On the Topic of. . . Dogs Biting Children
I recently had an appointment with a client who wanted me to euthanize her small dog, Fred, for biting her toddler. On initial
questioning, the bite was described as unprovoked and without warning, resulting in a wound and a trip to the emergency room for the
toddler. I asked where the bite wound was. The answer was, “On the face.” I responded that I had no doubt that Fred had been
provoked, and asked a few more questions. The story came out – Fred had been expressing increasing displeasure with the attentions
of the toddler, who enjoyed climbing on the dog in the dog’s bed, and the two had been together more or less unsupervised when the
bite occurred.
Another biting dog story I heard was from a gentleman asking about an incident his friend had had with the friend’s family dog,
Sadie. Sadie had been asleep in the yard when the family’s small child had walked over and put her finger in Sadie’s ear. Sadie
woke with a start and bit the child in the face. Sadie was euthanized for aggression.
In both cases, the dogs were provoked by a small child, viewed as a subordinate (“puppy”) by the dog, and responded as dogs
respond to annoyances by puppies – with a muzzle grab. The problem is that the level of bite which is appropriate to the muzzle of a
puppy is much different than that which is appropriate to a human’s skin, and in the moment, when the dog is responding in that
preprogrammed, instinctive manner, the dog may forget to inhibit its bite. Or the dog may simply make an error and accidentally
clock the child in the face with a tooth. Either way, the impact may result in a trip to the doctor for a wound repair.
Dog Safety
These incidents rarely, if ever, occur “without warning,” except in the case of a dog who is severely startled, as Sadie was, waking
up with a finger in her ear. The vast majority of dogs give plenty of warning, intended to avoid conflict – the supervising humans,
however, fail to correctly interpret the dog’s communication. What constitutes “warning?”
• A look away. This may be just the eyes glancing away, or it may be a full head turn. Sometimes, the entire body curls away as
the dog tries to escape from the social tension.
• A lip curl. Unfortunately, this may be the lip you cannot see, on the side of the dog that is facing away from you, but a lip curl
is a huge body language cue intended by the dog to get someone to move away from them.
• A full snarl. Both lips curl and pull back from the teeth. This can be silent and the intent on behalf of the dog is unmistakable.
• Tense body and/or breath holding. A dog that has frozen like a statue, especially if he is holding his breath, is probably just a
moment away from biting.
• The growl. Growls are wonderful. They are an audible cue that a dog is on the verge of needing to bite in self-defense.
Unfortunately, a lot of dogs have been trained by their owners not to growl, so do not rely on a dog giving you this very important cue.
These signals may occur in any sequence as a dog’s tension escalates. If you are responsible for a dog and you notice these signs
being exhibited toward a child or anyone at all, you need to intervene before the dog has a need to snap or bite. If you are the object
of these signals, the dog is trying to tell you that he perceives you as intimidating or confrontational and that he would like you to
move away. Things you can do to ease stress in this situation include relaxing your shoulders, directing your eyes away from the dog’
s face, yawning, and giving the dog more space. If you are intervening to protect your dog from biting someone else, remember that if
the dog perceives you as anxious, angry, or excited, you may provoke a bite. The best way to intervene one behalf of many dogs is to
use food to distract the dog while you extract the child from the situation. In the absence of food, however, calmly but firmly instruct
the child to move away from the dog and either remove the dog or the child from the area temporarily to allow a “cooling off” period.
Calmly praise the dog and verbally assure him that he did the right thing, using social signals instead of biting. This will help relax
the dog and reinforce social signaling should a similar event occur in the future.
If you are too late and the snap or bite has already occurred, try to remain calm. As gently as you can, remove either the dog or the
child from the area and assess the damage, applying first aid if needed. In these situations, it is crucial to keep your voice down (or
control it quickly) and to avoid physical reprimands. Any kind of aggressive social interaction at t his point can have terrible
consequences, either increasing the dog’s anxiety around children and his need to drive them away, causing him to delete warning
signals from his vocabulary, or both. If there is no damage, recognize that the dog was kind, considerate and restrained in
reprimanding the child and take the caution that this dog needs better supervision around children – more protection! – in the future.
If there is damage, take stock of your emotional state. It is appropriate to get the dog out of the house for a day or two if necessary to
allow rational assessment of what happened. Euthanasia is rarely an appropriate course of action. Ask yourself:
• Was my dog startled?
• Was my dog adequately supervised?
• Did my dog try to communicate before biting?
• Does my dog have pain?
• Has my dog shown signs of anxiety in similar situations before?
• How worried would I be if my dog responded that way to a strange dog?
• What can I do to protect my dog in the future?
The answers to these questions may lead you to seek professional assistance. A physical examination by a veterinarian with a
special interest in behavior, pain control, acupuncture, or chiropractic care is likely in order. A consult with a veterinary behaviorist
may also be in order, or contact your local breed rescue for someone to talk to.
The bottom line in my world is that I never expect my dogs to tolerate rough or invasive handling, especially by a “subordinate” pack
member. If my dog will tolerate such handling, I am grateful that I have one dog I can rely on to give me at least a few seconds to get
them out of the situation. I consider that to be a gift, and one not to be abused.
