National Dog Bite Prevention Week

By Leerburg  |  Last modified: April 12, 2026

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Introduction

National Dog Bite Prevention Week® — What It Is and Why It Matters

National Dog Bite Prevention Week® is observed each year during the third full week of April. In 2026, that's April 12–18. The week is a coordinated public awareness effort — supported by veterinary associations, insurance industry groups, and dog training professionals — aimed at reducing the number of dog bites that happen every year in the United States.

The numbers behind this week are sobering. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs in the United States each year.¹ Of those, an estimated 800,000 to 885,000 require medical attention.^1,2 Children are disproportionately represented among the most seriously injured — accounting for roughly half of all bite victims and the majority of bite-related fatalities¹ — and most bites are not from stray dogs or unknown animals. Research consistently shows that 77% of biting dogs belong to the victim's family or a friend,³ and 80% of incidents occur at home.³

That last fact is the most important one to carry through this article. Dog bites are not random events. They follow patterns. They are preceded by warning signs. They can, in the vast majority of cases, be prevented — not by eliminating dogs from our lives, but by understanding them better.

This article draws on the training philosophy and research developed by Ed Frawley and the team at Leerburg over more than 60 years of professional dog training experience. It is a practical guide for dog owners who want to understand aggression, recognize warning signs early, and build a safer life with their dog.

The Scope of the Problem

Why Dog Bite Prevention Deserves a Full Week of Attention

Dog bites are among the most common and most preventable injuries in the United States. The CDC estimates 4.5 million bites occur annually, with approximately 800,000 to 885,000 serious enough to require medical care.^1,2 About half of all dog bite victims are children,¹ and children between the ages of 1 and 4 represent the single largest group of fatality victims.⁴ Their injuries tend to be the most severe — often to the face, head, and neck — because of their size and their tendency to approach dogs at eye level.

One of the most striking facts in the bite prevention literature: 77% of biting dogs belong to the victim's family or a friend,³ and 80% of incidents happen in the home, not in public spaces.³ This is not a problem of stray dogs or irresponsible strangers. It is a problem that plays out in living rooms, backyards, and family kitchens — with dogs that are loved, that are kept as pets, and whose warning signs were missed or minimized until something went wrong.

The insurance industry reports billions of dollars in dog bite claims annually. But no statistic captures the real cost: a child's face, a neighbor's hand, a family dog that has to be surrendered or euthanized because an escalating problem was never addressed.

Dog bite prevention is not about fear of dogs. It is about understanding them well enough to live with them safely — and taking responsibility for that understanding seriously.

Puppy Biting vs. Real Aggression

The Most Common Misconception New Dog Owners Have

One of the most important distinctions in dog behavior — and one that trips up new owners constantly — is the difference between puppy biting and actual aggression. They can look similar. They can feel alarming. But they are fundamentally different in origin, meaning, and how to respond to them.

Puppy biting is play drive. When puppies play with their littermates, they use their mouths — they bite, chase, and wrestle. When a puppy comes into a human home, they play with their new human family the same way they played with their littermates. They don't know any differently. The biting is not about aggression or dominance. It's about the natural games of pack behavior — and it is the human family's job to redirect it, not panic about it.

As Ed Frawley writes at Leerburg: "When a pup chews on your hands or your pant leg — even if it's verbalized by growling — it's only displaying play and prey drive. Puppies play with their littermates by using their mouth. They bite each other, they jump on each other, and they growl at each other."

True handler aggression in a dog under 10 months of age is extremely rare. In 35 years of breeding working-line German Shepherds, Ed Frawley cannot recall a single case. What owners are almost always dealing with in a young puppy is misdirected drive — a lot of energy and instinct that hasn't been given the right outlet yet.

The solution is not punishment. It is redirection: give the puppy a high-value food treat or toy, interrupt the biting, and teach the puppy what to do with that energy instead.

Warning Signs Every Owner Should Know

Aggression Doesn't Appear Overnight — But Many Owners Miss the Signs

An overly aggressive dog does not simply become a monster one day. Throughout its life, it has displayed warning signs that things are not normal. The tragedy is that many of those signs are missed — written off as personality quirks, breed traits, or temporary phases — until something serious happens.

