Jack O’Reilly asked:

This article is the third of a four-part article training series dealing with considerations to stop your dog from biting. This article is going to discuss why dogs sometimes bite, and analyze the two different types of biting that often occur.

Amazingly enough, each year in the United States, over 4 Million people become dog bit victims. This statistic is both shocking, and sobering. It reminds us that we need to carefully review how we are teaching our dogs certain behaviors.

Dogs bite for many reasons. Several of the predominant reasons include: fear, alpha dog mentality, and pain. These three emotional states for dogs trigger many mixed reactions.

Now, allow us to review the two main types of reactionary biting:

1) Pain Biting – When dogs are in pain, they are oftentimes in fear. They also cannot always flee the scene of their pain on their legs, and instead rely on fangs to control the situation. Dogs that are normally pacified, can become ferocious when they experience pain. It is simply a natural defense mechanism.

2) Fear Biting – Dogs can be come stressed and have high levels of anxiety at certain times. Suppose your dog runs to a corner when they are scared or frightened. Reaching your hand into their “comfort zone” and pulling them from there, may not be the smartest thing for you to do. Instead, wait for the dog to relax and exit their sanctuary on their own.

In summary, we learned about some of the emotional triggers that cause dogs to bite. We also reviewed the two main reactionary biting types and what causes them.