According to veterinarian Dr. Sofia Yin the main reason dogs bite is because owners don\u2019t always have a good understanding of dog body language. Often owners don\u2019t know when their dog is signalling aggressive behaviours. Consequently, owners reinforce the biting behaviour without realizing it.<\/p>\n
For more about biting behaviour check out Dr. Yin\u2019s short video: http:\/\/drsophiayin.com\/videos\/entry\/why_dogs_bite1<\/p>\n
The simple answer is body language. As a pet owner the best thing you can do is get to know your dog. Here are some questions to consider about your dog\u2019s behaviour:
\n1. Is my dog possessive?
\n2. Is my dog fearful, nervous, or suspicious of others\/strangers?
\n3. Does my dog have a high prey drive?
\n4. Is my dog a mother? Dogs with puppies become very protective
\n5. Is my dog sick, injured, or in pain?<\/p>\n
(The above questions are based common reasons dogs bite as suggested by Dr. Kristy Conn)<\/p>\n
If the answer is yes to any of these questions it\u2019s important to learn how your dog shows these behaviours \u2013 what\u2019s Rover\u2019s body language telling you about his state of mind?
\nFor a quick review of dog body language you can check out this short video from the Humane Society: http:\/\/www.humanesociety.org\/animals\/dogs\/tips\/avoid_dog_bites.html<\/p>\n
Dr. Conn states that the first step in preventing dog bites is recognizing that all dogs have the capacity to bite in the right situation. Knowing this, owners must learn to read their dog\u2019s body language and behaviour. It\u2019s probably not much of a surprise but more than half of reported dog bite victims are kids. Kids are playful, can be aggressive, and don\u2019t understand body language. These conditions can lead Rover to nip, and possibly bite.<\/p>\n
Dr. Yin states that it\u2019s important to teach kids how to react if a dog starts nipping. Instead of running away from the dog or screaming, (behaviours that can cause the dog to become more aggressive), Dr. Yin suggests that kids stand still and not engage the dog. Here are some tips for preventing dog bites suggested by Cesar\u2019s Way:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Don\u2019t play aggressive games
\n\u2022 Train submissive behaviours
\n\u2022 Get your dog spayed or neutered
\n\u2022 Vaccinate your dog \u2013 prevents behavioural changes due to illness
\n\u2022 Do not leave your dog unsupervised around babies or kids<\/p>\n
We want to hear from you! Aggressive dogs in public places \u2013 is a yellow leash or ribbon enough? Post your answer on our Facebook page<\/p>\n
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\n\u2022 Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DoonGo<\/p>\n
Want to check out the articles that informed this blog? Click the below links:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Doctor Yin\u2019s video about biting behaviour: http:\/\/drsophiayin.com\/videos\/entry\/why_dogs_bite1
\n\u2022 The Humane Society\u2019s video and article about dog body language: http:\/\/www.humanesociety.org\/animals\/dogs\/tips\/avoid_dog_bites.html
\n\u2022 Dr. Conn\u2019s blog about preventing dog bites: http:\/\/www.cesarsway.com\/dog-behavior\/biting\/Dog-Bites-101-Why-Bites-Happen
\n\u2022 Cesar\u2019s Way blog about avoiding dog bites: http:\/\/www.cesarsway.com\/dog-behavior\/biting\/How-you-can-prevent-dog-bites<\/p>\n
Tail wagging isn\u2019t always a good thing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why do Dogs Bite? According to veterinarian Dr. Sofia Yin the main reason dogs bite is because owners don\u2019t always have a good understanding of dog body language. Often owners don\u2019t know when their dog is signalling aggressive behaviours. Consequently, owners reinforce the biting behaviour without realizing it. For more about biting behaviour check out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pet-behavior-fr"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/pexels-photo-1739093.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19711,"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9883\/revisions\/19711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doo-n-go.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}