Recognizing the progression is the first step in prevention. Here are the warning signs that warrant attention, not dismissal:

• Growling around food, toys, or resting spots Dogs that growl when approached near their bowl, when someone reaches for a toy, or when disturbed on the furniture are displaying resource guarding. This is not cute or funny. It is an early and reliable warning sign of a dog that does not accept the owner's position as pack leader.
• Hard staring or stiffening when approached A dog that freezes, stiffens, and fixes a hard stare on a person or another animal is communicating a threat. This is body language that precedes a bite. It should never be ignored or challenged without professional guidance.
• Growling or snapping at children or strangers Dogs that are uncomfortable around children, guests, or unfamiliar people — and communicate that discomfort through growling or snapping — require intervention immediately. This is not a dog that is "just shy." It is a dog communicating its threshold.
• Reactivity on leash toward other dogs A dog that lunges, barks, and explodes at other dogs while on leash is over threshold and not under control. Left unaddressed, leash reactivity frequently escalates. It is also a common injury risk — to the handler, to other dogs, and to bystanders.
• Escalating behavior over time The most important pattern to watch: is the behavior getting worse? A dog that growled once becomes a dog that growls regularly becomes a dog that snaps becomes a dog that bites. Aggression that is not addressed tends not to plateau. It escalates.

Muzzle Training: Every Dog, Not Just Aggressive Dogs

The Tool Most Owners Overlook Until It's Too Late

A muzzle is not a punishment. It is not a label. It is not an admission that your dog is dangerous. It is a tool — and at Leerburg, every dog is conditioned to wear one. Not because every dog is aggressive, but because every dog will at some point in its life face a situation where a muzzle could make the difference between safety and a serious injury.

Veterinary visits. Grooming. Injury and pain. Socialization work with a dog that has shown reactivity. Recovery from surgery. Emergency situations where even a friendly dog might bite out of fear or pain. These moments arrive without warning. A dog that has never been conditioned to a muzzle becomes a dog that is extremely difficult to handle safely when those moments come.

The time to introduce a muzzle is before you need it. When a dog learns to associate a muzzle with feeding, walks, and play — before any stressful event — wearing one becomes a neutral or even positive experience. Start early, go slowly, use high-value food, and build the association across many repetitions.

Three conditioning methods work well:

• 1Free shaping — allow the dog to offer behaviors that gradually lead to wearing the muzzle, marking and rewarding each step toward the final behavior.
• 2Luring — use high-value food placed inside or near the muzzle to encourage the dog to put their nose in voluntarily, building duration incrementally.
• 3Compulsion — a last resort for dogs with significant prior negative experiences with muzzles, and best undertaken with professional guidance.

Most dogs — including those with a history of negative experiences — respond best to reward-based conditioning. The process takes patience, but the result is a dog that accepts the muzzle comfortably and a handler who has a critical safety tool available whenever they need it.

Managing an Aggressive Dog Safely

Management Is Not Failure — It Is Responsible Ownership

This is the part of dog aggression that nobody wants to hear: there are no secret training methods that will change most aggressive dogs. What there are — and what Leerburg's entire course on dominant and aggressive dogs is built around — are ways to manage and safely live with them, if owners are willing to do the work.

Management means controlling the dog's environment so that biting opportunities are eliminated. It is not a substitute for training, but for many owners of truly aggressive dogs, it is the most important piece of the solution — and the piece most often skipped.

