When we work with a client who has dealt with or is concerned about their dog biting, safety is our top priority, so the start of our plan will be loaded with activities related to:
- Helping the humans learn how to spot the behaviors that indicate their pet is closer to escalation toward a bite, and those that indicate they are de-escalating, moving toward regulation and self-soothing. In other words, learning body language.
- Developing management strategies that work for the household.
- Beginning the work of meeting needs!
We’re rounding out the dog days of August with a hot topic: a content roundup related to preventing dog bites. The TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) would look something like this:
- Learn to recognize the signs that a dog is uncomfortable
- Management is your friend
- Cultivate predictability in interactions
- Work with a professional if you’re having trouble
- Enrichment is important (surprise!)
It’s Not About Bad Dogs—It’s About Better Communication
“It came out of nowhere.”
Dog trainers and behavior consultants are familiar with this statement, and most of us have probably spent some time explaining why that is an unlikely scenario. But even if we discover exactly why a bite occurred, it doesn’t erase the emotional baggage it carries for all involved.
Living with a dog who is a bite risk, and having many close calls with the toothy end of Petey the Wondermutt myself, I know that not all of the warning signs are loud and clear. There are often conflicting signals, and depending on my own mental and emotional bandwidth, I may not catch everything in the right order so I can avoid an escalation. What I can do, and have done, is put a lot of proactive strategies in place with management and predictable interactions. Building up our trust bank, looking for consent, and structuring our household environment so that our behavior results in predictable consequences as much as possible keeps us all moving in the right direction together.
Behavior Is Information
One evening I was sitting at my desk, which had been lowered so I was actually sitting on the floor. Petey was resting nearby on the floor. Then Big Man came home. I felt Petey tense up. I saw his eyes come into focus and the edges of his pupils become well-defined. I held my breath. Big Man called for me, and I stood up quickly. This sudden movement was a mistake. Petey jumped up off of the floor, snarling. I felt his fuzzy little mustache make contact with my mouth. “Hold on!” I hollered. I stood still and waited for Petey to shake off, signaling a de-escalation. I talked to him and saw that his body was less tense, but the base of his tail was pinned against his body, with the middle pointed down and just the paintbrush end of his tail wagging like a scruffy rattlesnake. This is a conflicted signal that can go either way, back up the ladder (stiffen, freeze, growl/bark/lunge), or continuing down (lip lick, head low, softer, arcing movements). I took this as my signal to walk slowly into the hall, talking to Petey, step over the gate at the top of the stairs, and make my way down to see what Big Man wanted.
Bites Aren’t Random; Behavior Is a Signal
How did I learn to see so many of Petey’s signals? Learning body language and seeing it in context in my own life. You don’t need to live with your own walking case study in order to learn about what dog’s tell us with their bodies. Here’s some of our best content related to reading our pets:
- Becoming Bilingual: Reading Your Pet’s Body Language – Allie gives some tips on how to start learning body language and provides some useful resources.
- Learning to Listen: Recognizing Your Dog’s Signals in Real Time – Claire talks about ladders of escalation and de-escalation using her dog Olivia as a real-time example with video.
- What I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Studying Animal Body Language – Allie discusses how old knowledge and new knowledge can cause inner conflict, specifically when learning body language.
- Does Your Pet Have Mountain Lion Brain? – Allie talks thresholds and learning, and how body language is context-dependent.
- You Can Look But Please Don’t Touch – MaryKaye discusses the importance of learning body language for pets who are sensitive to touch.
- When Should We Be Concerned About “Fine?” – Allie discusses thresholds and specifically calls out freeze as a stress response.
- Uncovering Pain in Pets: The Subtle Signs That Matter – Animals who are in pain can escalate their behavior in sudden and extreme ways. Ellen discusses why identifying signs of pain and treating pain is so important.
