An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Bite
One of the most common misconceptions people have is that their own dogs won't bite. While everybody feels some level of respect for a big, growling dog we are becoming too nonchalant about our own dogs. How confident are you that your dog will never bite anyone?
Do the words - Wouldn't hurt a fly come to mind? We all think that our own dogs are gentle natured until they prove us otherwise.
Dog owners often claim their dogs are completely comfortable with children. I myself was bitten as a child it happens often and even usually mild mannered dogs can snap. Children are a little more vulnerable and a little snap that wouldn't injure an adult can have dire consequences for a well-meaning child.
Dogs can inflict potentially life threatening injuries. Luckily my injuries were only superficial. Some corrective surgery and a few years of healing and the physical evidence have all but gone. Many are not as fortunate.
Tragically for the most part, these kinds of bites are completely avoidable. Dogs don't bite people without provocation right?
Not quite. It's true it does take some provoking to get a usually mild mannered dog to bite the triggers aren't as obvious as you would think.
So why do dogs bite?
Experts still disagree as to whether dogs bite because of human provocation or breeding. While it is indisputable that certain breeds of dogs do bite more than others it's also hard to argue with thousands of year