According to CDC, more than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs every year in the USA and 800, 000 receive treatments for canine bites. Most bites occur to children between the age of 5 to 14 which happens during day-to-day interactions with dogs.
Thus, everyone should know how to avoid dog bites to reduce these incidences. Below are fourteen practices that can help you prevent dog bites:
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Socialize Your Dog
Puppy biting is an inevitable part of having a puppy, but it can also be one of the most painful experiences.
Some advocate using a timeout to train a puppy to stop biting. This method is not the best way to teach your dog since you address the symptom, not the cause.
Puppy bite for two main reasons: they are teething or looking for a way to engage the world. If your puppy is teething, you should provide them with chew toys of different textures to keep them busy until he is around five months old.
Since they are looking for ways to engage the world around them, a puppy who bites do so since they have not yet fully developed clear communication. And you should know how to build that communication every time you interact with your puppy!
Most dogs’ bites when feeling threatened; they want to protect, are sick or want to be left alone.
When you get a new dog, you should try introducing him to as many new places, situations and people as possible.
A well-socialized dog is less fearful of new places, people or situations, which significantly reduces biting incidences.
Dog biting is an inevitable part of having a puppy, but it can also be one of the most painful experiences.
Some trainers advocate using a timeout to train a puppy to stop biting. This method is not the best way to teach your dog since you address the symptom, not the cause.
Puppy bite for two main reasons: they are teething or looking for a way to engage with the world.
If your puppy is teething, you should provide him with chew toys of different textures to keep him busy until he is around five months old.
Since they are looking for ways to engage the world around them, a puppy who bites do so since they have not yet fully developed clear way to communicate. And you should know how to build that communication every time you interact with your puppy!
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Desensitization
Dogs are emotional animals, and these emotions typically drive their behaviour. Positive feelings mostly lead them to be distractive or overexuberance – annoying but relatively harmless.
Negative feelings, however – fear or anxiety – can be dangerous since they cause aggression and more. With desensitization, you can change your puppy’s negative emotions to positive ones!
Desensitization helps you to expose your puppy to a stimulus that would usually cause him to bite at low levels that don’t cause a response. As the puppy becomes less responsive, gradually increase levels of the stimulus. You must be careful while finding the correct balance between stimulation and exposure to ensure success.
Introduce your dog to people’s touch using desensitization to reduce biting chances.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Excises for High-Energy Dogs
If your puppy play bites excessively, then it means you have a very energetic dog. Morning exercise should be mandatory to ensure the puppy has a chance to release the excess energy.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Read Your Puppy
It is essential to know your puppy; if it is a biting dog, it becomes much more critical.
When you have a biting playing puppy, you probably already know when he will likely bite you, like when you greet him.
You need to be one step ahead of your dog if you want him to learn to stop biting. For example, you can have a toy he likes at hand when greeting him to bite on instead.
When you continually divert the dog’s attention to the toy, he will learn to bite on the toy rather than your hands.
You should teach your dog only to play with you when you ask them to but not waiting for them to react as they look for ways to channel the excess energy.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Use Treats
When your puppy bites you, they are just trying to engage with you. All you have to do is show your dog a different way to play with you. If your puppy has other command training, the better!
When he starts biting, you can encourage him to sit using treats. Biting puppies tend to be aggressive when taking the treats and if this is your puppy, let him take treats from your palm.
You need to always have treats with you when using this method and use them anytime he shows this behavior.
When dogs get into food mode, they tend to be less bity, so when you have treats, you can ask your puppy to sit.
When you reward the dog after asking him to sit, you are not rewarding him for biting but for sitting. So, remember to reward the puppy only after sitting! You can use this method with come, sit, or lie down.
Using this method, you have two positive outcomes; your dog will be happy to interact with you, and you will have a well-behaved dog.
So, if your dog bites you whenever you try to greet them, you can command them to sit to avoid biting. If this is repeated numerous times, your dog will sit whenever you greet him rather than bite you.