I recently had an appointment with a client who wanted me to euthanize her small dog, Fred, for biting her toddler. On initial
questioning, the bite was described as unprovoked and without warning, resulting in a wound and a trip to the emergency room for the
toddler. I asked where the bite wound was. The answer was, “On the face.” I responded that I had no doubt that Fred had been
provoked, and asked a few more questions. The story came out – Fred had been expressing increasing displeasure with the attentions
of the toddler, who enjoyed climbing on the dog in the dog’s bed, and the two had been together more or less unsupervised when the
bite occurred.
Another biting dog story I heard was from a gentleman asking about an incident his friend had had with the friend’s family dog,
Sadie. Sadie had been asleep in the yard when the family’s small child had walked over and put her finger in Sadie’s ear. Sadie
woke with a start and bit the child in the face. Sadie was euthanized for aggression.
In both cases, the dogs were provoked by a small child, viewed as a subordinate (“puppy”) by the dog, and responded as dogs
respond to annoyances by puppies – with a muzzle grab. The problem is that the level of bite which is appropriate to the muzzle of a
puppy is much different than that which is appropriate to a human’s skin, and in the moment, when the dog is responding in that
preprogrammed, instinctive manner, the dog may forget to inhibit its bite. Or the dog may simply make an error and accidentally
clock the child in the face with a tooth. Either way, the impact may result in a trip to the doctor for a wound repair.
Dog Safety
These incidents rarely, if ever, occur “without warning,” except in the case of a dog who is severely startled, as Sadie was, waking
up with a finger in her ear. The vast majority of dogs give plenty of warning, intended to avoid conflict – the supervising humans,
however, fail to correctly interpret the dog’s communication. What constitutes “warning?”
• A look away. This may be just the eyes glancing away, or it may be a full head turn. Sometimes, the entire body curls away as
the dog tries to escape from the social tension.
• A lip curl. Unfortunately, this may be the lip you cannot see, on the side of the dog that is facing away from you, but a lip curl
is a huge body language cue intended by the dog to get someone to move away from them.
• A full snarl. Both lips curl and pull back from the teeth. This can be silent and the intent on behalf of the dog is unmistakable.
• Tense body and/or breath holding. A dog that has frozen like a statue, especially if he is holding his breath, is probably just a
moment away from biting.
• The growl. Growls are wonderful. They are an audible cue that a dog is on the verge of needing to bite in self-defense.
Unfortunately, a lot of dogs have been trained by their owners not to growl, so do not rely on a dog giving you this very important cue.
These signals may occur in any sequence as a dog’s tension escalates. If you are responsible for a dog and you notice these signs
being exhibited toward a child or anyone at all, you need to intervene before the dog has a need to snap or bite. If you are the object
of these signals, the dog is trying to tell you that he perceives you as intimidating or confrontational and that he would like you to
move away. Things you can do to ease stress in this situation include relaxing your shoulders, directing your eyes away from the dog’
s face, yawning, and giving the dog more space. If you are intervening to protect your dog from biting someone else, remember that if
the dog perceives you as anxious, angry, or excited, you may provoke a bite. The best way to intervene one behalf of many dogs is to
use food to distract the dog while you extract the child from the situation. In the absence of food, however, calmly but firmly instruct
the child to move away from the dog and either remove the dog or the child from the area temporarily to allow a “cooling off” period.
Calmly praise the dog and verbally assure him that he did the right thing, using social signals instead of biting. This will help relax
the dog and reinforce social signaling should a similar event occur in the future.
If you are too late and the snap or bite has already occurred, try to remain calm. As gently as you can, remove either the dog or the
child from the area and assess the damage, applying first aid if needed. In these situations, it is crucial to keep your voice down (or
control it quickly) and to avoid physical reprimands. Any kind of aggressive social interaction at t his point can have terrible
consequences, either increasing the dog’s anxiety around children and his need to drive them away, causing him to delete warning
signals from his vocabulary, or both. If there is no damage, recognize that the dog was kind, considerate and restrained in
reprimanding the child and take the caution that this dog needs better supervision around children – more protection! – in the future.
If there is damage, take stock of your emotional state. It is appropriate to get the dog out of the house for a day or two if necessary to
allow rational assessment of what happened. Euthanasia is rarely an appropriate course of action. Ask yourself:
• Was my dog startled?
• Was my dog adequately supervised?
• Did my dog try to communicate before biting?
• Does my dog have pain?
• Has my dog shown signs of anxiety in similar situations before?
• How worried would I be if my dog responded that way to a strange dog?
• What can I do to protect my dog in the future?
The answers to these questions may lead you to seek professional assistance. A physical examination by a veterinarian with a
special interest in behavior, pain control, acupuncture, or chiropractic care is likely in order. A consult with a veterinary behaviorist
may also be in order, or contact your local breed rescue for someone to talk to.
The bottom line in my world is that I never expect my dogs to tolerate rough or invasive handling, especially by a “subordinate” pack
member. If my dog will tolerate such handling, I am grateful that I have one dog I can rely on to give me at least a few seconds to get
them out of the situation. I consider that to be a gift, and one not to be abused.
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On The Topic