In the article “Why Do Puppies Bite Part 1”, we discussed why puppies bite. In this article we are going to discus why dogs bite. If we allow our puppies to bite they will most definitely become biting dogs. There are 5 main reasons a dog will bite.
- Dominance
- Authority
- Security
- Protection
- Lack of good positive training
A dog will bite to show dominance over other dogs. Remember we have discussed in previous articles about the pack leader. Many will think that it is only the big dog that shows dominance over others. On the contrary it could be the smallest dog that is the most aggressive that tries to dominant and control the others.
An aggressive or dominating dog will command authority. This is the dog’s natural instinct to try to control other animals and their owners. Dogs use their teeth to determine who is the strongest amongst dogs and people. This is a natural instinct for dogs to use their teeth to bite to show authority. This is characteristic to all dog breeds.
A dog will bit because if insecurity. Some human or animal actions the dog has experienced could cause and insecure feeling resulting in a natural instinct to bite.
Dogs that are normally insecure from adverse actions displayed against them are now in the protection mode. They will protect themselves, territory, and owners as a self defense mechanism. Dogs that are continuously chained can be more likely to show aggressive behavior and are prone to biting.
The last reason does bite are from lack of good positive training. Again I cannot stress this enough how positive training can affect your pet. A dog that is trained by aggression or negative reinforcement is more likely to be an aggressive dog. Dogs perceive this forceful, fear inducing, and sometimes painful training as threatening their life which results in their natural instinct to defend or fight.
Think of our human natural instinct of flight or fight. When we are cornered or threatened we too must make a choice whether to fight or flee. Most of us, as dogs do, we fight. That is a natural instinct if our lives are threatened. There is no difference with a dog in fear of their life aggressively attacking its subject by biting than ours by fighting.
According to the Center for Disease and Control Center, 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, and one in five dog bites results in injuries that require medical attention.
Can I train my dog to never bite? No, but you can control the aspects of your dogs biting habits with correct positive training methods.
