Hi everyone,

It has been 10months of rotating and crating and it has been wonderful! Of course not ideal for life, but no fights, so that's ideal!

No stupid questions right? Here it goes...

I remember Ed's video where a 1yr old puppy was being introduced and trying to play with a non aggressive dominant female and the female lunged at the male, but missed the male dog. Ed said on the video, if the dog wanted to bite, she would have. She was warning him and intentionally missed him.

That sort of leads to this question...

Is there a difference with intentions in a bite that "breaks the skin", versus a bite that "does not break the skin"?

And I am not talking about puppies playing with each other. I am talking about a dog that bit someone over and over on the arm, after it got its rabies shot and slipped out of its muzzle.

If there are 2 different intentions, what does it mean in the dog world when you break the skin versus not break the skin?

Thank you!

Sometimes it's just the physics involved in the bite that prevents a skin break, or clothing, or fur - there are many different factors that could be involved here.

I've been bit and no bleeding but it hurt like hell

Yep, me too, and it was intentional.

I've also been bit by a dog who had no intention of biting me (he was going for a tennis ball I was holding), it bled like hell and I lost a thumbnail as a result. He let go as soon as he realized he had my thumb, backed up a few steps, and hung his head. He was a client's very sweet bull terrier and it was completely unintentional, but it was the worst bite I had ever experienced.

Intent and damage don't necessarily have any correlation.

I have been chomped for a variety of reasons.

The worst was an unintentional bite while I was stupidly trying to break up a fight. It was a bad bite and a bad fight, but it could have been so much worse for both me and the dog getting attacked. It was three weeks before I could my wedding ring back on though!!

I have been chomped when Nico was going for the ball and got me instead, right on the thumb joint, and it was stiff and swollen for days.

Same girl has gotten me several times recently when I try to give her her medicine in cheese. Her vision and depth perception must not be what they used to be. After she bit me on the finger that is still healing from the bad bite I have started setting her treats/meds down on the floor before giving them to her!!

Cat bites are far nastier though IMO and tend to get infected super quickly.

So is this a what constitutes a bite thread or a my worst bite was thread?

Either way I wanna share too. I've definitely had my fair share of bites taking in Rottweiler fosters straight from backyards but my worst was when I was actually hand feeding one of them some medication. It was an intentional as the dog was food aggressive but it wasn't the bite that was bad really. It was the fact that the dog held on to my hand for close to 5 minutes. It only hurt for the first 30 seconds or so but kept it cool cause the girl was abandoned for years. We eventually worked things out and she has turned out to be a wonderful dog.

In this case, was it a bite, yes. Was it intentional, yes. But the reasoning was due to a misunderstanding. Personally, a bite is a bite, but whether it is reportable to me or not is the difference.

- Lamarr

 Quote: will rambeau

Sometimes it's just the physics involved in the bite that prevents a skin break, or clothing, or fur - there are many different factors that could be involved here.

Gotchya Will. Thanks everyone for responding....

Will, your answer draws another question, hope you don't mind.

If your arm is bare, meaning there is no clothing to protect your skin, could just about any dog, like a Jack Russell, bite hard enough to make you bleed?

Or I can ask it this way. Is it basically the dog's choice when he makes contact with the skin whether to bite hard enough to penetrate or not?

Thanks all for your stories. My fiance has never had a dog bite to make him bleed so I think he may be underestimating the bite his JR is giving him as not as "bad" if that is possible.

I myself have had oh, 1 or 2. One being in my head from the family Doberman. Turns out, she hated kids. No stitches need.

And yes, the cat bite is the worst! I had 2 attacks. One attack on my legs. A cat grappled me twice all for legs on me and a mouth at my uncles clinic when I was working there. Blood all over my scrubs on both legs.

The other was a bite to the hand. It became infectious and had to be on antibiotics and soak it in some water solution. It was a while ago.

After both bites, I preferred handling dogs over cats

Weekend is here!

I was bit by a chihuahua when I worked at a Vets office in high school, he got me good and I did bleed.

BUT it wasn't nearly as painful or damaging as some of the non bleeding bites my dogs have accidentally given me.

I think the difference is the tissue damage from the more powerful chomp of a bigger dog.

 Quote: Lamarr Couttien

Personally, a bite is a bite, but whether it is reportable to me or not is the difference.

- Lamarr

This is very true, getting knicked or bit is a part of life with some dogs, especially when playing tug or taking in rescues.

The severity, intent, and situation are what decides if it is serious bite or not. Just my opinion though

Gotchya! Thank you Jennifer and Lamarr. It helps alot. A bite is a bite.

I appreciate this so much.