Replies to '03/30 Is This Normal?'

I'm quite surprised by some of the responses regarding dog bites.  As an expert in several dog-related fields, I can offer some insight into this issue. 

First and foremost, aggressive dogs are made, not born.  No puppy is born behaving aggressively.  They learn that behaviour through both desire to control their environments, and as a response to feeling threatened.  They learn what works. 

In a responsible and competent home, aggressive behaviours don't work.  They're never successful in controlling the humans in the house (and simply aren't tolerated, at all!) and, in such homes, the dogs are protected from any situations where they might justifiably feel threatened.  Along those same lines, in a responsible and competent home, dogs are taught that nearly every situation they'll encounter in life is not actually a threat to them in any way.  We call this "socialization".  No dog has ever been harmed by the mailman or girl guides selling cookies door to door.  Therefore, no dog should perceive these situations as threatening.  No dog, on the face of this planet, has ever lost even one square inch of territory, simply because another dog has walked by its yard.  This means that every owner who witnesses his/her dog's aggressive behaviour in that kind of situation, is failing to do the right thing if they don't help the dog realize this is not a threatening situation. 

(My own perfectly-socialized dogs, for example, are absolutely jumping out of their skin when they see people walk their dogs past my unfenced yard.  It is irresponsible, in most cases, to leave one's dog outside the home unsupervised.  I am always supervising my dogs when they're outside.  My dogs desperately WANT other dogs to come into my yard, for play.  As a responsible dog owner, my dogs have been taught not to step over the curb, and they've been taught to sit whenever they see other dogs approaching.  So, when they see a dog and owner approaching, they sit there, all excited; clearly hoping the other dogs WILL COME ONTO MY PROPERTY for play.  Most of my neighbours know that I welcome this, and usually do come over, much to the delight of my dogs.  I give them a release command once the other dog owner is ready, and off they run and play in my yard.  You see, it is not "natural" for dogs to feel threatened by strange people and dogs.  It is "natural" that both dogs and people will will develop anti-social behaviours if kept from normal socialization experiences, though.) 

As far as dog bite statistics are concerned, I am an expert in this area.  Most bites take place inside the home, or on, or directly adjacent to, the owner's property.  In the majority of cases, the dog was inadequately supervised when the bite took place.  Most bite victims are children and most are bitten by a dog they know.  The most common encounters the public has with strange dogs (meeting supervised dogs in public places) accounts for the absolute least number of bites (less than 1%). 

**THIS IS KEY:  

Every dog attack case I've researched has involved dogs with known histories of aggressive behaviour.  Meaning, as soon as your dog demonstrates it is trying to get its own way through behaviours like stiffened body posture, staring, raised hackles, curled lips, lowered head, growling, snapping, or biting, it is behaving aggressively and will continue to do so (and probably escalate) unless you take active steps to redirect its behaviour.  By allowing the behaviour to continue, a future bite is highly likely.   

A dog that has bitten in the past is in the highest category for probability of future bites!   

Even when a bite was the first against a human, all the dogs I've researched had prior histories of aggressive behaviour, either towards human, other animals, or both.  Even when it was the first aggressive behaviour towards a human, all the dogs had behaved aggressively towards other animals in the past...usually other dogs.  I wish I had a nickel for every time the owner of a dog involved in an attack said, 'We couldn't have known he'd bite because he'd never behaved aggressively towards people before, only other dogs.' 

There are countless cases of dogs whose first bite against a human led to the death of that person, yet they'd attacked (sometimes even having killed) other dogs, in the past. 

Aggressive behaviour is aggressive behaviour.  It is not species-specific, as much as many inexpert individuals want to believe it is.  Again, every dog involved in an attack case I've researched, where it was the dog's first aggression incident towards a human, had behaved aggressively towards other animals in the past...and usually those other animals were other dogs.  Statistics simply don't support that idea that dogs won't bite people based merely on who their past victims have been.** 

As an adult, it is unlikely you will suffer serious injury caused by a dog.  If you do, it will most likely be your own dog or a dog you know (i.e. a neighbour's dog).  If you have children, your child will most likely be bitten by your own dog, or that of a friend, relative, or neighbour. 

