As your go-to pet behavior expert, Will Bangura, I'm shedding light on the crucial topic of dog bite prevention, sharing insights that could save you or your loved ones from becoming part of a staggering statistic. Nearly 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, with a significant number of those bitten being children. In this episode, we navigate through the reasons why dogs bite, from fear to sheer excitement, and the importance of understanding their body language to avoid dangerous encounters. It's not about the breed; it's about reading the cues. Join me as we crack the code on canine communication and unravel the truth behind common dog behavior myths.
Greeting a dog may seem straightforward, but there's a fine line between a friendly pat and a perceived threat. This episode is packed with guidance on how to approach our four-legged friends in a way that respects their space and ensures everyone's safety. I'll explain why letting a dog sniff your hand isn't the foolproof greeting method it's often believed to be and what to do instead. Plus, we can't stress enough the necessity of asking a dog's guardian before reaching out to their pet. Follow along as we offer practical advice to make every interaction with dogs a positive one, debunking myths and setting the facts straight.
Lastly, we delve into responsible dog ownership and the critical role it plays in preventing bites. I share tips on early socialization and training, highlighting the influential guidelines from the American Society of Veterinary Behavior on puppy development. For those with more challenging canine companions, I'll discuss the value of a multi-layered approach to managing aggression, including the benefits of seeking professional help from certified behaviorists. Remember, resources are available, including a directory on my website, dogbehavioristcom, that can connect you to the expertise needed. Tune in for an episode that promises to be as informative as it is essential for all dog lovers and those interacting with dogs in their daily lives.
If you need professional help please visit my Dog Behaviorist website.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
it's estimated that approximately 4.5 million dog
bites occur each year in theunited states now, that's
according to the centers fordisease control and prevention
and and about 20% of dog bitesrequire medical attention.
(00:28):
The severity can range fromminor cuts and bruises to severe
injuries requiring surgery Eachyear, according to the
Insurance Information Institute.
According to the InsuranceInformation Institute, dog bite
claims have totaled over $600million, and that's annually.
(00:53):
Oh wow.
We're going to take today'sepisode to discuss all about.
How do you prevent getting bit?
What does it mean when we saybite prevention, Don't go
(01:17):
anywhere?
All that and more in 60 seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood.
Having trained more than 24,000pets, helping you and your fur
babies thrive, live in studiowith Will Bangura answering your
pet behavior and trainingquestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, pleasewelcome your host and favorite
pet behavior expert, willMangura.
(01:45):
I like to lick everybody whenthey come to my door.
I'll eat anything if it fallson the floor.
(02:06):
Now I've heard the rumors.
I think I better ask you.
I heard I might be a dog.
Won't somebody please tell meit ain't true?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Ah yes, good day, dog lovers.
I'm Will Bangorahi.
Thank you for joining me foranother episode of Dog Training
Today.
As I said in the opener, it'sApril, which is National Bite
Prevention Month, and we'regoing to take a little bit of
(02:43):
time here to talk about dogbites.
Talk about bite prevention.
As I said in the opener, it'sestimated that there's about 4.5
million dog bites that occureach year in the United States
and 20% of dog bites do requiremedical attention.
Children many of you might knowthis.
(03:04):
They're often at a much higherrisk for dog bites than adults.
The Center for Disease Controlnotes that children between the
ages of five and nine areparticularly vulnerable and most
likely to receive medicalattention for dog bites.
Other than you know differentage groups.
(03:24):
As far as fatalities, whilefatal dog attacks are rare, they
do occur.
The number of dog bite-relatedfatalities varies from year to
year, but comprehensive datashows that basically, on average
, if you look at the reportsthat are out there, there's
(03:46):
about 30 to 50 fatal dog biteattacks annually in the US.
Dog bites.
They account for a significantnumber of homeowners insurance
liability claims and, trust me,I know all about that.
I've been called on as anexpert witness for dog bite
(04:09):
cases, and usually the lawyersthat are hiring me for that are
lawyers that are working for aninsurance company and somebody
is trying to file that withtheir homeowners insurance.
Trust me, you do not want a dogthat bites.
Try getting homeowner'sinsurance after you've had to
(04:31):
pay out for a dog bite.
Breed-specific statistics Now,there are some organizations and
studies that have attempted totrack dog bites by breed, but
this data is often verycontroversial and it's
(04:54):
considered unreliable by manyexperts due to issues like
misidentification of dog breedsand also the influence of media
bias.
Okay, now, one of the firstthings that we need to
understand, and that isunderstanding dog behavior.
(05:21):
It's critical in preventing dogbites and it's critical in
promoting safe interactionsbetween dogs and people.
Now, dogs communicate primarilythrough body language, and
their reasons for biting canoften be traced back to natural
(05:42):
instincts and their emotionalresponses.
By interpreting these signalscorrectly, you, as pet guardians
, can take proactive steps tomanage and prevent potentially
dangerous situations.
So we're going to explore nextwhat are some of the various
(06:06):
reasons that dogs might bite,and we're going to emphasize the
importance of recognizing keysigns of discomfort or
aggression in a dog's bodylanguage.
Okay, why do dogs bite.
Why do you think dogs bite?
(06:29):
Well, one of the most commonreasons, probably the number one
cause of most dog bites when adog feels threatened or
(06:50):
frightened, their instinctualresponse may be to bite to
protect themselves.
This can occur in situationswhere a dog might be startled,
where it might feel cornered, orit might be that you introduce
(07:13):
your dog or put your dog into asituation that, emotionally, is
overwhelming for the dog.
One of the other reasons whydogs bite is for protection.
Dogs will often exhibitprotective behaviors towards
(07:34):
their territory and their food,maybe toys, their family.
This protective instinct canlead to aggression, especially
if they perceive a person oranother animal as a threat to
their security or a threat tothe security of man.
(08:01):
I hate to say the pack.
Those of you that know anythingabout Dr Meck would know why I
hate to say the pack.
Those of you that know anythingabout dr mech would know why I
hate to say the word pack.
But the dog could feel thatthere's a threat to the safety
and security of everybody in thehome.
(08:23):
This still, if you think aboutit, you know this whole idea of
protection.
It's still about fear, right?
No animal goes into fight orflight and no animal bites
unless they perceive a threat.
Now, there might not be a realthreat, maybe they just perceive
(08:43):
a threat, but fear isabsolutely the number one cause
why animals bite.
Another reason that they mightbite is pain.
You know, a dog that's in painis absolutely more likely to
bite.
Even the gentlest dog mightbite if it's touched in a
(09:05):
painful area.
Okay, it just becomes areflexive defense mechanism.
It is crucial, absolutelycrucial, for pet guardians to be
aware of any signs of illnessor injury to their pets,
especially when there is a, allof a sudden, a quick behavior
(09:27):
change.
Okay, now, another reason whydogs might bite is excitement.
You know, sometimes dogs biteout of sheer excitement.
During play, dogs might becomeoverly enthusiastic and
accidentally bite.
Enthusiastic and accidentallybite.
(09:48):
Teaching gentle play andsetting clear boundaries can
help prevent bites that aredriven by excitement.
Now there are other reasons,potential reasons why dogs would
bite, but the most common fear,protection, pain and excitement
.
(10:10):
Now, one thing that's criticalwhen it comes to being able to
prevent dog bites is byunderstanding canine body
language.
You know, understanding a dog'sbody language.
It can be essential, it isessential in predicting and
(10:31):
preventing biting incidents.
Dogs give various signals thatindicate stress that indicate
discomfort or aggression, whichoften precede the bite.
So recognizing these earlywarning signs through the
(10:52):
signals that the dogs give intheir canine body language
allows you, as the pet guardian,and others to adjust their
behavior and manage thesituation safely.
To adjust their behavior andmanage the situation safely.
Now let's talk about tailposition, because a wagging tail
(11:15):
does not always mean that a dogis happy.
A stiff, high tail, thatindicates high arousal, which
could lead to aggression, higharousal, which could lead to
aggression.
Now, while a tail tuckedbetween the dog's legs, that's
(11:37):
definitely going to signify fear.
Also, you want to pay attentionto ear movement.
Ears pinned back against thehead often indicate fear.
