Posts tagged "dog bites"

By Mikkel Becker, via Vetstreet

Q: My dog has this weird habit of lunging at people's feet when I walk him on the street - but he does it only once the person has passed. What is this all about?

A: I can imagine how stressful this situation must be for you, especially when you're just trying to exchange friendly greetings with someone like a neighbor.

SEE ALSO: Why Does My Dog... Stare at Me?

There are a few reasons your dog could be displaying this behavior.

Instinct: Canines with herding backgrounds are notorious for nipping at the heels of other dogs, sheep, horses and even people. Border Collies and Australian Shepherds, for example, are known for exhibiting ankle- and heel-nipping behavior, which can show up in puppyhood.

The behavior is usually brought on by fast movements or walking away from a dog with your back facing him.

Many dogs enjoy the holidays. Nonstop doorbell rings and visitors showering attention may be doggy bliss for your pet. But even friendly, laid-back pooches get their tails in a twist over the disruption to routine. That can be dangerous for pets and for people.

Dogs recognize people by smell but also by sight. A dog may not recognize a favorite human behind that Halloween mask. Miniature goblins, witches and other ghoulish visitors often are strange children he won't know. A flowing cape or sparkly fairy wings can be scary. A frightened dog easily mistakes a waving "light saber" or pitch fork as a weapon aimed to hurt.

Halloween is a high risk holiday for dog bites with children in costumes that scare dogs encountering strange pets on their own turf. And when hero dogs defend themselves, their homes and their people from "space aliens" your child could get bitten. Wolfsbane, garlic and holy water won't help but these tips can keep trick or treaters safe and the dogs happy, too.

Call Ahead. It's best to plan trick or treat visits with people you know-and ask them about confining their dog before you arrive. Pet "parents" want to keep their "fur-kids" safe, too, and should appreciate your thoughtfulness.

As we pamper our pets more and more, and pet training is an ever-increasing part of the cultural zeitgeist due to shows like "Dog Whisperer" and "It's Me or the Dog," you might think that our animals were growing tamer, more predictable and better behaved. But new research makes us reconsider that.

A study recently published by the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reveals statistics about dog bite-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations. Perhaps the most interesting data shows that visits requiring hospitalization increased a startling 86 percent over 16 years, from 5,100 in 1993 to 9,500 in 2008.

Despite a large and seemingly anomalous spike in 1995, these statistics represent a steady rise over the 16-year period.

Of course, the numbers represent only those dog bites that were severe enough to require patients to be admitted. While there were 9,500 dog bite hospitalizations in 2008, there were 316,200 emergency room visits due to dog bites. That breaks down to 866 emergency room visits and 26 hospitalizations each day, or only about 3 percent of ER visits necessitating hospitalization.

So what does this all mean? Well, there's no reason to stop calling the dog man's best friend. There are 77.5 million dog owners in this country, and only 4.5 million are bitten each year, with very few of those bites being serious. But because children represent the age groups most likely to wind up in the ER due to bites, make sure your kids know the proper way to approach and interact with dogs, and that your dog knows how to deal with children.

To learn more about staying safe, read these other Paw Nation articles: Dog Bite Prevention - 5 Ways To Protect Yourself and Your Family and How To Treat A Dog Bite.

In honor of Dog Bite Prevention Week, we at Paw Nation, along with many others including the American Veterinary Medical Association, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to educate Americans about preventing dog bites. On Paw Nation we've covered how to protect yourself from being bitten by a dog, how to train a puppy to stop biting and in this piece, we offer general information about treating dog bites.

While dog bites are relatively infrequent compared to other injuries, one in five dog bites is severe enough to warrant medical attention. If you are hurt, consider the following to help you avoid infection or scars.

When You Can Treat Yourself

If the dog has had its shots and you've had your shots (meaning a tetanus shot in the last ten years), you can probably take care of your own wound if:

It's just a scratch. If the bite isn't bleeding, wash gently with mild soap and hold it under running water for a few minutes, then pat dry with a clean towel and cover with sterile gauze, says Orlando emergency room physician Dale Birenbaum, M.D. who is also the program director of the Florida Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency Program. "At the minimum, a lot of soap and water is probably better than stronger antiseptics," advises Birenbaum.

