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By Mike
Allred
One of the most frequent
questions from dog owners is "How do I stop my dog from
biting?" Or even more common, how to stop a puppy from
biting. First we need to know why do dogs bite people?
Most dog bites and aggressive behavior happen in six
common situations. It's very important that we teach our
children about these common situations and how to avoid
them. A dog can bite when:
A dog can bite when it's
disturbed. Dogs can often bite when disturbed or
startled. This usually occurs when a family member
disturbs a resting or sleeping dog, picks it up, tries
to hold it, or takes something from the dog. More often
this happens when children pull a dogs tail, or pull on
its ears. Remember the old saying "Let sleeping dogs
lie?" There's a lot of good advice in that old idiom.
Lesson 1:
Teach children not to disturb resting or sleeping dogs.
A dog can bite when it's
afraid. Frightened or scared dogs are acting
instinctively when they bite. They're doing what comes
naturally, protecting themselves. Unfortunately, a
scared dog will snap at you and bite instinctively. This
usually happens when someone approaches the dog too
quickly or startles a dog.
Lesson 2:
Teach children not to sneak up on dogs, especially
strange dogs unfamiliar to your family. Even a gentle
small dog will bite defensively if startled or
frightened.
A dog can bite when it's
protecting its territory. Most times we're glad when our
pooch protects our property. After all, he's guarding
the home front and the family. However, for visitors to
your home, the meter reader, or the postman, it can be a
different story. These people can be bitten by your
friendly pooch.
Lesson 3:
Teach children not to go on private property without
adult supervision. A forty pound child is no match for
an adult dog protecting its territory.
A dog can
bite when it's in attack mode. We've all seen examples
of this behavior. A dog's natural instinct is to chase
small running animals, running children and adults, and
even cars. Have you ever noticed what a dog does if it
catches a car? It tries to bite the tires. My first
lesson from my GrandDad as a
child was to never run from
a large dog.
Lesson 4: You can't outrun a
dog pumped up with adrenalin and in attack mode. Second,
if you do run, the dog's instincts kick in and they're
after you in a flash. And third, the dog could seriously
injure you, or even worse, (through biting) when they
catch you.
A dog often bites when it's
suffering or in pain. When a dog is suffering or in
pain, leave it alone if at all possible. Our natural
instincts are to pet or comfort the dog. Even our best
intentions and motives can backfire on us, especially a
strange dog unknown to us. As much as we want to comfort
a suffering or injured dog, we must be careful.
Lesson 5:
Teach children not to pet dogs that are in pain, or
suffering. Even the beloved family dog can snap and bite
when in pain.
A dog can bite when it's
punished or abused. Unfortunately, dogs can and will
bite when someone abuses or mistreats them. Dogs will
bite their owners, small
children, or other family
members, when mistreated. Think about it. If you were a
dog and someone is physically mistreating you, wouldn't
you bite? It's natural instinct for a dog to protect
himself.
Lesson 6:
Teach children not to abuse or mistreat dogs, or any
animal for that matter. Abused animals do bite, and have
been known to kill.
Our pets, especially our
dogs, are our loyal, faithful, and loving friends.
They're our family. They'll give you unconditional love
whether you're homeless, or live in a mansion. And when
we lose a beloved pet, we mourn, we cry, and we
remember. But, we must also remember our pets have
natural instincts. And one of those instincts is to
bite. Discuss these six lessons with your
children.
Someday your kids may be face-to-face with a dog in one
of the above situations. Then, hopefully, they'll
remember these lessons, and thank you.
Mike Allred, the
author, learned his lessons the hard way. He suffered
many dog bites as a child and teen--mostly from trying
to comfort and aid injured animals and dogs. Mike lives
in south Florida, is an avid outdoorsman, and writes on
many topics. For more information on dog behavior
problems, and how to prevent dog biting behavior, visit
http://www.ProDogTrainingMethods.com
About the Author
Mike Allred lives in south
Florida. An avid outdoorsman, he writes on many topics,
especially nature, the outdoors, and pets. |
