Today being Sunday the SPA was closed and after being fed and cleaned out by the kennel staff in the morning, the dogs spent the afternoon relaxing. So today we thought that we would blog about preventing your dog biting. All dogs have the potential to bite but luckily for us most don’t. So what is it that just pushes some dogs over the edge? Why is it that some dogs seem to bite ‘out of the blue’? It is important to realize that all dogs have a bite threshold, a limit that if crossed causes them to bite. If a dog is in pain or feeling unwell his bite threshold level will be lower than normal. Many dogs are anxious or afraid around specific things that they encounter regularly. Some examples of triggers are:
- Strangers
- Men with beards
- Cyclists
- Children
- Skateboarders
- Other dogs
- Being patted on the head
When a dog encounters one of his triggers he may show sign of stress stress such as sniffing the ground, licking his lips or even a growl. When this happens he is telling you that he is out of his comfort zone and how you react at this point has a big difference on the outcome of the situation. If you ignore these signs or scold him for displaying them then you are without doubt in for trouble!
When multiple stressors happen at the same time or very close together they will have a cumulative effect on the dog’s bite threshold. This is called trigger stacking and it explains why a dog who has never bitten in the past bites. Trigger stacking is often the cause of a dog bite, so know your dog’s triggers and do your best to avoid putting him into those situations that just might push him too far.
Here is a great example:
Roxy, a Great Dane has a fear of skateboarders. She is also uncomfortable around large dogs and hates to be patted on top of her head. Roxy has always growled at skateboarders, sniffed the ground when a large dog is near and ducked her head and licked her lips when patted on the head. She had never bitten and her owner felt sure that she never would. One day a man walked up to Roxy and patted her on the head. Roxy turned around and bit the man on the wrist. The owner was completely shocked. Let’s look at what happened. On further examination the owner realized that not only was there was a large dog nearby but a skateboarder also went past just as the man started to pat Roxy on her head. Three of her triggers occurred at the exact same time. This pushed her over her bite threshold.
The way to avoid such a situation is to know your dog, watch and act on his body language and this way you can prevent many bites. Get to know your dog’s triggers and do your best to avoid putting him into situations that just might push him too far!
Trigger Stacking Chart
Act before your dog feels he has to bite!