Core management principles for dogs with aggression:

• 1Crates and ex-pens. An aggressive dog should never have unsupervised freedom in the home when guests are present. A crate is not punishment — it is a management tool that prevents incidents before they happen.
• 2Leashes indoors. Keeping an aggressive dog on a leash in the home during high-risk situations gives the handler immediate control. It also prevents the dog from rehearsing aggressive behavior unsupervised.
• 3No dog parks. Ever. Dog parks are one of the most dangerous environments for a dog with any history of aggression or reactivity. The combination of unknown dogs, no strong human pack leader, and high arousal creates ideal conditions for a fight.
• 4Mealtime separation. A dominant dog should not be in the kitchen or dining room while the family eats. The pack leader eats first — this is a pack structure rule, and allowing a dominant dog to challenge it reinforces the wrong hierarchy.
• 5No unsupervised time with unknown dogs. A dog aggressive dog should never be allowed to interact with unknown dogs. Ever. No exceptions for "friendly" dogs or controlled introductions without a professional present.
• 6Muzzle for high-risk situations. If the dog must be in a situation that carries risk — the vet, a groomer, a new environment — a properly conditioned muzzle is non-negotiable.

Management is not giving up on your dog. It is protecting your dog, your family, and your community while you do the work of training. A dog that is well-managed is a dog that doesn't bite. That outcome is worth every inconvenience of the management routine.

Counter Conditioning Without Going Over Threshold

The Most Important Rule in Working with a Reactive Dog

Counter conditioning is one of the most powerful tools available for reactive and aggressive dogs — but it only works under one condition: the dog must be below threshold when you use it. A dog that is already "fired up," lunging, barking, or fixated on a trigger cannot learn. The brain is in survival mode. No amount of food or praise will reach them in that state.

This is the mistake most owners make. They see a trigger, they try to redirect with treats, and the dog is already too far gone to respond. The session becomes a reinforcement of the reactive state rather than a building of a new association. And the next session starts at an even higher baseline of arousal.

The Threshold Rule

Exposure must happen at a distance — or intensity — where the dog notices the trigger but is not reacting to it. The dog may look. They may stiffen slightly. But they can still take food, still respond to their name, still make eye contact with the handler. That is the working zone. That is where learning happens.

The progression looks like this:

• Identify the trigger and the threshold distance At what distance can your dog notice the trigger without reacting? Start there — or further back. Distance is your most important variable. It is always better to start too far away than too close.
• Mark and reward calm observation When the dog notices the trigger but does not react — mark the moment (with a clicker or verbal marker) and deliver a high-value food reward. You are building the association: trigger appears ? good things happen. Do this repeatedly at the same distance until the dog is reliably calm and orienting to you rather than fixating on the trigger.
• Decrease distance gradually — over many sessions Only move closer once the dog is fully relaxed at the current distance across multiple sessions. If the dog reacts, you have moved too close, too fast. Step back. There is no failure in going slowly. The only failure is pushing too hard and sensitizing the dog further.
• Use a muzzle to expand your working zone A properly conditioned muzzle allows you to work at closer distances with a margin of safety — for the dog, for other dogs, and for the handler. It removes the consequences of a momentary lapse in threshold management and gives you room to train without catastrophic risk.
• End every session before the dog reacts This is non-negotiable. End on a calm note. A dog that ends a session in a reactive state has been pushed too far — and has practiced the exact behavior you are trying to extinguish. Quit early. Quit calm. Come back tomorrow.

The Role of Obedience Training

12% of the Solution — But a 12% You Cannot Skip

Obedience training is not the solution to dog aggression. This is a point Ed Frawley makes repeatedly and emphatically throughout his work on aggression — and it is one of the most important things an owner of an aggressive dog can internalize. If you take your reactive dog to a group obedience class and come home expecting the problem to be solved, you will be disappointed. And potentially in danger.

The solution to dog aggression, broken down honestly, looks something like this:

A dog that has a solid obedience foundation — that responds reliably to a recall, that will sit and down and wait on command, that understands and accepts corrections — is a dog you can work with. It is a dog you can manage in the real world. Obedience builds the communication system.

Obedience training for a dog with aggression issues should not be purely motivational. Motivation is used — but it must be paired with the expectation that commands will be followed, and appropriate consequences when they are not. A dog that only works when it feels like it is not a dog under control. Especially not in a high-arousal, aggressive situation.

A dog that doesn't see you as a true pack leader will love you and still not respect you. And the vast majority of so-called professional trainers don't have real experience with aggressive dogs — it can take more than a decade to be truly qualified.

Before working with any trainer on aggression, ask about their actual experience. Not just their credentials.