Not always, but it oftenindicates fear or anxiety,
stress, phobias.
However, ears that are perkedup, pricked forward, pushed
(12:03):
forward, that usually suggestsalertness to potential threats.
Okay, also, paying attention tothe dog's body posture.
You know, a dog that's feelingthreatened may exhibit a stiff,
rigid posture.
They might crouch low to theground with its head down,
looking up at the potentialthreat.
(12:24):
With its head down, looking upat the potential threat, both
are indicative of discomfort andpotential readiness to react
defensively.
Now there are dozens and dozensand dozens of different body
language, signals and cues thatdogs give that communicate many
(12:49):
different things.
But when a dog is aggressive,when a dog bites, and you know,
a lot of people say, well, thedog gave no warning.
Usually almost all dogs givelots of warnings and in their
(13:14):
canine body language we can seethat they're getting
uncomfortable, we can see thatthey're becoming fearful, we can
see that they are stressed,that they're viewing something
as a threat.
But before I want you to thinkof a ladder.
Think of a ladder that has 10rungs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
(13:38):
10.
10 at the top, obviously.
1 at the bottom, at the 10thrung of that ladder is biting.
There are nine other rungs tothat ladder.
(14:03):
The outward visible behaviorsthat we see with the dog become
more and more and more subtle.
So at level one, that firstrung of the ladder, we might see
a dog doing tongue flicks,little kind of sticking its
(14:23):
tongue out.
You know just a little dart ofthe tongue, lip licking.
Those are very subtle sightsbut they indicate that the dog's
uncomfortable.
They indicate stress.
Now if and there's a lot moreand I'm going to give you some
(14:45):
resources where you can learncanine body language in depth
it's crucial If you want toprevent dog bites.
A big part of it is being ableto read a dog's body language is
(15:07):
body language, because imagineif you can read body language
and you can see very subtlesignals that the dog is giving
in its body language that showthat it's stressed.
That can be communication toyou so that you can back off.
But imagine that you have noclue, you don't know anything
about tongue flicks and you keepapproaching the dog and now
(15:30):
maybe the dog's pupils start todilate, maybe the ears go back,
maybe the hair on the dog's backstands up Pyloerection, maybe
the dog starts showing its teeth, maybe the dog starts showing
its teeth, Maybe the dog startsbarking, maybe the dog starts
(15:52):
lunging, maybe the dog bites.
But all of those behaviors Iwant you to think about, they're
escalating, they start off verysubtle signals that you don't
(16:12):
even know that are indicatingthe dog's starting to get upset,
that the dog's starting tobecome stressed.
I cannot emphasize enough theimportance of understanding
canine body language If you wantto learn more very in-depth
information on canine bodylanguage, if you want to know
how to be able to read what'sgoing on with your dog well in
(16:34):
advance of any aggression.
You need to understand caninebody language.
Also, working with aggressivedogs, working with fearful dogs,
to try to get them over thoseproblems, you have to understand
canine body language or youwon't get too far.
(16:56):
But you can go to my website atdogbehavioristcom.
Again, that's dogbehavioristcom.
Go to the menu, look for whereit says articles.
I've got over 90 in-deptharticles on various behaviors.
Look for the article or thecanine body language guide.
(17:21):
It's quite extensive.
Now there won't be any picturesthere, but it's going to go
through.
Dozens of stress signals,dozens of calming signals,
signals that we call appeasementsignals, distance-increasing
(17:43):
signals, distance decreasingsignals, play signals, different
signals in their vocalization,different signals and things
that they're communicating withtheir tail.
So there's a lot on variousaspects of tail carriage as well
(18:08):
as movement.
But go to dogbehavioristcom and, again, go look for articles,
find the Canine Body LanguageGuide.
All right, now let's get on tosome additional information as
(18:44):
it relates to dog bites, as itrelates to dog aggression, as it
relates to us preventing dogbites.
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All right, I'm back.
(20:09):
Um.
Let's talk next about um.
Common misconceptions about dogaggression and bites.
You know there's several mythsand they continue to persist as
it relates to dog aggression andbiting, and the problem with
that is it can lead to a lot ofmisunderstanding and a lot of
(20:31):
mishandling of dogs.
One of the biggest myths isthat certain breeds are more
aggressive.
Aggression is not necessarilybreed specific.
While some breeds may havetendencies towards guarding or
protection, individual behaviorvaries widely among dogs and
(20:54):
dogs of the same breed.
Okay, another myth and I kindof talked about it a second ago
and I hear this a lot dogs biteout of the blue.
And I hear this a lot Dogs biteout of the blue.
In most cases dogs give veryclear, very clear signs before
biting.
But it's our failure torecognize those signs.
(21:14):
And when we don't recognizethose signs it's often mistaken
for unprovoked aggression.
But remember I talked about inthe dog's canine body language.
(21:34):
They give all kinds of caninebody language signals that let
us know that they're starting toget stressed, they're fearful,
they're uncomfortable.
Well, if you keep pushing a dogin that situation and you know
that the dog's uncomfortable,you're provoking that aggression
(21:59):
.
I know that might be, it's notlike you would necessarily be
teasing the dog, but if you knowa dog is fearful and you keep
approaching the dog, you'reprovoking that dog.
If you know that it has aproblem, that it has a problem.
(22:30):
If you know that a dog isaggressive when, say, you come
within 20 feet of it and youstart moving in at 20 feet or
closer, you're provoking thataggression.
Now listen, I'm not giving anydog that has aggression a pass
on that behavior.
It's not okay, it's dangerous,it needs to be dealt with, it
(22:51):
needs to be modified.
When you have a dog that'sfearful and you can't read their
canine body language and youstart going into their personal
space, they might bite you andthat's a provoked bite.
(23:18):
Dogs do not bite out of the blue.
There's got to be some kind oftrigger and, as I said, no dog
goes into fight or flight unlessthey perceive something is
threatening.
You might not be thinkingyou're threatening the dog.
You might not know the dog isfearful.
(23:38):
You might not know the dog isfearful.
You might not know the dog hasspace issues and you might do
what so many people do.
You might do what so manypeople do.
That is so wrong and that'sextend your hand to the dog so
(24:02):
the dog can sniff your hand tolet the dog know you're okay.
That is total garbage.
Okay, the dog sniffing yourhand does not let the dog know
you're okay.
All right, their nose is not acrystal ball.
Their sense of smell isfantastic, but it is not a
crystal ball.
Number one.
Number two don't ever stretchout your hand for a dog to smell
(24:29):
, to greet a dog, why Well,you're invading that dog's
personal space?
Let the dog come up to you.
Let the dog approach you.
Let the dog show interest inyou.
Let the dog begin to engagewith you in a pleasant, playful
(24:53):
way.
Then engage with the dog.
That's going to be the safe wayto do it.
Okay, so that's a good segueinto talking about safe
interactions with dogs, and it'simportant that we ensure safe
interactions between humans anddogs.
It's fundamental to preventingbites and fostering positive
(25:14):
relationships.
Okay, to preventing bites andfostering positive relationships
.
Okay, so we're going to talkabout how to approach dogs.
Okay, introductions and alsosome other crucial advice for
teaching children how tointeract safely with dogs.
(25:36):
All right, first thing, always,always, always, ask for
permission.
You know, before touching orapproaching someone else's dog,
it's critical to ask the petguardian for permission.
This not only shows respect forthe guardian, but also ensures
(25:59):
that the dog is comfortable withbeing approached by strangers.
You know, pet guardians knowtheir dogs, they know best and
they can advise whether the dogis friendly or whether the dog
is fearful, and that lets youknow whether you should move on
(26:20):
or whether you should approachthe dog, or at least, that's one
of the ways.
Canine body language is anotherone, because I'll tell you, I've
heard lots of stories, I'veexperienced this, I've had
clients that have experiencedthis over and over where
somebody says their dog isfriendly, somebody says, can I
(26:41):
pet your dog?
Oh yeah, he's friendly.
And they reach for the dog andthe dog bites.
Why is that?
How was it that the pet parentwas so wrong?
Well, obviously, hey, if every,if any dog that goes into fight
or flight perceives a threat,the dog perceived a threat.