Call a doctor if signs of infection appear over the next 24 to 48 hours, such as redness or swelling.

It's just a mild bruise. Ice and elevate the area. Icing constricts blood vessels, reduces swelling and can feel soothing.

It's a lightly bleeding puncture wound. Apply direct pressure with a clean towel, advises Birenbaum, and raise the area of the bite until bleeding stops.


When To Get Help Immediately

If you are unsure at all about the severity of the bite or concerned about how you should treat it, seek professional medical help. It's always better to be safe. Birenbaum also recommends that you get immediate medical treatment in these situations:

If you can't control the bleeding within the first minute or two. Especially if the bite is located on the neck or groin, where there are major blood vessels, Birenbaum says.

If you are bitten on the hand. "The hands are very sensitive and they're prone to infection more than any other areas," Birenbaum explains. Your doctor will evaluate the wound for possible nerve damage, tendon damage, or bone injury, and determine whether antibiotics or surgery is necessary.

If the dog bites your face. Bites above the neck, especially in children, are dangerous and can leave disfiguring scars if not treated.

Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Director and Paw Nation's expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has over 25 years of experience working with dogs, and she is one of fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of 10 books, including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know."

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I've just adopted a 6-month-old puppy named Max from a shelter. I'm starting from scratch with his training, but unlike the last dog I adopted, Max likes to bite. He will nip during playtime, and he really bites when someone does something he doesn't like. He hasn't drawn blood yet, but I worry about what will happen when he gets older and bigger. How can I teach him to not bite?

It's hard to believe how much those needle-like tiny teeth can hurt when a rambunctious puppy nips you -- and of course the injury potential from dog bites increases as the dog gets older. You are right to be concerned. Let me help by explaining a bit about puppy socialization and offer you first steps to take to curb Max's biting ways.

One of the most important lessons a puppy learns from his mother is how to to control the intensity of a bite. This is called bite inhibition and in the litter, if the puppies bite while nursing, the dam (mother) will nip them or stand up and walk away, taking the breakfast buffet with her.

The dam isn't the only one who teaches a puppy not to bite. When puppies are playing with their siblings, if a puppy gets wound up and bites too hard, the sibling will jump up and yelp. She may leave the game as if to say, "Don't do that! That hurts!" The puppy soon learns if he wants the fun game to continue, he cannot bite too hard.

Now it's your turn. When Max bites, loudly say, "Ouch!" This lets him know that biting is not okay. Don't jerk your hand away if he has his teeth on you because this could tear your skin. Instead show that just as with a puppy's mom and siblings would do, you are going to retreat from the game if he bites. Behaviorally, this is a timeout from what he wants -- time and attention from you.

You're out for a walk and an unleashed dog starts chasing you. Do you run? Scream at the dog? Smile and make eye contact?

Actually, none of those things, says Adam Goldfarb, director of the Pets at Risk Program for the Humane Society of the United States.

Dogs bite 4.5 million Americans each year, and about one in five victims suffer severe enough injuries to require medical attention. Young children are at the greatest risk according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Senior citizens and mail carriers are also common victims.

In honor of National Dog Bite Prevention Week, we asked Goldfarb for tips on how to avoid being bitten.

Stay Calm, Move Slowly and Appear Nonthreatening: Dogs love to chase and catch things--and you don't want to spark that urge. If you're out walking and a dog starts running after you, stop moving. Then remain still or back away slowly until the dog is out of sight. Avoid eye contact, because "a stare can be seen as threatening or intimidating," Goldfarb says. He also suggests turning sideways "because it makes you look smaller to a dog and less threatening." Don't scream or give the dog a reason to become excited or aggressive.

