do so simply because the given situation they were in made them feel unneasy or they were defending themselves, their territory, their family or resources - not because they were a bad or aggressive dog at all.
Common situaions that may result in a dog bite;
- Dog bites when approached, rough handled, grabbed, when in pain or restrained - especially by domineering owners or strangers.
- Dog bites when protecting it's resources; food & bones are especially high value resources, toys, cars, sleeping areas - especially in confined spaces with no escape route.
- A mother protecting her puppies, or when protecting their territory as in their home or garden!
- Fearful, frightened or shy dogs bite more often especially when cornered or confined, more so than actual genetically predisposed aggressive dogs as most people stay away from these dogs instinctively unless like me we see their behaviour as a challenge to overcome and to be able to teach them to trust humans.
Very few dogs actually need euthanasing for behavioural problems especially when we now have the skills and the knowledge to rehabilitate them and the thousands of good dog handlers, trainers & behaviourists that are available to help people nowadays experiencing problems with their dogs in a home environment.
Clearly agressive behaviour is a complex and varied interactive trait - dogs do not bite without reason - the dog always has a reason we just have to analyse the situations behind the bite or attack to understand it.
The development and manifestation of aggressive behaviours in dogs kept as family pets is an extremely complicated process however the common assumption that it is an aggressive dog is often simply not true.
It is not genetically aggressive dogs that are responsible for most dog bites in these situations or the fact that a dog that has bitten in a given situation assuming it is an aggressive dog by nature is simply not fair or even a true statement of facts!
We must start to understand our dogs needs and their behaviours and body language if we are ever to live with dogs safely in our homes and raise safe dogs in our society!
By modifying the dogs social environment, in particular how humans interact with them and the number & nature of good interactions with other people/dogs/
animals/situations etc it is possible to modify any dogs temperamemt and make it less aggressive. Dogs after all are animals, as are we and all animals have a trigger or point at which they will react even the most placid person can become aggressive if put under enough stress or bullied continually by others.
All animals have the potential to bite or become aggressive or dangerous if the outward situations are protagonistic.
The old ways of treating aggression with aggression is an extremely dangerous practice, physical force, punishment, punishment training, check chains and shock collars only serve to confirm or re-inforce what the dog has learned about humans already - that they are not nice and not trustworthy.
We simply can't blame a dog for using it's teeth to defend itself from us or our attacks on them either, as it is after all the only means they have - especially if a flight option is not available to them. In any given situation a dog as with a human has 4 main ways of being able to deal with conflict - we call these the four F's: first we freeze (to assess the situation) then our options are flight, flirt or fight!
Each dog and each situation must be assessed individually if any success with behavioiral modification or treatment is to be successful.
The animal must be studied closely to reveal the trigger/s for the undesired behaviours, the duration and extent of the behaviour, bite or atrack as well as who or what the behaviour was or is directed at.
This requires a great deal of patience and understanding on the part of owners and dog behaviour experts!
Rehabilitating a problem dog is by no means a simple process however the majority of situations can be changed quickly when you have an experienced knowledgable dog person on side. Nothing is easy but all things are possible when we change the human reactions towards the dogs behaviours!
Even when a behavioural response of a dog in any given situation may end in the same result - a bite or an attack on a human - it should now be clear I hope that it is not always the dog that is to blame as there are many factors which need to be taken into account in these situations.
It is extremely unwise to treat all outward signs of aggression or problems in dogs in an aggressive or foreceful way the and this is often why problems escalate further out of control. We simply have to understand dogs and their behaviour and motivating factors and look at where we as humans have been going wrong in order to change things.
Confined dogs, dogs in runs or gardens often try to amuse themselves in various ways, they may run along the length of the fence or up to it and if protecting their territory from other dogs or humans problems can again escalate.
Tied or confined dog may not have a flight option and so aggression is their option if flirting is not an option. If the dog has been taunted by passers by or children without the knowledge of the owner this can escalate further into fearsome or defensive barking sessions at all passers by - they often will bark themselves into a frenzy and often become biters at a later time - unfortunately this may be the first time they go out after the incident - the owner unaware of what has happened while they were away and at this point still unaware until the dog reacts strangely on the next walk - if kids in uniform targetted the dog a child in a school uniform may become the next target. Anyone who uses a threatening manner towards the dog i.e threatening the dog by staring at it wide eyed or behaving in an aggressive manner or threating with a stick or similar is likely to provoke an even more aggressive reaction from a dog than one that turns sideways on blinking their eyes or even turns their back to the dog!
Sometimes an emotion shattering or traumatic experience make such an impact and permanent impact on the dog, if a similar situation occurs in the future or seems imminent the flight or fight reaction occur, however a confined dog or a dog on lead does not have this flight option and again they are left with one option to fight or bite!