And guess what was happeningbefore the dog bit?
(27:01):
Yeah, the dog was displayingstress signals in its canine
body language, starting out verysubtle and they start to
escalate, go up that ladderuntil the dog actually bites.
Okay, now what is a properintroduction to a dog?
(27:26):
Well, first thing you want todo is always approach a dog
calmly and slowly.
You don't want to startle them,you want to avoid startling
them.
So, approaching a dog calmly,approaching the dog slowly,
avoiding direct eye contact, atleast initially, as the dog
(27:48):
might perceive that direct eyecontact as a stare.
They might perceive that as athreat.
Now there's still all kinds ofadvice being told by Quote
unquote dog professionals Inwritings on the internet that
(28:12):
will tell you Offer your handpalm down, but what's missing is
don't reach that towards thedog, don't reach your hand
towards the dog.
You can have your palm down butallow the dog to come to you.
(28:37):
Allow the dog to come to youand sniff your hand itself.
That's a non-threatening wayfor the dog to get to know you.
Initially, and like we've talkedabout, watch the dog's body
language.
Look to see.
Is this dog displaying arelaxed body, a wagging tail
(29:03):
that you know?
A friendly wagging tail is kindof like a windmill.
It just kind of goes in thisbig circle.
Yeah, does the dog?
Is the dog displaying afriendly demeanor?
Looking at and understandingthe canine body language lets
you know whether or not thedog's comfortable.
(29:24):
Hey, if the dog backs away orshows signs of discomfort, you
need to respect their space andretreat.
If you keep moving forward andthe dog bites, that's a provoked
bite.
Now, we talked in the beginningof the show that by far the
(29:50):
majority of dog bites happen tochildren.
We need to really emphasizesafety when it comes to children
and when it comes to dogs andpotential bites.
Always, always, always, always,always supervise any
(30:14):
interactions between childrenand dogs.
You know children, especiallyyoung children.
They're often completelyunaware of the signs of
discomfort in dogs and they maynot know how to respond
appropriately to that.
So, in addition to supervisingat all times with kids, in
(30:46):
addition to supervising at alltimes with kids, you need to
teach them about canine bodylanguage and what to look for.
When we're talking aboutsupervising children, oftentimes
I get the question well, atwhat age do I no longer have to
supervise?
Listen, if you've got a fearfulor aggressive dog, or if you've
(31:06):
got a dog that's fearful, thatthen can switch into aggression,
I don't care how old those kidsare.
You've got a huge liability Ifa 17-year-old gets bit in your
home.
Well, even if an 18-year-old,but if a minor gets bit, it's a
whole lot different ballgamethan if a non-minor gets bit.
(31:27):
Now, I know a lot of peopledon't want to hear that.
They don't want to have tosupervise their 13, 14, 15, 16,
17-year-old children.
But if you've got an aggressivedog, do you really think that
your 17-year-old is asresponsible as you are?
Do you really think your17-year-old, in all situations,
(31:52):
is going to make the bestdecisions like you would?
I don't know very many17-year-olds that would fall
into that category, even themost responsible of 17-year-olds
.
So always supervise minorsaround dogs, especially if you
have a dog that's fearful oraggressive.
(32:15):
Now, when it comes to children,in addition to teaching canine
body language so that childrencan identify whether they should
be backing away from the dog ifthe dog is showing that it's
uncomfortable, the other thingthat's critical to teach
children is how to pet dogsgently, gently, okay, and
(32:38):
teaching children to avoidsensitive areas of touch, like
the dog's face, the dog's tail,the dog's feet, its private
(33:01):
parts.
Show the kids how to use openhands and stroke the dog's back
or shoulders, and you can evenuse fake stuffed animals, dogs,
realistic-looking stuffed animaldogs and have young children
practice petting and handlingthe dog and teaching them the
right things to do when pettinga dog, when touching a dog, when
(33:22):
approaching a dog first usingwhat I call puppet dogs or
stuffed dogs.
Now, it's important, veryimportant, that when you're
talking about kids kids that youdo demonstrate all this.
Don't just tell them.
(33:43):
Tell them, demonstrate it.
Then have them practice that sothat you can see that they get
it, don't just talk about it.
Practice, practice, practice,practice.
Now, the other thing that'scrucial to prevent dog bites is
(34:08):
training and socialization.
They can play a very criticalrole in preventing dog bites by
helping dogs learn how to behaveappropriately around people and
other animals.
All right, so earlysocialization and I like to call
early socialization exposure,because you've got a very short
(34:32):
window to expose your dog orsocialize your dog and if you
don't, they can develop a lot offears, irrational fears.
Okay, now remember, I said yougot this short period of time to
(34:52):
get the socialization done.
You have this short period oftime to do the exposure.
That time is when the dog, orwhen the puppy is three weeks of
age to 13 weeks of age.
Yeah, that criticalsocialization period, that
window shuts at 13 weeks of age,13 weeks of age, if a dog does
(35:24):
not get exposed to a lot ofstimuli and I encourage people
look, when you get a puppy, youget them out and about
everywhere, everywhere.
Now some of you are saying wait,my dog, my puppy doesn't even
have all of its shots.
We can't go anywhere wrong.
Listen, the american society ofveterinary behavior, the
(35:48):
veterinary behaviorists, who arefull-fledged veterinarians but
are also that are alsobehaviorists.
They put out a positionstatement that said listen, you
need to socialize your puppybefore it gets all of its shots.
Obviously, don't throw yourpuppy in a place where there's,
you know, all kinds of dogspeeing and pooping, because some
(36:11):
of those dogs might havedisease or illness.
Keep your dog clean.
Keep your dog in a safe area,in a clean area, but get your
dog around everything.
You know a lot of dogs that youknow people are waiting until
(36:37):
they get all their shots beforethey get them out and about and
they don't expose them toanything.
Those dogs get out and they'reafraid of everything.
That window is shut.
Now we've got to do some seriousbehavior modification, that's,
counter conditioning anddesensitization for these type
of problems, type of problems.
(37:05):
But early socialization, like Isaid, involves exposing puppies
to a variety of people, avariety of animals, environments
and situations from a veryyoung age, like I said, from
three weeks to 13 weeks of age.
That period is critical as itshapes the dog's future behavior
(37:25):
and helps them becomewell-adjusted.
Now, proper socialization canprevent the development of fear
and aggression towardsunfamiliar situations and people
.
Dogs that are well socializedare much, much, much less likely
(37:47):
to react negatively tounexpected stimuli and they're
generally more confident.
Okay, okay, many puppy trainingclasses offer structured
(38:24):
socialization opportunities thatare safe in the class.
So I strongly advocate that forany puppy, and part ofing
aggressive responses is teachingbehaviors.
That would be incompatible.
(38:44):
We call that differentialreinforcement and we use
positive reinforcement to dothat.
Your dog cannot be sitting andlunging to bite somebody at the
same time.
Your dog cannot be committed to, say, staying on its bed or
place and going after somebody.
(39:05):
Okay.
Also, being able to call yourdog to you, having a reliable
recall what if your dog isshowing you that it is
uncomfortable?
Maybe your dog is 20, 30 feetin front of you.
(39:29):
You need to be able to callyour dog to you, call your dog
away from whatever that triggeris that's causing fear.
So, having a really strongrecall, teaching your dog leave
it that command helps preventdogs from picking up dangerous
objects or from interacting withpotentially aggressive animals.
(39:52):
All right, that's going toreduce the risk of
confrontational incidents withother dogs.
You know, if you're walking,maybe your dog's just fine, but
your dog wants to go up toanother dog and your dog's not
reading what the dog'scommunicating in its body
language because, trust me, notall dogs read signals well.
(40:14):
But maybe you can read it andyou're like, hey, my dog should
not be going up to that dog.
That dog is showing it's veryuncomfortable with our approach,
showing stress signals that dogmight bite if we get too close,
being able to say leave it.
Now, drop it.
In the event that a dog hassomething in its mouth that
(40:38):
could cause conflict.
Let's say we've got a dog thatis a resource guard, or maybe
it's got another dog's toy.
Teaching them to drop it canreally diffuse potential
aggression, especially whenwe're talking about resource
guarding.
