Experts Say Dog Behaviors can be Controlled Through Proper Training

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

What people need to know about dog behavior when they don't understand why their beloved dogs behave in a different manner.

(PRWEB) January 15, 2006 -- Experts say that dog behaviors can be controlled through proper training. As the old adage goes, “Dogs are man’s best friend.” However, there are times when people just don't understand why their beloved dogs behave in a different manner. Hence, it is extremely important to know the underlying reasons why dogs sometimes behave differently.

In fact, man could teach his dog the most appropriate behavior. Bad Dog behaviors are actually responses that are mostly triggered by environmental and social factors, say experts. Hence, to control these responses, the owner should teach his dogs the proper way to respond to such elements.

Dog Bite
Statistics show that almost 5 million people in the U.S. are victims of dog bites annually. This is almost 2% of the total population in the U.S. What’s more, dog bites cases rank as second most common cause of emergencies in the hospitals.
So, the question is: Why dogs bite?
According to the experts, the main reasons why dogs may bite are the following:

1. Excitement
When somebody plays with his or her dog, the tendency of the dog is to get excited, and because dogs don’t have hands to use when playing, they have the tendency to use their mouth to grasp things. When this happens, there is the tendency that the dog might accidentally hurt people.

2. Protection Dogs can be very possessive, so, whenever he wants to protect something that he owns, he will bite whoever threatens to take it away from him. Hence, when people get near the dog’s property, the dog’s tendency is to bite to make the person leave his property alone.

3. Pain
When the dog is not feeling well, he does not understand why he is feeling that way. Therefore, when a person, even if it’s his master, touches him, he may think that it’s the person who causes the pain and so his tendency is fight back by biting.

4. Fear
Dogs get fear too. That is why when somebody startles him, the dog’s only known protection for itself is to bite back.
So, the best thing to avoid these situations is to leave the dog alone. The problem with so many people is that they have this tendency to always play around with their dogs without learning how and when the dogs should be left alone.

Like humans, dogs have feelings too. When these feelings are all mixed up, their only known protection for themselves is to bite because they cannot understand the situation logically. Therefore, people should know that in order to avoid such circumstances.
As they say, it really pays to know everything.

[elegy]

Originally Posted by Crossfire Bulldogs

Statistics show that almost 5 million people in the U.S. are victims of dog bites annually. This is almost 2% of the total population in the U.S. What’s more, dog bites cases rank as second most common cause of emergencies in the hospitals.

i'm really curious where they got their statistics. i got the book Dogs Bite but Balloons and Slippers are More Dangerous by Janis Bradley for christmas and it says otherwise.

according to the center for disease control and prevention, for accidental injuries treated in emergency rooms from 2001-2003

7714167 million were from falls
4507554 million were from blunt objects
3990652 million were from cars
3366270 million were from overexertion
340784 million were from dogs

she also has interesting statistics on severity of dog bites. this one is from CDC information along with two other private studies, one published in Injury Prevention and one in JAMA

only 0.076% of dog bites were of an ISS 2 or higher (ISS is the injury severity scale - 0 is no injury, 1 is "fast healing, no impairment", 6 is likely to be fatal). 92.4% were graded an ISS of 0.

of dog bites seen in the ER, they average an ISS 1 in severity. falls average a 4.

this book is really fantastic and i really recommend it to everyone. it really puts the whole "dog bite problem" in perspective.

[D.Schäferhund]

I would put the title that way:
Experts say dog behaviours can be controlled through proper people training

[Raised By Wolves]

Originally Posted by D.Schäferhund

I would put the title that way:
Experts say dog behaviours can be controlled through proper people training

...and understanding dog behavior and psychology!

I agree Kat, the original title didn't really fit the article! But, it made me look!

[GoldenPup]

Originally Posted by elegy

i'm really curious where they got their statistics. i got the book Dogs Bite but Balloons and Slippers are More Dangerous by Janis Bradley for christmas and it says otherwise.

Maybe this article somehow tried to take into account the number of unreported bites too?

GoldenPu

[Carrie]

Those are some good examples of why dogs bite, but I thought it was rather simplistic and not really enough information for the general public. It seems to me, there's a whole lot more.

[mrsgrubby]

Hmmmm, well when I got bit this fall I did have to go to the ER and get stitches, and then animal control had to visit me at home.

The animal control guy said that the majority of bites he sees were like mine or less severe, but occasionally he sees a pretty bad one.

On a scale of 1-5 I guess I would rate mine at a 3. ( I needed stitches and went to the hospital)