Emails about Dog Bites and Dog Attacks

Emails about

Dog Bites and Dog Attacks

Dog Bite

A serious dog bite. This person was bitten by their own dog.

I am always looking for pictures of dog bites - if you have any I will use them to educate others about how dangerous breaking up a dog fight can be

If you own an aggressive dog you need my DVD titled DEALING WITH DOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE DOGS.

Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs

5 Month Old Rot Pup Bites Wife

Mr Frawley

My name is Matthew Martin I am a 7yr veteran of the New York State Police and 10yr veteran in Law Enforcement. I recently passed up an oppurtunity to be a K-9 Officer in order to have a household pet that can be home with my wife and soon to be newborn baby due March, 2006 when I am working the overnight shift.
I lost my last Rottweiler to cancer at 9yrs 8mos of age in August of 2002. He was a great dog. I recently bought a 9wk old Rottweiler Bono from AJMA Rottweilers, Andrzej Rozek www.ajmarottweiler.com just outside Newark, NJ. I paid $1500.00 for the puppy. I purchased your video 8wks to 8 mos and am very staisfied with it. I am considering purchasing your dog obedience video soon, since the Bono is coming up on 5 mos of age.

Here's my situation; ( I understand it is a handler problem and not the dog.) Bono is food agressive. I make him sit before he can have his food. I put it down and put my hand either in the bowl or I continue to hold the bowl until he is done eating. He does not make a peep. However if I pet him or my wife pets him while I am holding the food he growls. I contacted my breeder and he suggested to buy a beef bone from the butcher and hold it while Bono chews on it. I did this and I'll tell you what the outcome was. I was sitting on the floor Bono was in a seated position and chewing on the bone while I held it. I could pet him and he would not make a sound. However, my wife leaned over from the couch and pet him and all hell broke loose. He bit her on her hand by the wrist breaking the skin. I immediately reacted and grabbed him by the sides of his face lifted him off the ground and shouted NO and continued to shout out him for about 5 seconds. ( he is about 45 lbs.)

I am willing to do anything to correct this problem and my wife and I are concerned and want to be able to trust the dog when the baby comes. I have about 4 months before the baby. Can this be corrected.

Thankyou,
Matthew

Answer on Rot Dog Bite

There is a lot that has to be said here.

I recommend that you go to my web site and read the article I wrote on my philosophy of dog training. I think you will get some good ideas there.

We don’t do what you are doing with the dogs we raise. That is screw with the dogs food. I believe its unfair for a pack leader to give food and then screw with it. Pack leaders eat first. Pack leaders allow lower ranking pack members to eat but they don’t harass them after they have allowed them to eat. Don’t worry a lot of people mistakenly do what you do. When dogs have a tendency to be dominant they also have similar problem.

We feed our dog in the dog crate.

The fact is there are much better ways to deal with dominance. You may want to read the article I wrote on GROUND WORK to Becomiong a Pack Leader.

The Basic Dog Obedience program is part of the solution but not all of it. Sounds pack behavior training is also important.

Read the article I just wrote titled THE THEORY OF CORRECTIONS IN DOG TRAINING.

I can tell you that this dog needs some serious logical training right now with a prong collar. Your wife needs to step to the line and work with this dog. Its going to take some work

I can also tell you that you need to plan on doing training with a remote trainer with this dog. Maybe not right away but this dog will need e-collar training. I use a Dogtra 1700 on my personal dog. I just finished producing a DVD titled E-Collar Training for the Pet Owner.

Lastly study the article I wrote titled Dealing with a Dominant Dog. You can find these if you go to the list of training articles and scroll down. You need to know this information. If you have a 5 month old dog biting your wife you have zero wiggle room to screw up.

Regards,

Ed Frawley's Philosophy on Dog Training

eBook

Hello Ed,

I have spent the last 5 hours reading your web page and all the great articles. I wish 8 years ago, I would have been able to do this. I am emailing you now because my situation seems to be somewhat different, or perhaps I just have not found an article covering my problem.