All right, now, if you've got aserious problem already, you
(41:04):
need to consider hiring aprofessional.
You know, aggression is noteasy, it's dangerous, you can
get bit.
I don't encourage you to tryany of these things.
If you've got a severelyaggressive dog, you need to find
yourself a behaviorist or abehavior consultant, and they're
very different than a dogtrainer.
(41:26):
Dog trainers primarily teachobedience commands like sit,
heal, lay down, come when calledand they deal maybe with
nuisance behaviors getting inthe trash, jumping up on you,
getting up on the counter.
(41:46):
When it comes to the more severebehaviors the ones that are
rooted in emotional upset, fears, stress, anxiety, phobias,
reactivity, aggression that'swhen you call a behaviorist or a
(42:07):
behavior consultant.
Now listen, anybody can callthemselves a behaviorist.
Anybody can say, hey, I'm abehaviorist, I'm a behavior
consultant, and they don'trealize that they shouldn't be
using those terms.
Those terms are for people thathave formal education and have
(42:28):
a lot of experience in thesetype of areas and problems.
But you want to look for eithera veterinary behaviorist and
applied animal behaviorist anapplied animal behaviorist, a
clinical animal behavioristthat's the name for it over in
(42:49):
the UK or a certified behaviorconsultant, and you want to look
for certification.
And who is certifying them?
I know trainers that certifythemselves.
I know that's the problem.
(43:09):
This is an unregulated industry.
The dog training industry isunregulated, so there are
problems in it and that's whyit's so important to find
somebody.
And that's why it's soimportant to find somebody that
(43:31):
really has formal education, hasa legitimate certification and
they know what they're doing.
Now, when it comes to dealingwith preventing dog bites, and
let's say that you've got anaggressive dog and you've not
hired a professional, you've notdone the work, you still have
(43:52):
the problem.
And let's say, your dog isaggressive towards strangers in
the home and you're going tohave some people over.
You need to put the dog up.
But you know what.
You need two or best case bestpractices three layers of
security and safety.
What do I mean by that?
Well, let's say I have anaggressive dog and I put him in
(44:14):
my bedroom while guests are overto keep my guests safe.
Well, there are plenty of dogsthat have, accidentally or on
purpose, gotten the door open,gotten out and attacked somebody
.
(44:34):
Don't assume that your dog's notgetting out of that room just
because there's a closed door.
So that would be one layer andI'm telling you you need two or
three.
What would be a second layer?
Well, we could have a crate, adog crate in that bedroom.
(44:56):
The dog is in the dog crate,the door of the crate is closed,
that is in the room and thedoor to the room is closed.
So if the dog breaks out of thecrate because you know what,
let's say the dog's not in aroom, we just have a crate the
dog could break out of the crateright One layer and attack
(45:17):
somebody.
But let's say we've got the dogcrate in the bedroom.
If the dog breaks out of thecrate, I've got a second layer,
a second level of protection byhaving the door closed to that
room.
All right, what would be athird level of protection or
(45:37):
safety?
Well, I've got the crate.
I've got the crate in the roomwith the door shut and I also
have a baby gate in the hallwayand I also have a baby gate in
the hallway.
So if the dog breaks out of thecrate if the dog then is able
to escape that room by gettingthat door open now it's blocked
by a baby gate Can't go beyond acertain area Management.
(46:04):
We're talking about managementand if you haven't done the work
to rehabilitate an aggressivedog or a dog with a lot of fear,
which that can turn intoaggression really fast,
especially if they feel cornered, you have to manage these
behaviors if you haven't workedthrough them and management
(46:28):
often fails.
Why?
Because we're human and we allmake mistakes.
Listen, I make a mistake,whether I want to or not.
I make one every day.
I just hope I get it out of theway early, that's all.
But yeah, we all can makemistakes.
I've made mistakes working withdogs.
(46:52):
You know I've been doing thisover 35 years and, hey,
sometimes you learn by theschool of hard knocks.
Yeah, I've had aggressive dogsthat I crated.
I thought that everything wasgood to go and guess what?
Didn't have one of the cratedoors securely fastened Dog came
out, went after another dog.
I share that example of thissituation, which happened to me
(47:17):
years and years, decades ago.
But I learned management canfail because we're human, we
make mistakes can fail.
Because we're human, we makemistakes.
Even professionals like myselfthat specialize in it can make
mistakes.
Now I make a lot less.
I make much, many fewermistakes today than I did, say,
(47:41):
30 years ago, because I'velearned a lot, and part of what
I've learned is you need morethan one level of safety and
security if you have anaggressive dog in your house and
you're trying to manage things.
You know.
Other things that help to managedogs with aggression are making
(48:04):
sure your dog is leashed,making sure that you've got a
harness and you can control yourdog, especially when you're on
walks.
Creating a safe space insideyour home, creating a designated
safe space for your dog like acrate or a special dog bed and
(48:26):
their toys.
Those things can provide aretreat where the dog can feel
secure and manage stress.
You know some dogs they justneed distance and you know you
put them at the end of the roomon their dog bed.
Somebody comes in the house.
They're on the far end of theroom.
They leave the dog alone,everything might be okay.
(48:46):
But then again, then you've gotother dogs.
I don't care, anybody walks inthe house, they leave the dog
alone, everything might be okay.
But then again, then you've gotother dogs.
I don't care, anybody walks inthe house.
Boom, no matter where that dogis, they're going to come find
them and go after them.
(49:25):
So just to kind of wrap up andjust to kind of go over some of
the things that are criticalwhen it comes to dog bite
prevention, understanding caninebody language will let you know
what that dog's underlyingemotional state is.
And when you can see throughthe dog's body language that
they're uncomfortable, that'scommunication to you that lets
you know, hey, if I continue tomove towards that fearful dog,
that stressed dog, even thoughthe signals are subtle, because,
(49:46):
again, the further away you are, the less stressed out the dog
is.
And the whole goal withlearning canine body language in
depth is so that we can catchit when it's very small, before
the bite.
That it'll let us know, hey,this dog's uncomfortable, I need
to back off.
That it'll let us know.
(50:06):
Hey, this dog's uncomfortable,I need to back off.
But if we don't know caninebody language, we don't know
that and we keep moving towardsthe dog and then the dog doesn't
have a choice.
The dog really doesn't have achoice because it doesn't know
how to escape.
You keep moving towards the dogand imagine this happens
(50:26):
outside that dog is on a leash,the handler, pet parent, is
holding that leash.
The dog can't get away and itknows it and you just keep
approaching.
That's a provoked bite if ithappens.
But understanding canine bodylanguage absolutely critical.
Teaching children, because theyare the ones that typically are,
(50:49):
they're more apt to get bit.
Teaching them how to handle adog.
Teaching them how to pet thedog.
Teaching them canine bodylanguage, what to not do with a
dog, when to back off, andalways supervising, always
supervising children.
Teaching basic commands so thatyou can manage behaviors,
(51:15):
giving your dog something elseto do.
That would be incompatible withgoing after somebody.
A dog that's committed tolaying on their dog bed and
stays there is not going aftersomebody Now.
That dog might not becomfortable to laying on their
dog bed and stays there is notgoing after somebody.
Now that dog might not becomfortable.
(51:36):
And my contention is if thedog's not comfortable, you need
to create more space, even ifthat dog's not coming off of its
better place, because the dogis still experiencing a really
bad experience with anotherperson.
We don't want the dog tocontinue to have that underlying
(51:58):
emotional state more and moreconditioned, more and more
habituated.
It just makes it that much moredifficult in order to help that
dog.
It just makes it that much moredifficult in order to help that
dog.
And then, finally, as I talkedabout, hey, aggression is
dangerous.
If you've got an aggressive dog,make sure that you find
somebody, a certifiedprofessional, a veterinary
(52:19):
behaviorist, an applied animalbehaviorist, a clinical animal
behaviorist or a certifiedbehavior consultant.
You can go to my website atdogbehavioristcom,
dogbehavioristcom.
Look at the menu, find where itsays directory.
(52:39):
If you go to my directory ondogbehavioristcom, it will list
every veterinary behaviorist inNorth America.
It will list all of the appliedanimal behaviorists.