Dogs and Children: A Special Responsibility

The Highest-Risk Combination — and How to Make It Safe

Children are the most frequent victims of serious dog bites. About half of all bite victims are children,¹ and children ages 1–4 represent the largest single group of fatality victims — accounting for roughly 30% of all dog bite deaths in recent CDC data.⁴ They are bitten most often on the face, head, and neck — 77% of the time when the victim is under age 10.⁵ They are frequently bitten by dogs they know, in homes they are familiar with. And they are frequently bitten because no adult in the room understood what the dog was communicating in the moments before the bite.

This is not a reason to keep children away from dogs. It is a reason to take the combination of children and dogs seriously — with appropriate supervision, appropriate rules, and appropriate education for both the child and the dog.

Rules for Children Around Dogs

• 1Always ask permission before approaching or petting a dog you don't know — and wait for the owner to confirm the dog is comfortable with contact.
• 2Never approach a dog that is eating, sleeping, or caring for puppies.
• 3Never tease, chase, or startle a dog — even one you know well.
• 4Never run past a dog. Running triggers prey drive, and even a friendly dog can react to a running child in a way that causes injury.
• 5If a dog approaches and you feel scared: stand still, arms at sides, avoid eye contact. Do not run. Do not scream. Be a tree.

Rules for Dog Owners with Children in the Home

• 1Supervision is not optional. A dog and a child should never be left alone together unsupervised — regardless of the dog's history.
• 2A dog that growls at children has communicated something important. Do not correct the growl in isolation — address what is driving it.
• 3Dogs with a history of any aggression should be crated or separated when children are present. Management is not paranoia — it is responsibility.
• 4Do not allow mouthy puppies around very small children. The puppy is playing — but the child does not experience it that way, and incidents at this stage shape both the child's relationship with dogs and the dog's behavior going forward.

Finding Qualified Help

What to Look For — and What to Watch Out For

If your dog is showing signs of aggression, finding a qualified trainer to help you is an important step. But this is a case where qualifications matter enormously — and where the gap between a good trainer and an unqualified one can have serious consequences.

The hard truth: the vast majority of professional dog trainers are not qualified to offer advice on dog aggression. Obedience training can be learned in a couple of years. Genuine expertise in aggression takes far longer — Ed Frawley estimates it can take more than a decade of hands-on experience before a trainer is truly equipped to handle serious aggression cases safely and effectively.

When evaluating a trainer to help with an aggressive dog, ask:

• 1How many aggressive dogs have you worked with, and over how many years? Look for decades of hands-on experience, not certificates.
• 2What is your approach to serious aggression? Be wary of any trainer who promises a fix — or who uses only positive reinforcement without acknowledging the role of corrections and pack structure in working with truly dominant dogs.
• 3Have you worked with cases as serious as mine? A trainer with experience in sport dogs or police K9 work is not automatically qualified to work with a handler-aggressive family dog. The contexts are different. Ask specifically.
• 4What do you expect from me? A qualified trainer will make clear that the owner's work — consistency, management, follow-through — is a large part of the outcome. Be skeptical of anyone who takes your dog away and returns it "fixed."

Further Reading & Resources

Everything You Need — In One Place

One week is not enough. Dog bite prevention is a year-round practice — built into how you raise your puppy, how you manage your adult dog, how you supervise interactions between dogs and children, and how seriously you take the early warning signs that too many owners miss until something goes wrong.

The following resources from Leerburg represent the most thorough free and paid library of aggression content available. Use them.

For questions specific to your dog's situation, the Ask Leerburg Q&A on leerburg.com is answered almost daily by a professional trainer with decades of experience in behavior, breeding, and working dogs. It is one of the most valuable and underused resources on the site.

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About Author

Leerburg

Established in 1982, Leerburg is a family-owned business that first started as a video production company. It has since expanded and now curates quality dog training equipment, online streaming services, and online courses led by expert trainers like Michael Ellis. Leerburg caters to trainers from all walks of life, whether they are a beginner with a new puppy to an advanced dog trainer competing in protection sports. Learn more about Leerburg here.

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