I have an 8 1/2 year old Chocolate Lab named Zero. When we got him we also had a 7 year old Lab, Zero was the runt of the litter and always had a problem nursing because the other pups would not let him. We assumed that this is why he would growl when we went near his food, so we just left it alone. The 2 dogs got along great, and there never was much of a problem with aggression. 4 years ago, we had to put the older dog down due to Illness. The vet came to our home, the younger one was put in another room and it was done. Since then, Zero has become somewhat of an aggressive animal and I am at my witts end. He does go on the furniture (I know, bad) and used to sleep in bed with us (I know, also bad. but that stopped over a year ago when we got a new pup). He growls when told to get down, he growls whenever you tell him somthing he does not want to do. Zero most of the time stays in his yard, but if he gets a wiff of somthing, he will wander off. If you try to grab his collar to bring him back he growls. He and the new pup have several fights and the pup has the scars to prove it. The little one has pretty much learned to read Zero now and they are great friends most of the time.

Now I know the growling is a problem, but there is a bigger one, he has nipped a few people (all family members). The first person he bit was me- It was the middle of the night a couple years ago, he was sleeping on the bed with us and hogging the bed so I pushed him with my feet, and he bit my toe.

The second time was Last January, we were visiting my husbands parents where Zero has gone many times before. They also have 2 dogs, one is a nasty female who has bitten Zero. He Ran and Played all day and into the night(I should mention he has alot of energy). My husband and I decided to go out for a bit, and we left Zero at the house as we have many times before. While we were gone, he bit my Mother-in-law in the finger. She said he was really tired and sleeping at her feet and she bent over to pet him, and he bit her.

Third time, again at my inlaws, same senario playing all day and sleeping at my husbands feet. My Husband gently put his foot on the dog and Zero bit him in the toe.

Fourth time, 2 months ago at our home. We had just begun a remodeling project and had workers in-and out- He played for about 9 hours outside, then my husband and I went out for a bit. When we came home, we decided to put the puppy upstairs with us because know the history of my tired, grouchy dog. After doing my pre- bed routine I started to go upstairs where a baby gate was at the bottom of the stairs. There was Zero, not getting out of my way. I pushed him away once, twice and the 3rd time resulted in 7 stiches in my finger. (He did have a nasty ear infection, and I did push his head so maybe this was provoked)

Then last night- We are staying at my Moms during our re-model and getting ready for dinner. (The dogs were only out a couple hours and did not play super hard.) The dogs always come to the table and we make them lay down. My husband told zero to lay down a couple times and he used his hand to signal. The dog growled and went to my husband and bit him in the hand.I did not see it, but my husband says he did not touch him. No stiches or anything, a puncture wound.

So... My husband wants to put the dog down. Although he has never ran after anyone or "attacked" anyone, he is afraid it is just a matter of time as these incidents are getting closer together. I would like to pursue some form of re-training but don't know if it is possible to re-train a dog his age. I love this dog like a child and the thought of killing him has caused lack of sleep and appetite. He really is a good dog 99% of the time (but there is alot of growling at my house), and I'm not just saying this, but one of the smartest dogs I have ever seen. Lately however, the problem seems to be getting worse. I know the obvious things like let a sleeping dog lie, and stay away from him when he's been playing all day and tired, but my husband says under NO circumstances should a dog bite his owner and unless the problem is corrected, he wants the dog put down.I do plan on taking him to the vet first so we can rule out medical issues, but after that, I am at a loss. Can you give me any advice at all, or maybe you know a good trainer in Wisconsin I could consult with?
Thank you for taking the time to read my long story and I hope to hear from you.

Regards,
Monica

Ed's Comments:

This is more of a lack of education problem than a dog problem – its also very common.

You need to educate your dog, educate yourself and then change the way you live with this dog.

Here is a directory of information if you care to learn:

http://leerburg.com/dominantdogs.htm

If you like this dog and want to fix it you can its up to you. But you cannot continue to live with it in the way you have.

Regards,

Dealing with the Dominant Dog

eBook

Our Dominant Dog nips at people

I have a question about dog aggression. I have a 5 year old female Giant Schnauzer that I got 2 years ago from a breeder that was done showing her. I would describe her as very confident but not an overly dominant dog. She's very smart and responds well to training. I also have a 7 year old male Giant that I’ve had since he was a puppy.