You can do a search forcertified behavior consultants.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, thatmusic means we are just about
(53:01):
out of time.
I'm Will Bangura.
You've been listening to DogTraining Today.
Do me a favor Please.
If you love what we, we do,give us a five-star review.
Hit that like button.
Please share this with yourfriends and families and also
please subscribe.
Hit that subscribe button sothat you never miss an episode
(53:21):
of dog training today.
Hey, and visit my website atdogbehavioristcom.
If you've got a problem withyour dog and you're looking for
help.
You can get all the help youneed at dogbehavioristcom.
I'm Will Bangora.
Have a great week, everybody.
I'm out of here when I comehome, won't you just go crazy.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
He never looks at me like he might hate me.
I want you to love me like mydog.
it's estimated that approximately 4.5 million dog
bites occur each year in theunited states now, that's
according to the centers fordisease control and prevention
and and about 20% of dog bitesrequire medical attention.
(00:28):
The severity can range fromminor cuts and bruises to severe
injuries requiring surgery Eachyear, according to the
Insurance Information Institute.
According to the InsuranceInformation Institute, dog bite
claims have totaled over $600million, and that's annually.
(00:53):
Oh wow.
We're going to take today'sepisode to discuss all about.
How do you prevent getting bit?
What does it mean when we saybite prevention, Don't go
(01:17):
anywhere?
All that and more in 60 seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood.
Having trained more than 24,000pets, helping you and your fur
babies thrive, live in studiowith Will Bangura answering your
pet behavior and trainingquestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, pleasewelcome your host and favorite
pet behavior expert, willMangura.
(01:45):
I like to lick everybody whenthey come to my door.
I'll eat anything if it fallson the floor.
(02:06):
Now I've heard the rumors.
I think I better ask you.
I heard I might be a dog.
Won't somebody please tell meit ain't true?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Ah yes, good day, dog lovers.
I'm Will Bangorahi.
Thank you for joining me foranother episode of Dog Training
Today.
As I said in the opener, it'sApril, which is National Bite
Prevention Month, and we'regoing to take a little bit of
(02:43):
time here to talk about dogbites.
Talk about bite prevention.
As I said in the opener, it'sestimated that there's about 4.5
million dog bites that occureach year in the United States
and 20% of dog bites do requiremedical attention.
Children many of you might knowthis.
(03:04):
They're often at a much higherrisk for dog bites than adults.
The Center for Disease Controlnotes that children between the
ages of five and nine areparticularly vulnerable and most
likely to receive medicalattention for dog bites.
Other than you know differentage groups.
(03:24):
As far as fatalities, whilefatal dog attacks are rare, they
do occur.
The number of dog bite-relatedfatalities varies from year to
year, but comprehensive datashows that basically, on average
, if you look at the reportsthat are out there, there's
(03:46):
about 30 to 50 fatal dog biteattacks annually in the US.
Dog bites.
They account for a significantnumber of homeowners insurance
liability claims and, trust me,I know all about that.
I've been called on as anexpert witness for dog bite
(04:09):
cases, and usually the lawyersthat are hiring me for that are
lawyers that are working for aninsurance company and somebody
is trying to file that withtheir homeowners insurance.
Trust me, you do not want a dogthat bites.
Try getting homeowner'sinsurance after you've had to
(04:31):
pay out for a dog bite.
Breed-specific statistics Now,there are some organizations and
studies that have attempted totrack dog bites by breed, but
this data is often verycontroversial and it's
(04:54):
considered unreliable by manyexperts due to issues like
misidentification of dog breedsand also the influence of media
bias.
Okay, now, one of the firstthings that we need to
understand, and that isunderstanding dog behavior.
(05:21):
It's critical in preventing dogbites and it's critical in
promoting safe interactionsbetween dogs and people.
Now, dogs communicate primarilythrough body language, and
their reasons for biting canoften be traced back to natural
(05:42):
instincts and their emotionalresponses.
By interpreting these signalscorrectly, you, as pet guardians
, can take proactive steps tomanage and prevent potentially
dangerous situations.
So we're going to explore nextwhat are some of the various
(06:06):
reasons that dogs might bite,and we're going to emphasize the
importance of recognizing keysigns of discomfort or
aggression in a dog's bodylanguage.
Okay, why do dogs bite.
Why do you think dogs bite?
(06:29):
Well, one of the most commonreasons, probably the number one
cause of most dog bites when adog feels threatened or
(06:50):
frightened, their instinctualresponse may be to bite to
protect themselves.
This can occur in situationswhere a dog might be startled,
where it might feel cornered, orit might be that you introduce
(07:13):
your dog or put your dog into asituation that, emotionally, is
overwhelming for the dog.
One of the other reasons whydogs bite is for protection.
Dogs will often exhibitprotective behaviors towards
(07:34):
their territory and their food,maybe toys, their family.
This protective instinct canlead to aggression, especially
if they perceive a person oranother animal as a threat to
their security or a threat tothe security of man.
(08:01):
I hate to say the pack.
Those of you that know anythingabout Dr Meck would know why I
hate to say the pack.
Those of you that know anythingabout dr mech would know why I
hate to say the word pack.
But the dog could feel thatthere's a threat to the safety
and security of everybody in thehome.
(08:23):
This still, if you think aboutit, you know this whole idea of
protection.
It's still about fear, right?
No animal goes into fight orflight and no animal bites
unless they perceive a threat.
Now, there might not be a realthreat, maybe they just perceive
(08:43):
a threat, but fear isabsolutely the number one cause
why animals bite.
Another reason that they mightbite is pain.
You know, a dog that's in painis absolutely more likely to
bite.
Even the gentlest dog mightbite if it's touched in a
(09:05):
painful area.
Okay, it just becomes areflexive defense mechanism.
It is crucial, absolutelycrucial, for pet guardians to be
aware of any signs of illnessor injury to their pets,
especially when there is a, allof a sudden, a quick behavior
(09:27):
change.
Okay, now, another reason whydogs might bite is excitement.
You know, sometimes dogs biteout of sheer excitement.
During play, dogs might becomeoverly enthusiastic and
accidentally bite.
Enthusiastic and accidentallybite.
(09:48):
Teaching gentle play andsetting clear boundaries can
help prevent bites that aredriven by excitement.
Now there are other reasons,potential reasons why dogs would
bite, but the most common fear,protection, pain and excitement
.
(10:10):
Now, one thing that's criticalwhen it comes to being able to
prevent dog bites is byunderstanding canine body
language.
You know, understanding a dog'sbody language.
It can be essential, it isessential in predicting and
(10:31):
preventing biting incidents.
Dogs give various signals thatindicate stress that indicate
discomfort or aggression, whichoften precede the bite.
So recognizing these earlywarning signs through the
(10:52):
signals that the dogs give intheir canine body language
allows you, as the pet guardian,and others to adjust their
behavior and manage thesituation safely.
To adjust their behavior andmanage the situation safely.
Now let's talk about tailposition, because a wagging tail
(11:15):
does not always mean that a dogis happy.
A stiff, high tail, thatindicates high arousal, which
could lead to aggression, higharousal, which could lead to
aggression.
Now, while a tail tuckedbetween the dog's legs, that's
(11:37):
definitely going to signify fear.
Also, you want to pay attentionto ear movement.
Ears pinned back against thehead often indicate fear.
Not always, but it oftenindicates fear or anxiety,
stress, phobias.
However, ears that are perkedup, pricked forward, pushed
(12:03):
forward, that usually suggestsalertness to potential threats.
Okay, also, paying attention tothe dog's body posture.
You know, a dog that's feelingthreatened may exhibit a stiff,
rigid posture.
They might crouch low to theground with its head down,
looking up at the potentialthreat.
(12:24):
With its head down, looking upat the potential threat, both
are indicative of discomfort andpotential readiness to react
defensively.
Now there are dozens and dozensand dozens of different body
language, signals and cues thatdogs give that communicate many
(12:49):
different things.
But when a dog is aggressive,when a dog bites, and you know,
a lot of people say, well, thedog gave no warning.