The owners of a dog involved in an attack are typcially also the parent, relative, friend, or neighbour of the bite victim.  99% of dogs involved in human fatalities were unneutered males.  When children are killed by dogs, the overwhelming majority were killed by their own dogs. 

There are, however, easy ways to prevent the vast majority of dog bites. 

1. Avoid unsupervised dogs.
2. Never leave children unsupervised with dogs.
3. Ensure our own dogs are properly trained and adequately supervised at all times outside the home and with children.

 If we took these three, simple steps, we could virtually eliminate unprovoked dog bites in society. 

One caution:  The advice to relegate this dog to a "dog run" is absolutely the worst advice ever.  Dogs are pack animals, and it is unnatural for them to be alone.  Dogs that are regularly left alone for long periods of time are likely to develop all sorts of unacceptable behaviours, including aggression.  Many, many of the aggressive dogs I've (successfully!) re-trained, over the years, have come from environments where they were isolated in dog runs most of the time.   

Given that dogs are pack animals, and absoultely need social interaction and contact; keeping them isolated is cruel and unethical.  Some shelters/resuces do this out of necessity (to avoid squabbles between dogs, and cut down on the potential for disease transmission, somewhat).  But I can't say this any more succinctly or harshly:  

"Anyone who chooses to keep his/her dogs in isolation (such as locked in a cage for long periods of time or living in "runs") should not own dogs, period.  Dogs look to their pack leaders to know when it's time to eat, sleep, play, or feel threatened.  Without their leaders to look to, dogs simply don't know what to do.  When left to their own devices, dogs often make very bad choices. 

Simply put, dogs belong inside the home, with the ability to be in physical contact with their owners/pack members, and should have all outdoor activities supervised by the owner.  Dog owners are required to provide adequate food, shelter, training, exercise, play, and mental stimulation for their dogs, or they're failing them in the most inhumane way.  A dog is not a toy.  It has needs and rights that supercede the owner's 'convenience.' " 

Aggressive behaviour doesn't just go away, and will likely get worse with isolation.  Aggressive dogs require re-training and re-socialization, or they will not be safe to live in human society tomorrow, next year, or ten years from now.  Muzzling, for example, will not prevent dog bites because nearly all bites occur at the precise times when owners are unlikely to have their dogs muzzled, in the first place (i.e. inside the home or in the yard, not in public).  Furthermore, I can guarantee one thing: If we do nothing but isolate or muzzle an aggressive dog, one year from now it will be no less aggressive, and may even be worse. 

Owners bear the blame for allowing aggressive behaviours to develop in their dogs.  Having a 100% success rate in re-training aggressive dogs myself, I know that the home environment is key.  However, I am so skeptical about an owner being substantially able to change his/her behaviour (that led to the aggressive behaviour in the first place) that I refuse to work with privately-owned dogs.  I only work with dogs that are to be euthanized in shelters or rescue organizations.   

I strongly believe that dogs should be given the opportunity to be properly trained.  If the negligent owner can change his/her ways, then great!  If he/she can't or won't, then the dog must go to a competent trainer, who specializes in working with aggression issues, or the dog must be humanely destroyed.  Dumping an aggressive dog off at a shelter almost guarantees another family will suffer from its dangerous behaviour.  Merely getting rid of the dog and acquiring another also increases the likelihood the new dog will be as incompetently reared as the last one. 

Keeping a dog for "guarding" or "protection" is a recipe for encouraging inappropriate aggressive behaviour. 

Properly raising dogs is not rocket science, but it is hard, daily work, and it is a life-long commitment.  If you aren't prepared to make sacrifices to ensure your dog isn't a danger or a nuisance to anyone in the community, or if you think a dog is a good form of security, then you should re-think the decision to acquire a dog.  