The first year I had her I never saw any aggressive behavior other than barking when someone is at the door. About a year ago I was at a friends house and her 8 year old son came into the yard after playing at a neighbors and she started barking at him very aggressively, I pulled her away and everything seemed fine after that. I was caught off guard so I know I was a little slow to react to the situation since she had never acted this way before. Then I had a situation at my home. My father-in-law came over and just walked into the house and she started barking aggressively and nipped at him. I pulled her away made her sit and she was fine. This is also the first time anyone had come over and just walked into the house without being let in. She has always been ok when I let people in, she usually just runs to get a toy. So after that incident I always hold her and have her sit when people come in the house and she has been fine.

I also have a cottage on a lake and last summer a friend came over, she never barked at him she just started following him and nipped at his shirt. It was really weird behavior. It didn’t really seem aggressive, she was just paying a lot of attention to him and she usually has no interest in strangers. She has not acted this way with anyone else and we have a lot of visitors at our cottage.

Now last weekend this same friend and his wife came over to my house. I did the usual holding her until they came in so she knows it’s OK for them to be there and she seemed fine. The next thing I know my friend walks by her and she bit him in the leg. Luckily she didn’t rip his pants but she did give him a little puncture wound. I just don’t understand what would cause this behavior. She never growled or barked at him before she bit. I really didn’t even realize what happened at first I just grabbed her and put her in another room. She obviously does not like this person for some unknown reason.

I would appreciate any training advice you have and what might cause this behavior,

Liz

Ed's Answer on the dog bite

You are making serious mistakes here.

Pulling the dog away is wrong. The dog needs a VERY HARD correction when it does this. Pulling the dog away is not a correction. You have perpetuated this behavior because of your mistake.

I strongly recommend the DVD I did on Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dogs.

I also recommend that you visit my web site and read a training article I recently wrote titled THE THEORY OF CORRECTIONS IN DOG TRAINING.

The reason I wrote this article was to help people understand how to motivate their dogs in training. Most people either use the wrong kind of correction or over correct dogs in training. I am not a fan of “force training” (although I most defiantly believe that every dog needs to go through a correction phase). By exploring corrections in training you will become a better dog trainer.

Regards,

Theory of Corrections
in Dog Training

eBook

I tried to break up a fight between my 2 beagles and ended up in the hospital emergency room

I found this site 3 weeks too late. I would have sent the picture of my finger, arm, leg and torso. I have a male beagle that I keep outside and a male inside that is his offspring (mixed breed). They hate each other. The outside dog dug under the 5 foot chain link fence while the inside dog was out front of the house on his cable. I went to unhook the inside dog and bring it in and the outside dog that escaped the back yard seen me with the dog it hates and came running and attacked it. I was trying to hold them apart by their collars and my fingernails were bending backwards I was holding them so tightly. It all happened so fast. I first let go of one for just a second to get the front door open and both tried to enter the house fighting like they were trying to kill each other. I knew I could not let them both into the house fighting. So I grabbed them apart by their collars again and led them to the back gate of the fence. I knew I had to let one go to grab the latch to the fence. When I did they really started fighting. I was at the emergency room 30 minutes later getting 6 stitches in my thumb and had several punture wounds. It happened so fast, I don't even know which one bit me or maybe they both did. I am going to look into purchasing your dvds. Also someone told me that I could have separated them with the water hose.

Angie

Ed's Answer on getting bit by a dog:

Thanks for writing. I will add this email to the site so people can learn from it.

The two DVDs I recommend are:

Basic Doig Obedience

And

Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dogs

I would also recommend a dominant dog collar for both dogs.

Basic Dog Obedience

Dear Ed,

I studied your marvelous home page and tried to find the answer to my problem. We are living in Hungary at countryside in a family house with three dogs. We have two female dogs escaped from the street and one 5 year old male German Shepard Ali, who is my son's dog and we got him as a puppy. Ali is a beautiful big friendly dog and he is very strong. He got an obedience course and we can go for a walk with him without leash, because he is coming back if we are calling, and there is very few people. He is a little bit jealous of our other dogs but he never attacked them.He is very hard at the fence, but never attacked anybody. He is afraid of the doctor very much. Once a year doctor comes and vaccinate them. Last week came the doctor and we (my husband and me) tried him to hold but he got a panic and broken out and bit me on my face twice. I got a very ugly wound on my nose and another on my soul. I am absulutely uncertain what to do, how to handle this situation. What did I do wrong. We did not hit the dog after it, and he is calm again. My son scold him and I do not play with him anymore. What is the proper behaviour in the situation? Your article about the dog's aggression is very interesting, but I do not understand what type of aggression was this.