Usually almost all dogs givelots of warnings and in their
(13:14):
canine body language we can seethat they're getting
uncomfortable, we can see thatthey're becoming fearful, we can
see that they are stressed,that they're viewing something
as a threat.
But before I want you to thinkof a ladder.
Think of a ladder that has 10rungs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
(13:38):
10.
10 at the top, obviously.
1 at the bottom, at the 10thrung of that ladder is biting.
There are nine other rungs tothat ladder.
(14:03):
The outward visible behaviorsthat we see with the dog become
more and more and more subtle.
So at level one, that firstrung of the ladder, we might see
a dog doing tongue flicks,little kind of sticking its
(14:23):
tongue out.
You know just a little dart ofthe tongue, lip licking.
Those are very subtle sightsbut they indicate that the dog's
uncomfortable.
They indicate stress.
Now if and there's a lot moreand I'm going to give you some
(14:45):
resources where you can learncanine body language in depth
it's crucial If you want toprevent dog bites.
A big part of it is being ableto read a dog's body language is
(15:07):
body language, because imagineif you can read body language
and you can see very subtlesignals that the dog is giving
in its body language that showthat it's stressed.
That can be communication toyou so that you can back off.
But imagine that you have noclue, you don't know anything
about tongue flicks and you keepapproaching the dog and now
(15:30):
maybe the dog's pupils start todilate, maybe the ears go back,
maybe the hair on the dog's backstands up Pyloerection, maybe
the dog starts showing its teeth, maybe the dog starts showing
its teeth, Maybe the dog startsbarking, maybe the dog starts
(15:52):
lunging, maybe the dog bites.
But all of those behaviors Iwant you to think about, they're
escalating, they start off verysubtle signals that you don't
(16:12):
even know that are indicatingthe dog's starting to get upset,
that the dog's starting tobecome stressed.
I cannot emphasize enough theimportance of understanding
canine body language If you wantto learn more very in-depth
information on canine bodylanguage, if you want to know
how to be able to read what'sgoing on with your dog well in
(16:34):
advance of any aggression.
You need to understand caninebody language.
Also, working with aggressivedogs, working with fearful dogs,
to try to get them over thoseproblems, you have to understand
canine body language or youwon't get too far.
(16:56):
But you can go to my website atdogbehavioristcom.
Again, that's dogbehavioristcom.
Go to the menu, look for whereit says articles.
I've got over 90 in-deptharticles on various behaviors.
Look for the article or thecanine body language guide.
(17:21):
It's quite extensive.
Now there won't be any picturesthere, but it's going to go
through.
Dozens of stress signals,dozens of calming signals,
signals that we call appeasementsignals, distance-increasing
(17:43):
signals, distance decreasingsignals, play signals, different
signals in their vocalization,different signals and things
that they're communicating withtheir tail.
So there's a lot on variousaspects of tail carriage as well
(18:08):
as movement.
But go to dogbehavioristcom and, again, go look for articles,
find the Canine Body LanguageGuide.
All right, now let's get on tosome additional information as
(18:44):
it relates to dog bites, as itrelates to dog aggression, as it
relates to us preventing dogbites.
But before we do that, we needto pause for a message from our
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(19:05):
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All right, I'm back.
(20:09):
Um.
Let's talk next about um.
Common misconceptions about dogaggression and bites.
You know there's several mythsand they continue to persist as
it relates to dog aggression andbiting, and the problem with
that is it can lead to a lot ofmisunderstanding and a lot of
(20:31):
mishandling of dogs.
One of the biggest myths isthat certain breeds are more
aggressive.
Aggression is not necessarilybreed specific.
While some breeds may havetendencies towards guarding or
protection, individual behaviorvaries widely among dogs and
(20:54):
dogs of the same breed.
Okay, another myth and I kindof talked about it a second ago
and I hear this a lot dogs biteout of the blue.
And I hear this a lot Dogs biteout of the blue.
In most cases dogs give veryclear, very clear signs before
biting.
But it's our failure torecognize those signs.
(21:14):
And when we don't recognizethose signs it's often mistaken
for unprovoked aggression.
But remember I talked about inthe dog's canine body language.
(21:34):
They give all kinds of caninebody language signals that let
us know that they're starting toget stressed, they're fearful,
they're uncomfortable.
Well, if you keep pushing a dogin that situation and you know
that the dog's uncomfortable,you're provoking that aggression
(21:59):
.
I know that might be, it's notlike you would necessarily be
teasing the dog, but if you knowa dog is fearful and you keep
approaching the dog, you'reprovoking that dog.
If you know that it has aproblem, that it has a problem.
(22:30):
If you know that a dog isaggressive when, say, you come
within 20 feet of it and youstart moving in at 20 feet or
closer, you're provoking thataggression.
Now listen, I'm not giving anydog that has aggression a pass
on that behavior.
It's not okay, it's dangerous,it needs to be dealt with, it
(22:51):
needs to be modified.
When you have a dog that'sfearful and you can't read their
canine body language and youstart going into their personal
space, they might bite you andthat's a provoked bite.
(23:18):
Dogs do not bite out of the blue.
There's got to be some kind oftrigger and, as I said, no dog
goes into fight or flight unlessthey perceive something is
threatening.
You might not be thinkingyou're threatening the dog.
You might not know the dog isfearful.
(23:38):
You might not know the dog isfearful.
You might not know the dog hasspace issues and you might do
what so many people do.
You might do what so manypeople do.
That is so wrong and that'sextend your hand to the dog so
(24:02):
the dog can sniff your hand tolet the dog know you're okay.
That is total garbage.
Okay, the dog sniffing yourhand does not let the dog know
you're okay.
All right, their nose is not acrystal ball.
Their sense of smell isfantastic, but it is not a
crystal ball.
Number one.
Number two don't ever stretchout your hand for a dog to smell
(24:29):
, to greet a dog, why Well,you're invading that dog's
personal space?
Let the dog come up to you.
Let the dog approach you.
Let the dog show interest inyou.
Let the dog begin to engagewith you in a pleasant, playful
(24:53):
way.
Then engage with the dog.
That's going to be the safe wayto do it.
Okay, so that's a good segueinto talking about safe
interactions with dogs, and it'simportant that we ensure safe
interactions between humans anddogs.
It's fundamental to preventingbites and fostering positive
(25:14):
relationships.
Okay, to preventing bites andfostering positive relationships
.
Okay, so we're going to talkabout how to approach dogs.
Okay, introductions and alsosome other crucial advice for
teaching children how tointeract safely with dogs.
(25:36):
All right, first thing, always,always, always, ask for
permission.
You know, before touching orapproaching someone else's dog,
it's critical to ask the petguardian for permission.
This not only shows respect forthe guardian, but also ensures
(25:59):
that the dog is comfortable withbeing approached by strangers.
You know, pet guardians knowtheir dogs, they know best and
they can advise whether the dogis friendly or whether the dog
is fearful, and that lets youknow whether you should move on
(26:20):
or whether you should approachthe dog, or at least, that's one
of the ways.
Canine body language is anotherone, because I'll tell you, I've
heard lots of stories, I'veexperienced this, I've had
clients that have experiencedthis over and over where
somebody says their dog isfriendly, somebody says, can I
(26:41):
pet your dog?
Oh yeah, he's friendly.
And they reach for the dog andthe dog bites.
Why is that?
How was it that the pet parentwas so wrong?
Well, obviously, hey, if every,if any dog that goes into fight
or flight perceives a threat,the dog perceived a threat.
And guess what was happeningbefore the dog bit?
(27:01):
Yeah, the dog was displayingstress signals in its canine
body language, starting out verysubtle and they start to
escalate, go up that ladderuntil the dog actually bites.
Okay, now what is a properintroduction to a dog?
(27:26):
Well, first thing you want todo is always approach a dog
calmly and slowly.
You don't want to startle them,you want to avoid startling
them.
So, approaching a dog calmly,approaching the dog slowly,
avoiding direct eye contact, atleast initially, as the dog
(27:48):
might perceive that direct eyecontact as a stare.
They might perceive that as athreat.
Now there's still all kinds ofadvice being told by Quote
unquote dog professionals Inwritings on the internet that
(28:12):
will tell you Offer your handpalm down, but what's missing is
don't reach that towards thedog, don't reach your hand
towards the dog.