When you notice instances of licking where the puppy used to bite, you are on the right path, which should increase with time.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Spay or Neuter Your Dog
Removing your dog’s reproductive organs do not necessary guarantees that he will not bite, but there is evidence that altered dogs tend to be less aggressive. Male dogs who have undergone this procedure have reduced testosterone which helps them to have a reduced chance of biting.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Don’t Make Assumptions
Any dog can bite; assuming otherwise has led to many biting incidences. Never think that your dog can’t bite you since it has a specific size, is of a given breed or has never shown any signs of aggression.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Pay Attention to Dog’s Body Language
Dog uses body language to communicate, and this might help you avoid biting incidences. When a dog is showing signs of unhappiness, for instance, when its territory is evaded, it is okay to assume there will be a biting incidence.
Ears lying flat against your dog’s head, raised hackles, or bared teeth these are all signs that your dog is uncomfortable and may bite.
If your dog shows the above signs, it is advisable to give it space and encourage others to do the same. Get the dog out of the situation as soon as you feel safe!
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Don’t Stop Your Dog from Growling
We usually hear stories of dogs attacking without warning, but do you stop and ask why this happens?
Dogs use growling as a warning that they are not comfortable and they may attack someone in self-defense. But when the owner has forced the dog to stop showing this natural warning sign, then it is left without a signal to show when it is about to attack.
Never stop your dog from growling; instead, learn and understand why and when your dog communicates its discomfort. Growling might result from a person cornering it, a child running past, someone approaching its food bowl and more.
After learning what causes growling begin a dog training program to teach your dog to learn to be relaxed in the given scenario. When your puppy learns to be comfortable in a given situation, then it won’t feel the need to growl.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Take it a Step Further
You have trained your dog to be relaxed in the given scenario, but will this be the case with new people and the environment?
You need to test if your dog can remain come even when you introduce him to the given scenario in the presence of new people or a new environment. It is not advisable to overwhelm your dog at once, so try to introduce him gradually to the challenges to ensure he can handle them.
For example, if you have taught your dog to stop biting or growling during mealtime, have someone new bring the food to see if he remains calm.
If you are having a problem with your dog learning to stop biting through positive reinforcement, then it is time to call for a professional. The professional will help you devise a plan to manage your dog’s aggression.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Use Time Out
When using this method, always give a timeout whenever you feel your dog’s teeth on your skin. When your dog’s teeth are on your skin, let out a high-pitch yelp and walk away from him.
Ignore your dog for one minute. If your dog continues to bite or follow you, leave the room for 1 minute. Note, the space you are leaving the dog in should not have things your dog might destroy or hurt him.
After one minute, go back to the room and continue with whatever you were doing with your dog.
To reinforce this method, you should give treats, toys or attention to reward the positive behavior.
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Taste Deterrent
If your dog likes to bite your clothes and hands, then you can use a taste deterrent such as bitter cider on the cloth to deter the dog from biting. Apply a taste deterrent to an area your dog likes to mouth before you start interacting with him.
Don’t move your body when he bites until the taste deterrent repels him from biting you. Repeat this for two weeks, and you will see changes, and keep reapplying the deterrent to maintain its effectiveness!
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How to Avoid Dog Bites: Peppermint Spray
Always carry peppermint spray, so it is in handy. When the dog starts to bite you, yell ‘ouch’ and spray directly into its mouth.
He won’t like the peppermint sensation, which will make him to stop immediately. You need to be shift with your action for this method to work. You only need to spray a few times; otherwise, your dog will become afraid of you, and the technique won’t work.
The method should be the last result after everything else has failed to work! If you are not fast or afraid to punish your dog, then you better use other methods in this list or contact a professional.
How to Avoid Dog Bites: Things to Avoid
- Avoid waving your toes or fingers on your dog’s face or slapping him on the side to entice him to play. This may result in him biting you.
- Never discourage your dog from playing with you since it helps nature a strong bond between you. The goal is to stop him from biting!
- Don’t jerk your hand out of the dog’s mouth when he bites you; this may seem like a game to the dog, and he may end up jumping at it. Let your hand go limp, so it is not much fun to play with!
- Hitting or slapping your dog when he bites you might make him bite harder since it will encourage him to play more aggressively. Punishing a dog might also make him afraid of you, and end up regressing.
How to Avoid Dog Bites: Final Thought
Dog biting is not fun and can cause real damage, and you should train your dog to stop. I hope the methods pointed out in this blog post provide you with the needed help to stop your dog from biting.
Please leave a comment below to let us know which method you prefer most or to add a tip on how to avoid dog bits.