Thank you in advance

Maria Vanicsek

Hungary

Ed's Answer to this dog bite:

This dog needs the following:

Pack structure training

Serious obedience training - with a electric collar

a muzzle when you handle the dog

Regards

Remote Collar Training for the Pet Owner

My Dog bit me in the face that required 27 stitches:

I don't know if you take time to respond to emails anymore. I have been swimming around your website, it is clear to me that you really know dogs.

Here's my question if you have time:

What steps can I take to AVOID bringing home a dominant puppy/dog?

- which breeds are less likely to challenge pack order - if any?

- does birth order affect adult dominance? Should we avoid the runt?

- did I read on your site that if neutered gender does not affect dominance?

- do the puppy "temperament tests" I've read about really indicate adult temperament/dominance? ( I read on your site that dominance does not become clear until the dog reaches adulthood... - aren't there any indicators in a puppy at all? )

Here's why I am reaching out to you:

I have had dogs through my childhood and much of my adult life. 4 years ago we purchased a show bred German Shorthair Pointer from a reputable breeder for a family pet. I thought I did everything right in training, establishing/maintaining pack order, exercise and play. I was committed to raising her right and did a good deal of research on these issues. After visiting your website I can see that in spite of my efforts I did not train through the correction phase so I did not know how to respond correctly when, as an adult dog, she became less clear on pack order. We trained her in puppyhood with Narnia (a recommended program in the Naperville, IL area) - are different training programs better or worse for particular breeds?

I adored this dog, she was really smart, playful, interactive; as a stay at home mom she spent all her days with me - we never had any growl, snap or obvious dominant issues between us. I did not treat her as a child but respected her as a dog. I unknowingly made a bad mistake: from the floor I approached her face with my face straight on - my vet said this was a challenge to her - and without a warning she bit me on the mouth requiring 27 stitches. Right or wrong, with 27 stitches, advice from the vet and her breeder we put her down. We have three young children and 9 neighbor children who run through my house and yard all the time - I was terrified of the risk to them.

Sadly this incident has affected my confidence as a dog owner and my trust in all dogs as family pets. I want my children to grow up loving dogs and pets as I did. I would like to stress that I am a dog lover, in spite of my own and many other kids coming and going my house is empty, and I am lonely, without a dog. I plan to purchase Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months and Basic Obedience dvds this next time I raise a dog.

If you are able to steer us to the best breeds for our family I would be very appreciative. I thought I had done the research into the right breed and breeder with our GSP.

This next time I would like to avoid major pack order or dominance challenges with so many children in my life. Kids are unpredictable, we need a dog who can cope with that. Kids like to play with, train, hug and sometimes kiss their pets even though this is not natural for dogs.

We are drawn to sporting, herding, working breeds because we like clever, energetic, playful, medium to large dogs. Maybe we are looking in the wrong direction?

Thank you for being a dog lover. Thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge and experience with the rest of us who are not experts but would like to raise and treat their dogs with the respect they deserve.

Sandra

ps - I have visited the akc website and they do not really indicate which breeds are best for children (mine are ages 7-10). Probably it is more about lineage than breed but I am lost on where to go for guidance on temperament concerns. Our last breeder was sure our GSP would be a great family pet.....

Ed's Answer on what breed to buy:

You need to find a breed of dogs with NO TEETH - the famous toothless dog. This is not a breed issue. It’s a handler issue.

If you get a pup with good nerves and you establish pack structure and train the dog you can have a safe pet.

While you think you had established pack structure with your last dog in fact you had not. That’s pretty obvious.

The fact is the foundation of pack structure is more important than obedience training – I tell people that hundreds of thousands of dogs go through OB training every year and the vast majority of dominant dogs come out of training just as dominant as when they started. That’s because the instructor did not address pack structure. You fell into that category.

I have written on this and I have DVDs that train people.

I recommend that you go to my web site and read the article I wrote on my philosophy of dog training. I think you will get some good ideas there http://leerburg.com/philosohy.htm

Regards,

Ground Work to Becoming a Pack Leader

eBook

My wife broke a finger and a toe breaking up a fight, not to speak of lacerations, and broke another finger very badly on another fight.

