With very rare exceptions, dog bites do not come out of anywhere, even if it sometimes seems that way. From small nicks that don’t break the skin to serious bites that require medical care, there are multiple reasons a dog might feel that biting is its best response.
Unfortunately, people often miss the warning signs that a bite could happen. Most dogs will try to communicate discomfort before biting by barking, growling, or snapping at the air. But what leads to dog bites? There are a variety of reasons that dogs might use their teeth to communicate:
1. Caught Off Guard
Dogs can bite if they are startled, especially if they have been sleeping. A dog who is startled awake may be disoriented and confused about where they are and what is going on and might bite. These bites may take people and even the dog by surprise.
This can be particularly common with older
dogs who may have decreased sight and/or hearing so may be particularly
confused if they are startled awake. Always be thinking about touching a
sleeping dog, and teach children not to crawl into dog beds or wake up dogs who
are asleep.
2. Protecting
If your dog has something valuable like toys, food, or chews
that they don’t want to share, they may bite out of fear that the valuable
thing will be taken away. Biting to protect valuable items can happen as part
of resource-guarding behaviour. Regardless of breed, some dogs may have strong
guarding tendencies and can resort to biting if they perceive their home is
being intruded upon, or if they believe someone in their family is in danger
3. Fear Of Human
Most aggressive behaviour from dogs is on some level rooted
in fear. A dog might be fearful of something or someone getting close to them,
or into their space. When whatever a dog is afraid of gets too close, dogs can
become overwhelmed or “over threshold” and may respond by biting. For the dog
biting out of fear, it is generally about trying to create distance from
whatever or whomever they are worried about.
4. Angry
Dogs can get overwhelmed, which is another situation that
can lead to biting behaviour. Dogs who feel that they are trapped in a
situation that is uncomfortable or unpleasant may bite out of frustration. Dogs
can also feel frustrated by being unable to reach something that they want
because they are being held back by an owner or leash. Sometimes called
redirecting or a redirected bite, dogs in some instances may turn and bite at
what or whoever is holding them back.
5. Injured/ Pain
Being sick or injured can be very stressful, scary, and
overwhelming for dogs. Even the most tolerant dogs can bite when they are
injured or in pain. If your dog becomes injured, be aware that they may bite
when handled so be particularly cautious if you need to lift or move your
injured dog. If your dog’s behaviour suddenly changes, it’s a good idea to
schedule an appointment with your vet as well as with a local positive
reinforcement trainer.
How To Prevent Your Dog From Biting?
A key way to help prevent dog bites is to remember that dogs
are individuals. Not every dog is going to be comfortable in every situation.
As a dog owner, it’s important to be aware of your dog’s comfort in different
situations. Help your dog be successful by proactively removing your dog from
the stressful or overstimulating situation before your dog might feel a need to
escalate to biting.
For example, if your dog is nervous about meeting people or dogs, avoid putting your dog into situations where it will be forced or expected to interact with other dogs or people. Not every dog is going to be super social, but by working with a trainer you can learn more about what situations make your dog uncomfortable.
Through training, you can gain skills to work within your dog’s comfort level. This will help your dog to work toward developing neutral responses to the presence of other dogs and/or people.
1. Avoid Punishing
If your dog growls, snaps, or even bites you, it can feel
tempting to want to punish the behaviour. Unfortunately, not only is this
confusing to your dog, but it is likely to make the situation worse. A growl or
air snap without making contact is a dog’s natural way of warning that they are
extremely uncomfortable or overwhelmed by a situation.
If your dog is punished for growling expressing discomfort or displeasure, you may increase the likelihood of a dog bite occurring in the future. This is because your dog has learned that they shouldn’t warn (by growling or snapping) and may instead go directly to a bite response when uncomfortable.
2. Consult From A Dog Trainer
Working with an experienced positive reinforcement trainer
is always a good idea to get a better idea with an understanding of both what
is normal mouthing behaviour and what is cause for concern. Similarly, if your
dog has begun lunging, growling, or seems uncomfortable or stressed in
different situations, it’s a good time to make contact with a professional dog
trainer.
A positive reinforcement trainer will be able to help you with understanding your dog’s behaviour, and how to help you to set your dog up for success and avoid putting your dog into situations that are over the threshold for them. This might mean giving your dog a safe spot away from the action or avoiding letting your dog off-leash.
Your trainer can also help your dog build new associations with situations that are scary, stressful, or overwhelming so that they don’t feel a need to resort to biting.
Exposing your dog to prolonged or large amounts of things
that scare or overwhelm them. It’s an approach that is generally anxiety-producing
for dogs and doesn’t do anything to shift your dog’s emotional response to the
situation they find overwhelming. In these situations, it is more likely your
dog will respond to being overwhelmed/overstimulated by biting.
Your dog’s comfort or tolerance for stimulating or stressful situations might shift depending on the degree of stress they are experiencing, how tired they are, as they age, or how unfamiliar a situation might be. For example, if you have a dog who hasn’t had anyone come into the home for the last year and suddenly you have a big birthday party, remember that people suddenly coming into the home could be overwhelming.
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