You can have your palm down butallow the dog to come to you.
(28:37):
Allow the dog to come to youand sniff your hand itself.
That's a non-threatening wayfor the dog to get to know you.
Initially, and like we've talkedabout, watch the dog's body
language.
Look to see.
Is this dog displaying arelaxed body, a wagging tail
(29:03):
that you know?
A friendly wagging tail is kindof like a windmill.
It just kind of goes in thisbig circle.
Yeah, does the dog?
Is the dog displaying afriendly demeanor?
Looking at and understandingthe canine body language lets
you know whether or not thedog's comfortable.
(29:24):
Hey, if the dog backs away orshows signs of discomfort, you
need to respect their space andretreat.
If you keep moving forward andthe dog bites, that's a provoked
bite.
Now, we talked in the beginningof the show that by far the
(29:50):
majority of dog bites happen tochildren.
We need to really emphasizesafety when it comes to children
and when it comes to dogs andpotential bites.
Always, always, always, always,always supervise any
(30:14):
interactions between childrenand dogs.
You know children, especiallyyoung children.
They're often completelyunaware of the signs of
discomfort in dogs and they maynot know how to respond
appropriately to that.
So, in addition to supervisingat all times with kids, in
(30:46):
addition to supervising at alltimes with kids, you need to
teach them about canine bodylanguage and what to look for.
When we're talking aboutsupervising children, oftentimes
I get the question well, atwhat age do I no longer have to
supervise?
Listen, if you've got a fearfulor aggressive dog, or if you've
(31:06):
got a dog that's fearful, thatthen can switch into aggression,
I don't care how old those kidsare.
You've got a huge liability Ifa 17-year-old gets bit in your
home.
Well, even if an 18-year-old,but if a minor gets bit, it's a
whole lot different ballgamethan if a non-minor gets bit.
(31:27):
Now, I know a lot of peopledon't want to hear that.
They don't want to have tosupervise their 13, 14, 15, 16,
17-year-old children.
But if you've got an aggressivedog, do you really think that
your 17-year-old is asresponsible as you are?
Do you really think your17-year-old, in all situations,
(31:52):
is going to make the bestdecisions like you would?
I don't know very many17-year-olds that would fall
into that category, even themost responsible of 17-year-olds
.
So always supervise minorsaround dogs, especially if you
have a dog that's fearful oraggressive.
(32:15):
Now, when it comes to children,in addition to teaching canine
body language so that childrencan identify whether they should
be backing away from the dog ifthe dog is showing that it's
uncomfortable, the other thingthat's critical to teach
children is how to pet dogsgently, gently, okay, and
(32:38):
teaching children to avoidsensitive areas of touch, like
the dog's face, the dog's tail,the dog's feet, its private
(33:01):
parts.
Show the kids how to use openhands and stroke the dog's back
or shoulders, and you can evenuse fake stuffed animals, dogs,
realistic-looking stuffed animaldogs and have young children
practice petting and handlingthe dog and teaching them the
right things to do when pettinga dog, when touching a dog, when
(33:22):
approaching a dog first usingwhat I call puppet dogs or
stuffed dogs.
Now, it's important, veryimportant, that when you're
talking about kids kids that youdo demonstrate all this.
Don't just tell them.
(33:43):
Tell them, demonstrate it.
Then have them practice that sothat you can see that they get
it, don't just talk about it.
Practice, practice, practice,practice.
Now, the other thing that'scrucial to prevent dog bites is
(34:08):
training and socialization.
They can play a very criticalrole in preventing dog bites by
helping dogs learn how to behaveappropriately around people and
other animals.
All right, so earlysocialization and I like to call
early socialization exposure,because you've got a very short
(34:32):
window to expose your dog orsocialize your dog and if you
don't, they can develop a lot offears, irrational fears.
Okay, now remember, I said yougot this short period of time to
(34:52):
get the socialization done.
You have this short period oftime to do the exposure.
That time is when the dog, orwhen the puppy is three weeks of
age to 13 weeks of age.
Yeah, that criticalsocialization period, that
window shuts at 13 weeks of age,13 weeks of age, if a dog does
(35:24):
not get exposed to a lot ofstimuli and I encourage people
look, when you get a puppy, youget them out and about
everywhere, everywhere.
Now some of you are saying wait,my dog, my puppy doesn't even
have all of its shots.
We can't go anywhere wrong.
Listen, the american society ofveterinary behavior, the
(35:48):
veterinary behaviorists, who arefull-fledged veterinarians but
are also that are alsobehaviorists.
They put out a positionstatement that said listen, you
need to socialize your puppybefore it gets all of its shots.
Obviously, don't throw yourpuppy in a place where there's,
you know, all kinds of dogspeeing and pooping, because some
(36:11):
of those dogs might havedisease or illness.
Keep your dog clean.
Keep your dog in a safe area,in a clean area, but get your
dog around everything.
You know a lot of dogs that youknow people are waiting until
(36:37):
they get all their shots beforethey get them out and about and
they don't expose them toanything.
Those dogs get out and they'reafraid of everything.
That window is shut.
Now we've got to do some seriousbehavior modification, that's,
counter conditioning anddesensitization for these type
of problems, type of problems.
(37:05):
But early socialization, like Isaid, involves exposing puppies
to a variety of people, avariety of animals, environments
and situations from a veryyoung age, like I said, from
three weeks to 13 weeks of age.
That period is critical as itshapes the dog's future behavior
(37:25):
and helps them becomewell-adjusted.
Now, proper socialization canprevent the development of fear
and aggression towardsunfamiliar situations and people
.
Dogs that are well socializedare much, much, much less likely
(37:47):
to react negatively tounexpected stimuli and they're
generally more confident.
Okay, okay, many puppy trainingclasses offer structured
(38:24):
socialization opportunities thatare safe in the class.
So I strongly advocate that forany puppy, and part ofing
aggressive responses is teachingbehaviors.
That would be incompatible.
(38:44):
We call that differentialreinforcement and we use
positive reinforcement to dothat.
Your dog cannot be sitting andlunging to bite somebody at the
same time.
Your dog cannot be committed to, say, staying on its bed or
place and going after somebody.
(39:05):
Okay.
Also, being able to call yourdog to you, having a reliable
recall what if your dog isshowing you that it is
uncomfortable?
Maybe your dog is 20, 30 feetin front of you.
(39:29):
You need to be able to callyour dog to you, call your dog
away from whatever that triggeris that's causing fear.
So, having a really strongrecall, teaching your dog leave
it that command helps preventdogs from picking up dangerous
objects or from interacting withpotentially aggressive animals.
(39:52):
All right, that's going toreduce the risk of
confrontational incidents withother dogs.
You know, if you're walking,maybe your dog's just fine, but
your dog wants to go up toanother dog and your dog's not
reading what the dog'scommunicating in its body
language because, trust me, notall dogs read signals well.
(40:14):
But maybe you can read it andyou're like, hey, my dog should
not be going up to that dog.
That dog is showing it's veryuncomfortable with our approach,
showing stress signals that dogmight bite if we get too close,
being able to say leave it.
Now, drop it.
In the event that a dog hassomething in its mouth that
(40:38):
could cause conflict.
Let's say we've got a dog thatis a resource guard, or maybe
it's got another dog's toy.
Teaching them to drop it canreally diffuse potential
aggression, especially whenwe're talking about resource
guarding.
All right, now, if you've got aserious problem already, you
(41:04):
need to consider hiring aprofessional.
You know, aggression is noteasy, it's dangerous, you can
get bit.
I don't encourage you to tryany of these things.
If you've got a severelyaggressive dog, you need to find
yourself a behaviorist or abehavior consultant, and they're
very different than a dogtrainer.
(41:26):
Dog trainers primarily teachobedience commands like sit,
heal, lay down, come when calledand they deal maybe with
nuisance behaviors getting inthe trash, jumping up on you,
getting up on the counter.
(41:46):
When it comes to the more severebehaviors the ones that are
rooted in emotional upset, fears, stress, anxiety, phobias,
reactivity, aggression that'swhen you call a behaviorist or a
(42:07):
behavior consultant.