Ed:

We have 6 adopted (shelter,etc.) spayed female dogs. We have a 9 yr. old Peke with a weak back that gives her problems often, mild hip dysplacia (spelling ?) and one eye, the other which was lost a few months ago in a fight with one of our 2 terrier mixes which she hates and attacks on sight. There is no problem with the other 3 dogs. We try to keep them separated which is difficult to always do (and when we forget, there is always a fight). I have been severely bitten on a few occasions; My wife broke a finger and a toe breaking up a fight, not to speak of lacerations, and broke another finger very badly on another fight. (She has M.S. and osteoporosis).We had a highly regarded trainer, Marriam Field-Barbieu, who has patented a few pieces of equipment and written over 30 books on dog training;She worked with us for 14 weeks, was very expensive and as far as I can see has done little to stop the Peke's aggression; the terriers do quite well on the basic commands, however, the Peke still will not remain on a sit-stay or down-stay unless she feels like it. She still would like to kill either or both terriers just as she always has. Some of your material suggests muzzles on all parties...will your "pug-nose cloth muzzle" work on a Peke ? Until I read your material & viewed your DVD,"Remote Collar Training for Pet Owners", I was dubious about E-collars; however I now believe your "middle-of-the Road approach" makes sense . We have no alternative to breaking up a dog fight IMMEDIATELY because of the fragile Peke; I broke up the fight in which she lost her eye within 2-3 seconds. Will an E-collar be any danger to the Peke ?, not the "nick", but will her jumping or reacting harm her back ? or hips ? We are at wit's end ! We have been told to find a home for her, but that would mean finding a home for her sister who is quite docile; plus they love each other, came to us together and we gave our word to not separate them......or euthanasia, which is not an option to us, even with her problems. Will your DVD #301-D be helpful ? Do you believe an E-collar would help, not harm her ? Will the "pug-nose" muzzle work ? Do we need a "Leerburg Dominant Dog Collar"? I believe you have more insight than anyone I have researched. Your in-put would be very much appreciated. THANK YOU, & we look forward to hearing from you

Bev Jordan (Mr.) & Nancy Bowles

Ed's Answer to using a remote collars

No I do not think you should try a remote collar.

You need to get a dog crate for every dog you have and control the free time of these dogs.

I never heard of this trainer you spoke of. She sounds like a rip off artist. But then I have only been training dogs for 45 years and maybe I have not heard of her yet.

Get some dog crates and solve this problem.

Dog Crates

Oh yes, when my two favorite dogs got into a fight and I saw the German shepherd bitch was about to really hurt my chow bitch, like a fool I rushed in. Can you believe I actually had a running water hose in my hand and never thought about it. My shepherd would break when I asked her to, but the chow was wanting to dish out pay back and refused to break contact. So being a junior rocket scientist I grabbed the chows (dam dog) collar and she immediately bit me faster than a hive of hornets can sting. Before I knew it I had been severely bitten three times on the left hand , almost losing an index finger at the first knuckle. One very bad bite to the outer lower leg and an awful bite to the upper left thigh that made me forget sex for so long I almost became a born again eunuch. I wish I had read you article on how to separate dogs before this happened. I now am a breeder of Germ Shepherds and a firm believer in a muzzle, separated kennel rooms and a bucket of ice water, incase the totally unexpected happens. ALSO I HIGHLY RECOMMEND A REFRIGIATOR FILLED WITH A EMERGENCY SUPPLY OF NERVE JUICE AKA Cocktails. I don't have any photos of the bites when they happened, but I can show the scars that I will carry to my grave. Get the book, get the video folks and for heaven sakes read the article.

Gary Toomey

How to Break Up a Dog Fight

eBook

Here is an article that was sent to me from a customer:

CAPE COD TIMES
CATAUMET - Police shot and killed a dog after it bit a man and then attacked a police officer last night.

The police were called to Millennium Drive in Cataumet shortly after 9 p.m. because a 39-year-old man, the dog's owner, had been bitten. When police arrived, the dog, an Akita - a Japanese breed originally used for fighting - also attacked the police officer.

The man was reportedly trying to break up a fight between the Akita and another dog.

The officer was not injured, according to the Bourne police. The man was taken to Falmouth Hospital with a serious arm injury, according to Bourne fire officials. The injury was so serious police originally called it a possible amputation, according to fire officials. The police shot the dog after it attacked the officer.

(Published: October 13, 2006)

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