Prepare Your Kids: 400,000 children are treated every year for dog bites and most bites involving young children occur during everyday activities and while interacting with familiar dogs, notes the AVMA. Teach your children not to hug or kiss the family dog on the face, a common cause of bites to the face. Instead, scratch the dog on the chest or the side of the neck. The AVMA offers a coloring book in English and Spanish to help educate children about interacting safely with dogs and avoiding dog bites that can be downloaded.

If Attacked, Distract: Get on the other side of a car or "feed" the dog your backpack, purse, t-shirt or a garbage can lid to both distract the animal and to create a barrier between you and it while you try to get away safely.

Were you bitten by a dog as a child? How did it affect the way you feel about dogs today?

My mom and my wife both were bitten as kids. Anna's bite was a lot more serious than my mother's, yet Anna loves dogs and my mom does not. What gives?

Anna's family got an English springer spaniel puppy when she was about four, and there seemed to be something wrong with her almost immediately. She snarled inexplicably and was very food territorial. They had to be sure not to walk behind her while she was eating. When Anna was six, the dog attacked her at the top of a set of stairs: "She knocked me onto my back and did not let go. She had my whole forearm in her mouth and bit me several times before my mother could pull her off of me."

She doesn't remember much about the aftermath other than (gross-out alert) "the blood and the tissue that I saw hanging out of the hole in my arm." Her mother cleaned the wound and took her to the hospital, where she got stitches in five places on her arm and a bandage she had to wear for weeks.

After covering the story about Greta, the German shepherd puppy who was quarantined after accidentally biting her owner, Jane Curley, we heard from Curley and learned a bit more about the situation.

First, Curley was quick to point out that they don't blame animal control for the situation. "At this point, animal control is OK with her going home; it's the health department that won't allow it," she told Paw Nation. She and her family suspect that the health department "misinterpreted the state law and is unwilling to admit their mistake."


Curley is pleased (well, as pleased as one can be) with the facility where Greta is currently housed, saying, "The vet practice has been really amazing. She is in the ICU so she sees some activity and I am sure people talk to her." That doesn't mean Curley's not anxious to get her pooch back, though: "They say she has not messed the crate. I think that's a good sign. We are hoping for the best, but concerned."

Dr. Keith Niesenbaum of Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital in Garden City Park, N.Y., shares that concern. "Puppies are in the midst of their early socialization at 11 weeks of age and this could result in a setback in Greta's development. It would not surprise me to see some delays in development such as bonding with the owners and house training," he told Paw Nation, adding that he would "be surprised if North Carolina state law actually requires an asymptomatic puppy with no history of rabies exposure to be placed in isolation."

"Fortunately, the confinement period is short, and puppies tend to be resilient," Niesenbaum went on to say. "With some environmental stimulation such as music or a TV playing along with normal day/night light cycles, while in the hospital, there will hopefully be no long lasting effects from this quarantine."

Anyone who's ever fed a puppy by hand knows it comes with risks. Jane Curley knew this when she offered her 11-week-old German Shepherd puppy, Greta, a bit of bacon. Not surprisingly, the puppy overshot and ended up biting Curley's finger -- an injury that required three stitches, reports FOX Charlotte.

Curley also wasn't surprised to see animal control show up at her door after her hospital visit, but when the officer said he'd have to take the puppy with him, Curley told FOX Charlotte, "[O]ur jaws dropped to the floor and we just panicked."

Greta is currently being quarantined for 10 days under state law 130A-196, which states that any dog without a rabies vaccine who bites must be quarantined, but here's the kicker -- Greta isn't old enough for the vaccine, reports FOX Charlotte.

Now, here's the part that really, uh, bites -- FOX Charlotte reports that the same statute says "after reviewing the circumstances of the particular case, the local health director may allow the owner to confine the animal on the owner's property." Curley is concerned about the effect this quarantine could have on the young pup's temperament and wonders why that option isn't being offered, since Greta's is obviously the type of case that the provision was designed for.

While, as FOX Charlotte reports, the Mecklenburg County Health Department and CMPD Animal Care & Control are at odds over whether this case was handled properly or not, little Greta remains quarantined at the vet's office, and her owner is barking mad. But, perhaps some good will come from this controversy and the law will be revisited.