When a dog bites and the person (like me) does not pull away damage to the skin is usually relatively small but when the person pulls away - a normal humans instinctive reaction - the canine teeth are pulled through the skin and muscles making a deeper tear wound. This is often not the dogs fault either. Young children are often bitten simply because they do not understand the dogs boundaries or warning signals, they often confuse a dog snarling and showing its teeth with our human smile - the dog appears to them to be smiling - so it is imperative we teach them dog language as soon as we have a dog and children together in our homes.
A dog when attacking another dog usually will attack around the neck or scruff area and simply because small children are at dog height it is often the case they will be bitten around the face in these conflict situations - more so than adults so it is our duty and responsibility to teach our children how to interact with dogs in a positive manner and never leave any children alone with dogs no matter the good nature or disposition of the dog as young children are very unpredictable in their behaviours!
Many years ago a young dog had been brought in for euthanasia to the vets where I was training because it had bitten the child on the face. It was only after he had been pts by the vet a thorough examination was carried out - the child had thrust a pencil deep inside the dogs ear - that pain must have been excruciating but that poor dog lost its life for this and I left vet nursing shortly after to go and study dog behaviour to change these things and try to help more dogs and humans understand the damage we have been doing to dogs.
Too many dogs are losing their lives due to overbreeding, lack of socialising and human misundersandings - my mission as with so many other good dog people is to help you with your dog problems and stop dogs paying with their lives for human mistakes!
There is always help at hand for anyone experiencing difficulties - please do not blame your dog if it has bitten or shown aggression get in a dog expert to help and advise you. When these dogs go to rescue a new owner must then be responsible sometimes for problems other people have caused - some dogs simply dont make it out of rescue because they are deemed to fearful or aggressive to be safely rehomed again and this simply is not fair on the dogs.
We have to understand dogs properly if we are to raise them safely and live with them safelt in our homes - it is our responsibility as dog owners and a nation of animal lovers to stop dogs losing their lives for our own human misunderstandings and failings and prevent these situations occurring.
The development of unwanted aggression is a complicated processes in which several factors are involved, notably the many and varied effects of the dogs environment, its upbringing and experiences as well as it's genetic disposition - inherited traits from their parents. Dogs bite for many reasons however not always simply because they are aggressive. Humans tend to generalise that all or any bite is because a dog is aggressive and it simply is not true.
There are many forms of aggression one is maternal aggression - a mother protecting her babies; Pain aggression may occur i.e. when you stand on their tail or paw, they are sick or after an operation, dogs instinctively turn and may bite to remove the thing causing pain; Territorial aggression - when they are protecting their home, garden, food etc; Redirected aggression - an example being if two dogs in their garden want to protect their territory from an intruder such as another dog or even human (usually the postman - because he has the cheek to return every day when he has been seen off the day before - this is how it is viewed in the dogs mind - the two dogs normally best of friends may often turn on each other behind the garden fence because they cannot get to the intruder on the outside!
There are several other reasons behind why dogs bite but at the end of the day they, like most animals only really have their teeth to defend themselves unlike humans who will use many other tactics as well as their fists.
Care must be taken even with good natured dogs, as there is no guarantee that their behaviour will remain constant. It is why we recommend teaching puppies bite inhibition from a very young age, teaching puppies it is not ok to play with humans as they do with their litter mates, it's especially important during playtimes not to allow biting games.
Interactions with other dogs and people throughout your puppy's and adult dogs lives have a very strong effect on the behavioural development and expression of aggression and aggressive behaviours which is continually modified by experience & learning.
The many and varied causes of outward aggression and dog bites towards humans cannot simply be grouped together as one cause or a bad dog we need to understand the motivating factors and classify the reasons behind the bite or attack!
Many dogs that have been abused or hit by humans may be uneasy with human proximity and our actions and feel impelled to defend themselves, their family or pssessions - the dog may act with aggression to keep the offending person or animal at a distance. Not all humams will understand this or even that it is a normal defence mechanism in dogs they give warnings if we ignore them on several occassions, they simply go to the bite next time!
Dogs display a series of warning signals and threats before they actually lunge and bite, such as growling, snarling, raised lip, hackles up and other body posturing that humans so often miss. A dog that is continually attacked by a human that ignores the warning signals eventually learns to skip these signals because we don't pay attention this is far more serious now as with a dog with no warning signals that go straight to the bite are very difficult to predict - even for experienced dog people this can be an issue.These situations often occur more with young children who simply do not know the warning signals.
It has been proven in behavioural studies that over 80 % of dog bites are aimed at children and men. Men unfortunately often will try to dominate a dog in a human way which often leads to further conflict situations, children often simply do not know a dogs rules or boundaries and if parents are smacking dogs, dogs become wary of human hands and if children copy parents this often leads to serious situations within a home environment.