I'm quite surprised by some of the responses regarding dog bites.  As an expert in several dog-related fields, I can offer some insight into this issue. 

First and foremost, aggressive dogs are made, not born.  No puppy is born behaving aggressively.  They learn that behaviour through both desire to control their environments, and as a response to feeling threatened.  They learn what works. 

In a responsible and competent home, aggressive behaviours don't work.  They're never successful in controlling the humans in the house (and simply aren't tolerated, at all!) and, in such homes, the dogs are protected from any situations where they might justifiably feel threatened.  Along those same lines, in a responsible and competent home, dogs are taught that nearly every situation they'll encounter in life is not actually a threat to them in any way.  We call this "socialization".  No dog has ever been harmed by the mailman or girl guides selling cookies door to door.  Therefore, no dog should perceive these situations as threatening.  No dog, on the face of this planet, has ever lost even one square inch of territory, simply because another dog has walked by its yard.  This means that every owner who witnesses his/her dog's aggressive behaviour in that kind of situation, is failing to do the right thing if they don't help the dog realize this is not a threatening situation. 

(My own perfectly-socialized dogs, for example, are absolutely jumping out of their skin when they see people walk their dogs past my unfenced yard.  It is irresponsible, in most cases, to leave one's dog outside the home unsupervised.  I am always supervising my dogs when they're outside.  My dogs desperately WANT other dogs to come into my yard, for play.  As a responsible dog owner, my dogs have been taught not to step over the curb, and they've been taught to sit whenever they see other dogs approaching.  So, when they see a dog and owner approaching, they sit there, all excited; clearly hoping the other dogs WILL COME ONTO MY PROPERTY for play.  Most of my neighbours know that I welcome this, and usually do come over, much to the delight of my dogs.  I give them a release command once the other dog owner is ready, and off they run and play in my yard.  You see, it is not "natural" for dogs to feel threatened by strange people and dogs.  It is "natural" that both dogs and people will will develop anti-social behaviours if kept from normal socialization experiences, though.) 

As far as dog bite statistics are concerned, I am an expert in this area.  Most bites take place inside the home, or on, or directly adjacent to, the owner's property.  In the majority of cases, the dog was inadequately supervised when the bite took place.  Most bite victims are children and most are bitten by a dog they know.  The most common encounters the public has with strange dogs (meeting supervised dogs in public places) accounts for the absolute least number of bites (less than 1%). 

**THIS IS KEY:  

Every dog attack case I've researched has involved dogs with known histories of aggressive behaviour.  Meaning, as soon as your dog demonstrates it is trying to get its own way through behaviours like stiffened body posture, staring, raised hackles, curled lips, lowered head, growling, snapping, or biting, it is behaving aggressively and will continue to do so (and probably escalate) unless you take active steps to redirect its behaviour.  By allowing the behaviour to continue, a future bite is highly likely.   

A dog that has bitten in the past is in the highest category for probability of future bites!   

Even when a bite was the first against a human, all the dogs I've researched had prior histories of aggressive behaviour, either towards human, other animals, or both.  Even when it was the first aggressive behaviour towards a human, all the dogs had behaved aggressively towards other animals in the past...usually other dogs.  I wish I had a nickel for every time the owner of a dog involved in an attack said, 'We couldn't have known he'd bite because he'd never behaved aggressively towards people before, only other dogs.' 

There are countless cases of dogs whose first bite against a human led to the death of that person, yet they'd attacked (sometimes even having killed) other dogs, in the past. 

Aggressive behaviour is aggressive behaviour.  It is not species-specific, as much as many inexpert individuals want to believe it is.  Again, every dog involved in an attack case I've researched, where it was the dog's first aggression incident towards a human, had behaved aggressively towards other animals in the past...and usually those other animals were other dogs.  Statistics simply don't support that idea that dogs won't bite people based merely on who their past victims have been.** 

As an adult, it is unlikely you will suffer serious injury caused by a dog.  If you do, it will most likely be your own dog or a dog you know (i.e. a neighbour's dog).  If you have children, your child will most likely be bitten by your own dog, or that of a friend, relative, or neighbour. 