Now listen, anybody can callthemselves a behaviorist.
Anybody can say, hey, I'm abehaviorist, I'm a behavior
consultant, and they don'trealize that they shouldn't be
using those terms.
Those terms are for people thathave formal education and have
(42:28):
a lot of experience in thesetype of areas and problems.
But you want to look for eithera veterinary behaviorist and
applied animal behaviorist anapplied animal behaviorist, a
clinical animal behavioristthat's the name for it over in
(42:49):
the UK or a certified behaviorconsultant, and you want to look
for certification.
And who is certifying them?
I know trainers that certifythemselves.
I know that's the problem.
(43:09):
This is an unregulated industry.
The dog training industry isunregulated, so there are
problems in it and that's whyit's so important to find
somebody.
And that's why it's soimportant to find somebody that
(43:31):
really has formal education, hasa legitimate certification and
they know what they're doing.
Now, when it comes to dealingwith preventing dog bites, and
let's say that you've got anaggressive dog and you've not
hired a professional, you've notdone the work, you still have
(43:52):
the problem.
And let's say, your dog isaggressive towards strangers in
the home and you're going tohave some people over.
You need to put the dog up.
But you know what.
You need two or best case bestpractices three layers of
security and safety.
What do I mean by that?
Well, let's say I have anaggressive dog and I put him in
(44:14):
my bedroom while guests are overto keep my guests safe.
Well, there are plenty of dogsthat have, accidentally or on
purpose, gotten the door open,gotten out and attacked somebody
.
(44:34):
Don't assume that your dog's notgetting out of that room just
because there's a closed door.
So that would be one layer andI'm telling you you need two or
three.
What would be a second layer?
Well, we could have a crate, adog crate in that bedroom.
(44:56):
The dog is in the dog crate,the door of the crate is closed,
that is in the room and thedoor to the room is closed.
So if the dog breaks out of thecrate because you know what,
let's say the dog's not in aroom, we just have a crate the
dog could break out of the crateright One layer and attack
(45:17):
somebody.
But let's say we've got the dogcrate in the bedroom.
If the dog breaks out of thecrate, I've got a second layer,
a second level of protection byhaving the door closed to that
room.
All right, what would be athird level of protection or
(45:37):
safety?
Well, I've got the crate.
I've got the crate in the roomwith the door shut and I also
have a baby gate in the hallwayand I also have a baby gate in
the hallway.
So if the dog breaks out of thecrate if the dog then is able
to escape that room by gettingthat door open now it's blocked
by a baby gate Can't go beyond acertain area Management.
(46:04):
We're talking about managementand if you haven't done the work
to rehabilitate an aggressivedog or a dog with a lot of fear,
which that can turn intoaggression really fast,
especially if they feel cornered, you have to manage these
behaviors if you haven't workedthrough them and management
(46:28):
often fails.
Why?
Because we're human and we allmake mistakes.
Listen, I make a mistake,whether I want to or not.
I make one every day.
I just hope I get it out of theway early, that's all.
But yeah, we all can makemistakes.
I've made mistakes working withdogs.
(46:52):
You know I've been doing thisover 35 years and, hey,
sometimes you learn by theschool of hard knocks.
Yeah, I've had aggressive dogsthat I crated.
I thought that everything wasgood to go and guess what?
Didn't have one of the cratedoors securely fastened Dog came
out, went after another dog.
I share that example of thissituation, which happened to me
(47:17):
years and years, decades ago.
But I learned management canfail because we're human, we
make mistakes can fail.
Because we're human, we makemistakes.
Even professionals like myselfthat specialize in it can make
mistakes.
Now I make a lot less.
I make much, many fewermistakes today than I did, say,
(47:41):
30 years ago, because I'velearned a lot, and part of what
I've learned is you need morethan one level of safety and
security if you have anaggressive dog in your house and
you're trying to manage things.
You know.
Other things that help to managedogs with aggression are making
(48:04):
sure your dog is leashed,making sure that you've got a
harness and you can control yourdog, especially when you're on
walks.
Creating a safe space insideyour home, creating a designated
safe space for your dog like acrate or a special dog bed and
(48:26):
their toys.
Those things can provide aretreat where the dog can feel
secure and manage stress.
You know some dogs they justneed distance and you know you
put them at the end of the roomon their dog bed.
Somebody comes in the house.
They're on the far end of theroom.
They leave the dog alone,everything might be okay.
(48:46):
But then again, then you've gotother dogs.
I don't care, anybody walks inthe house, they leave the dog
alone, everything might be okay.
But then again, then you've gotother dogs.
I don't care, anybody walks inthe house.
Boom, no matter where that dogis, they're going to come find
them and go after them.
(49:25):
So just to kind of wrap up andjust to kind of go over some of
the things that are criticalwhen it comes to dog bite
prevention, understanding caninebody language will let you know
what that dog's underlyingemotional state is.
And when you can see throughthe dog's body language that
they're uncomfortable, that'scommunication to you that lets
you know, hey, if I continue tomove towards that fearful dog,
that stressed dog, even thoughthe signals are subtle, because,
(49:46):
again, the further away you are, the less stressed out the dog
is.
And the whole goal withlearning canine body language in
depth is so that we can catchit when it's very small, before
the bite.
That it'll let us know, hey,this dog's uncomfortable, I need
to back off.
That it'll let us know.
(50:06):
Hey, this dog's uncomfortable,I need to back off.
But if we don't know caninebody language, we don't know
that and we keep moving towardsthe dog and then the dog doesn't
have a choice.
The dog really doesn't have achoice because it doesn't know
how to escape.
You keep moving towards the dogand imagine this happens
(50:26):
outside that dog is on a leash,the handler, pet parent, is
holding that leash.
The dog can't get away and itknows it and you just keep
approaching.
That's a provoked bite if ithappens.
But understanding canine bodylanguage absolutely critical.
Teaching children, because theyare the ones that typically are,
(50:49):
they're more apt to get bit.
Teaching them how to handle adog.
Teaching them how to pet thedog.
Teaching them canine bodylanguage, what to not do with a
dog, when to back off, andalways supervising, always
supervising children.
Teaching basic commands so thatyou can manage behaviors,
(51:15):
giving your dog something elseto do.
That would be incompatible withgoing after somebody.
A dog that's committed tolaying on their dog bed and
stays there is not going aftersomebody Now.
That dog might not becomfortable to laying on their
dog bed and stays there is notgoing after somebody.
Now that dog might not becomfortable.
(51:36):
And my contention is if thedog's not comfortable, you need
to create more space, even ifthat dog's not coming off of its
better place, because the dogis still experiencing a really
bad experience with anotherperson.
We don't want the dog tocontinue to have that underlying
(51:58):
emotional state more and moreconditioned, more and more
habituated.
It just makes it that much moredifficult in order to help that
dog.
It just makes it that much moredifficult in order to help that
dog.
And then, finally, as I talkedabout, hey, aggression is
dangerous.
If you've got an aggressive dog,make sure that you find
somebody, a certifiedprofessional, a veterinary
(52:19):
behaviorist, an applied animalbehaviorist, a clinical animal
behaviorist or a certifiedbehavior consultant.
You can go to my website atdogbehavioristcom,
dogbehavioristcom.
Look at the menu, find where itsays directory.
(52:39):
If you go to my directory ondogbehavioristcom, it will list
every veterinary behaviorist inNorth America.
It will list all of the appliedanimal behaviorists.
You can do a search forcertified behavior consultants.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, thatmusic means we are just about
(53:01):
out of time.
I'm Will Bangura.
You've been listening to DogTraining Today.
Do me a favor Please.
If you love what we, we do,give us a five-star review.
Hit that like button.
Please share this with yourfriends and families and also
please subscribe.
Hit that subscribe button sothat you never miss an episode
(53:21):
of dog training today.
Hey, and visit my website atdogbehavioristcom.
If you've got a problem withyour dog and you're looking for
help.
You can get all the help youneed at dogbehavioristcom.
I'm Will Bangora.
Have a great week, everybody.
I'm out of here when I comehome, won't you just go crazy.
Speaker 2 (53:42):
He never looks at me like he might hate me.
I want you to love me like mydog.
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