We have to start to look at things from the dogs perspective. In a dog pack or wolf pack these situations would not occur because dogs or wolves will nontheir place in the heirarchical system. ALPHA dogs rarely if ever attack the undrr dogs or one another for no reason! There is however always a reason a dog has bitten a human even if the human cannot comprehend it at the time!
Small children in the home will be seen as young pups by the dog and adult dogs will not tolerate beligerant behaviour well so we must do what we can to teach our children about dogs, their boundaries and their warning signals.
Fearful dogs especially may use outward aggression more than even genetically aggressive dogs as they have neither the confidence nor the motivation to socialise and be friendly. Their need for defending themselves stems from an underlying lack of confidence and often trust in humans.
It is a dangerous mistake to assume that an adult dog will not bite just because it has never done so before! Friendly, happy, fearful and shy dogs have all been known to bite in certain circumstances, usually when they feel fearful, threatened, protecting themselves to keep humans away or they or their family or resources are under threat.
Expecting a dog that is signling to a human to back off or to give continual and obvious warnings before it bites is a dangerous mistake to make - working in rescue we rarely know a dogs past or what experiences they have been through and therefor most rescues work hard to try to assess the dogs behaviours and their triggers that may lead to the dog biting or even attacking people or other animals as well as in many other situations.
Dogs bite because often they need to defend or protect themselves from us humans and indeed many have good reason to feel that way, especially if they have been hit or attacked by humans on numerous occassions previously.
When a dog appears to be a normal, happy, friendly dog and suddenly (in the eyes of the non dog aware human) bites often the human may be taken by surprise, as perhaps the single subtle doggy warning signals went unnoticed - the poor dog is often accused of biting without reason or warning and is then assumed dangerous.
In my work often it is the human behaviour we have to look to change and adapt - we change the humans behaviour we can change the dogs reactions - some owners have so little understanding from the dogs perspective that rehabilitation attempts are difficult as changing human behaviour and understanding of other animal species is a difficult task - as we see things in a human way not as we should from the dogs perspective.
We cannot change the innate behaviour of dogs therefor we must expand our understanding of their nature amd communication and the ways they onteract with their own species if we are to ever raise happy healthy friendly and safe dogs and live safely with them in our homes and our society.
Attempting to further dominate a dog by rough handling or further human aggression will only further escalate problems in a conflict situation and fail in any attempt at changing it - when we think like dogs and act like dogs we will be able to live in harmony with them.
Dogs are indeed mans (and womans) best friends when we know how to raise and interact with them correctly. Sadly many dog owners experiencing serious problems do not get help from experienced dog trainers or behaviourists when problems first start to appear and with little understanding of the aggression being displayed or why the dog behaved that way owners sometimes make matters worse before deciding to get help or simply decide its the dog at fault - the dogs sadly are often then either given up for rehoming or euthanased! š£
Statistics confirm that 95% of the dogs that react aggressively do so simply because the given situation they were in made them feel unneasy or they were defending themselves, their territory, their family or resources - not because they were a bad or aggressive dog at all.
Common situaions that may result in a dog bite;
- Dog bites when approached, rough handled, grabbed, when in pain or restrained - especially by domineering owners or strangers.
- Dog bites when protecting it's resources; food & bones are especially high value resources, toys, cars, sleeping areas - especially in confined spaces with no escape route.
- A mother protecting her puppies, or when protecting their territory as in their home or garden!
- Fearful, frightened or shy dogs bite more often especially when cornered or confined, more so than actual genetically predisposed aggressive dogs as most people stay away from these dogs instinctively unless like me we see their behaviour as a challenge to overcome and to be able to teach them to trust humans.
Very few dogs actually need euthanasing for behavioural problems especially when we now have the skills and the knowledge to rehabilitate them and the thousands of good dog handlers, trainers & behaviourists that are available to help people nowadays experiencing problems with their dogs in a home environment.
Clearly agressive behaviour is a complex and varied interactive trait - dogs do not bite without reason - the dog always has a reason we just have to analyse the situations behind the bite or attack to understand it.
The development and manifestation of aggressive behaviours in dogs kept as family pets is an extremely complicated process however the common assumption that it is an aggressive dog is often simply not true.
It is not genetically aggressive dogs that are responsible for most dog bites in these situations or the fact that a dog that has bitten in a given situation assuming it is an aggressive dog by nature is simply not fair or even a true statement of facts!
We must start to understand our dogs needs and their behaviours and body language if we are ever to live with dogs safely in our homes and raise safe dogs in our society!
By modifying the dogs social environment, in particular how humans interact with them and the number & nature of good interactions with other people/dogs/
animals/situations etc it is possible to modify any dogs temperamemt and make it less aggressive. Dogs after all are animals, as are we and all animals have a trigger or point at which they will react even the most placid person can become aggressive if put under enough stress or bullied continually by others.