The owners of a dog involved in an attack are typcially also the parent, relative, friend, or neighbour of the bite victim.  99% of dogs involved in human fatalities were unneutered males.  When children are killed by dogs, the overwhelming majority were killed by their own dogs. 

There are, however, easy ways to prevent the vast majority of dog bites. 

1. Avoid unsupervised dogs.
2. Never leave children unsupervised with dogs.
3. Ensure our own dogs are properly trained and adequately supervised at all times outside the home and with children.

 If we took these three, simple steps, we could virtually eliminate unprovoked dog bites in society. 

One caution:  The advice to relegate this dog to a "dog run" is absolutely the worst advice ever.  Dogs are pack animals, and it is unnatural for them to be alone.  Dogs that are regularly left alone for long periods of time are likely to develop all sorts of unacceptable behaviours, including aggression.  Many, many of the aggressive dogs I've (successfully!) re-trained, over the years, have come from environments where they were isolated in dog runs most of the time.   

Given that dogs are pack animals, and absoultely need social interaction and contact; keeping them isolated is cruel and unethical.  Some shelters/resuces do this out of necessity (to avoid squabbles between dogs, and cut down on the potential for disease transmission, somewhat).  But I can't say this any more succinctly or harshly:  

"Anyone who chooses to keep his/her dogs in isolation (such as locked in a cage for long periods of time or living in "runs") should not own dogs, period.  Dogs look to their pack leaders to know when it's time to eat, sleep, play, or feel threatened.  Without their leaders to look to, dogs simply don't know what to do.  When left to their own devices, dogs often make very bad choices. 

Simply put, dogs belong inside the home, with the ability to be in physical contact with their owners/pack members, and should have all outdoor activities supervised by the owner.  Dog owners are required to provide adequate food, shelter, training, exercise, play, and mental stimulation for their dogs, or they're failing them in the most inhumane way.  A dog is not a toy.  It has needs and rights that supercede the owner's 'convenience.' " 

Aggressive behaviour doesn't just go away, and will likely get worse with isolation.  Aggressive dogs require re-training and re-socialization, or they will not be safe to live in human society tomorrow, next year, or ten years from now.  Muzzling, for example, will not prevent dog bites because nearly all bites occur at the precise times when owners are unlikely to have their dogs muzzled, in the first place (i.e. inside the home or in the yard, not in public).  Furthermore, I can guarantee one thing: If we do nothing but isolate or muzzle an aggressive dog, one year from now it will be no less aggressive, and may even be worse. 

Owners bear the blame for allowing aggressive behaviours to develop in their dogs.  Having a 100% success rate in re-training aggressive dogs myself, I know that the home environment is key.  However, I am so skeptical about an owner being substantially able to change his/her behaviour (that led to the aggressive behaviour in the first place) that I refuse to work with privately-owned dogs.  I only work with dogs that are to be euthanized in shelters or rescue organizations.   

I strongly believe that dogs should be given the opportunity to be properly trained.  If the negligent owner can change his/her ways, then great!  If he/she can't or won't, then the dog must go to a competent trainer, who specializes in working with aggression issues, or the dog must be humanely destroyed.  Dumping an aggressive dog off at a shelter almost guarantees another family will suffer from its dangerous behaviour.  Merely getting rid of the dog and acquiring another also increases the likelihood the new dog will be as incompetently reared as the last one. 

Keeping a dog for "guarding" or "protection" is a recipe for encouraging inappropriate aggressive behaviour. 

Properly raising dogs is not rocket science, but it is hard, daily work, and it is a life-long commitment.  If you aren't prepared to make sacrifices to ensure your dog isn't a danger or a nuisance to anyone in the community, or if you think a dog is a good form of security, then you should re-think the decision to acquire a dog.