5 Ways to Avoid Dog Bite Injuries
February 27, 2025
Dog Bites Happen, and They Can Be Bad, but They Can Be Prevented
As dog owners ourselves, we know that your dog is more than a pet, he or she is family. While it can be nearly impossible to believe that your sweet puppy could do anything wrong, the risk of your dog biting someone still exists. Even the most well-tempered dog can be put in the wrong situation, and a bite or attack can occur.
Even if you don’t suspect your dog could ever be the aggressor, there are ways to help avoid your dog from attacking.
In The Article
1. Train Your Dog
The three main reasons dogs attack are defense, fear, and stress. While you may not be able to predict when your dog feels they need to defend themselves or when they’re stressed or scared, if you attend training classes with your dog, you will be able to cover a lot of the factors that can help your dog understand how to process these emotions.
Not only will training classes with your dog help you identify what your dog is feeling, they can help you disarm or calm your dog in certain situations. Additionally, your dog will learn your queues for staying in place or following you away from danger. This can help you keep your dog from attacking when they are stressed, so you can get them out of the situation.
If there are multiple people who care for the dog, be sure to have them attend a few of the training classes with you or show them what you’ve learned, so they can prevent any avoidable attacks.
2. Know Your Dog
Another great element of training classes with your dog is that you’ll get to know your dog better. Knowing your dog’s emotional queues can help you avoid outbursts from your dog in new or unforeseen situations.
If you can recognize situations in which your dog may be reactionary, you can avoid those situations and understand how to diffuse any reactions your dog may have to those types of situations.
What does your dog value? If your dog is responsive to positive reinforcement, you may be able to avoid unforeseen attacks on others by giving him positive reinforcement when he doesn’t have a reaction to a stressful situation. If your dog responds to your voice and seeks comfort in it, be sure to give them that comfort when they are in stressful situations that can lead to attacks.
3. Teach Appropriate Behaviors
It’s often recommended to avoid play that is too rough with your dog, especially when they are younger. Sometimes dogs can’t tell the difference between play and real danger. Therefore, it’s important to teach your dog that anything that has to do with nipping, biting, or attacking is considered negative. Allowing your dog to gently bite you could be confusing to your dog’s growth. According to the City of Albuquerque, you shouldn’t wait for an accident. “The first time he exhibits dangerous behavior toward any person, seek professional help from your veterinarian, an animal behaviorist, or a qualified dog trainer.”
4. Socialize Your Dog
The more interaction your dog has with other people and other animals, the better. Socialization can help your dog understand various behaviors and know whether or not they’re really in danger. Socialization at a young age is the best, but if you have a rescue dog that wasn’t socialized before you met him, you may find that it takes a little more time and patience to ease your fur baby into socialization practices.
5. Maintain Good Practices
Licensing your dog and providing regular veterinary care is key to ensuring your dog has a fulfilling life. Additionally, having your dog spayed or neutered can help reduce your dog’s desire to roam and fight other dogs (dog bites can occur when humans attempt to separate two fighting dogs). Additionally, making sure that your dog is up to date on vaccines (including rabies) can help with your dog’s temperament.
While you may never feel like your precious dog is capable of attacking a person, it’s important to take the proper steps to avoid any situation that could make your dog feel scared, stressed, or as though they need to defend themselves. While it’s not possible to remove all these barriers, taking the time to get to know your dog, train him, socialize him, and maintain good ownership practices can help you avoid dog bite injury claims.