All animals have the potential to bite or become aggressive or dangerous if the outward situations are protagonistic.
The old ways of treating aggression with aggression is an extremely dangerous practice, physical force, punishment, punishment training, check chains and shock collars only serve to confirm or re-inforce what the dog has learned about humans already - that they are not nice and not trustworthy.
We simply can't blame a dog for using it's teeth to defend itself from us or our attacks on them either, as it is after all the only means they have - especially if a flight option is not available to them. In any given situation a dog as with a human has 4 main ways of being able to deal with conflict - we call these the four F's: first we freeze (to assess the situation) then our options are flight, flirt or fight!
Each dog and each situation must be assessed individually if any success with behavioiral modification or treatment is to be successful.
The animal must be studied closely to reveal the trigger/s for the undesired behaviours, the duration and extent of the behaviour, bite or atrack as well as who or what the behaviour was or is directed at.
This requires a great deal of patience and understanding on the part of owners and dog behaviour experts!
Rehabilitating a problem dog is by no means a simple process however the majority of situations can be changed quickly when you have an experienced knowledgable dog person on side. Nothing is easy but all things are possible when we change the human reactions towards the dogs behaviours!
Even when a behavioural response of a dog in any given situation may end in the same result - a bite or an attack on a human - it should now be clear I hope that it is not always the dog that is to blame as there are many factors which need to be taken into account in these situations.
It is extremely unwise to treat all outward signs of aggression or problems in dogs in an aggressive or foreceful way the and this is often why problems escalate further out of control. We simply have to understand dogs and their behaviour and motivating factors and look at where we as humans have been going wrong in order to change things.
Confined dogs, dogs in runs or gardens often try to amuse themselves in various ways, they may run along the length of the fence or up to it and if protecting their territory from other dogs or humans problems can again escalate.
Tied or confined dog may not have a flight option and so aggression is their option if flirting is not an option. If the dog has been taunted by passers by or children without the knowledge of the owner this can escalate further into fearsome or defensive barking sessions at all passers by - they often will bark themselves into a frenzy and often become biters at a later time - unfortunately this may be the first time they go out after the incident - the owner unaware of what has happened while they were away and at this point still unaware until the dog reacts strangely on the next walk - if kids in uniform targetted the dog a child in a school uniform may become the next target. Anyone who uses a threatening manner towards the dog i.e threatening the dog by staring at it wide eyed or behaving in an aggressive manner or threating with a stick or similar is likely to provoke an even more aggressive reaction from a dog than one that turns sideways on blinking their eyes or even turns their back to the dog!
Sometimes an emotion shattering or traumatic experience make such an impact and permanent impact on the dog, if a similar situation occurs in the future or seems imminent the flight or fight reaction occur, however a confined dog or a dog on lead does not have this flight option and again they are left with one option to fight or bite!
When a dog bites and the person (like me) does not pull away damage to the skin is usually relatively small but when the person pulls away - a normal humans instinctive reaction - the canine teeth are pulled through the skin and muscles making a deeper tear wound. This is often not the dogs fault either. Young children are often bitten simply because they do not understand the dogs boundaries or warning signals, they often confuse a dog snarling and showing its teeth with our human smile - the dog appears to them to be smiling - so it is imperative we teach them dog language as soon as we have a dog and children together in our homes.
A dog when attacking another dog usually will attack around the neck or scruff area and simply because small children are at dog height it is often the case they will be bitten around the face in these conflict situations - more so than adults so it is our duty and responsibility to teach our children how to interact with dogs in a positive manner and never leave any children alone with dogs no matter the good nature or disposition of the dog as young children are very unpredictable in their behaviours!
Many years ago a young dog had been brought in for euthanasia to the vets where I was training because it had bitten the child on the face. It was only after he had been pts by the vet a thorough examination was carried out - the child had thrust a pencil deep inside the dogs ear - that pain must have been excruciating but that poor dog lost its life for this and I left vet nursing shortly after to go and study dog behaviour to change these things and try to help more dogs and humans understand the damage we have been doing to dogs.
Too many dogs are losing their lives due to overbreeding, lack of socialising and human misundersandings - my mission as with so many other good dog people is to help you with your dog problems and stop dogs paying with their lives for human mistakes!
There is always help at hand for anyone experiencing difficulties - please do not blame your dog if it has bitten or shown aggression get in a dog expert to help and advise you. When these dogs go to rescue a new owner must then be responsible sometimes for problems other people have caused - some dogs simply dont make it out of rescue because they are deemed to fearful or aggressive to be safely rehomed again and this simply is not fair on the dogs.
We have to understand dogs properly if we are to raise them safely and live with them safelt in our homes - it is our responsibility as dog owners and a nation of animal lovers to stop dogs losing their lives for our own human misunderstandings and failings and prevent these situations occurring.
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