- Instagram: It’s a Good Thing if Your Dog Growls
Safety Strategies Are a Kindness
We’ll define management here as we have in other blogs: arranging the environment, to the extent it is possible, for the safety and comfort of all individuals sharing the space. In pet homes, management refers mostly to setting up an animal’s environment to prevent the rehearsal of unwanted behaviors. Biting is at the top of the list of unwanted behaviors for most humans, so management is at the top of the list for behavior goals that include preventing bites. I am including creating safe spaces along with management practices because both involve environmental arrangement.
Although we already had a lot of management strategies in place for Petey by the time the redirection incident I wrote about in the previous section occurred, I actually made some changes to the seating in my office after that. My Dad, solver of problems, builder of things, made me a lovely bench that I can wiggle around on without being on the floor.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: When we started focusing on meeting needs and good management practices that made everyone in our home feel safe, it took the pressure off of ALL of us.
Here comes some of our content on management, muzzle training, and safe spaces:
- Muzzles Aren’t Mean: Rethinking Muzzles as Mobile Safe Spaces for Dogs – Ellen talking muzzle training, management, and safe spaces…all the best stuff.
- Protected Contact at Home: Creating Safe Spaces for Pets and People – Here’s Petey showing off his safe spaces and me talking about some of the ground rules in our house.
- Will I Have to Manage My Pet Like This Forever? – Allie addressing a question we get a lot as consultants when we talk management: will I have to do this forever?
- Agency in the Life of a High Management Dog – Sometimes management is forever, and I can tell you first hand that we still have fun.
- Podcast Episode #117 Training an Aggressive Dog Safely: The Ins and Outs of Protected Contact
- Podcast Episode #120 – Why Your Pet Needs a Safe Space (and How to Make One)
- Podcast Episode #31: Creating Sustainable Management
- Instagram: Why Muzzle Training is for All Dogs
Predictability Creates Safety
Remember that you and your pet may not always be on the same page when it comes to having a secure space and feeling safe. Any species can escalate their behavior in situations in which their safety is in question, so this disconnect can become a safety issue if it leads to a bite.
Enter predictability.
Creating intentional predictability is often a goal for pets who, like Petey, struggle with certain interactions with their humans. Example: Getting up from sitting or laying down next to Petey has a history of causing an escalation in behavior. We worked on a “get up” cue for him to stand up, and a “move” cue for him to walk away from us. These cues make our movements more predictable.
When I had the opportunity to take Ellen’s safe spaces class, we had to get up and talk and walk to help our dogs move into the spaces we had created for them. I knew this would be hard for Petey; I couldn’t just hop up and get him moving like that. But we worked together slowly and predictably, and I almost hate to write this down, but we have not had a single incident of him redirecting toward me while I help him move away from a trigger since we started practicing with our safe spaces.
Care with consent or cooperative care training is another way to increase predictability for dogs who struggle with body handling, or activities related to grooming or putting on gear. Example: Petey gets on the picnic table to get his harness and collar on. If he moves to the other end of the table or jumps off, I stop. When he moves back toward me, I start again. Predictability can make stressful things more tolerable.
The following content is related to safety, security, and facilitating predictability:
- Safe vs. Secure – What’s the diff, and why are they two separate categories of enrichment? Allie lays it out.
- Is Your Pet’s Behavior Unpredictable? – Allie discusses how learning more about your dog, including body language, makes your dog’s behavior more predictable.
- Grumble and Growl Zones – MaryKaye helps us think about spaces in our homes that might be hard for our pets.
- Are you exacerbating resource guarding by trying to curb it? Taking things away from dogs is a common way for bites to occur. Allie has a simple recommendation for what to do instead of grabbing their stuff.
- Podcast Episode #24: When Agency Isn’t an Option – There are times that, as Ellen would say, “you gotta do the gottas.” In other words, you have to do something to your pet that you haven’t prepared for and they do not have a choice in the matter. But there are ways to provide some predictability in the situation.
- Instagram: Stop Petting vs. Start Petting
- Instagram: 4 Tips for Living With a Resource Guarder
Professional Support Is Part of Prevention
I’ll be honest: I don’t know where we’d be with Petey if we hadn’t sought professional help and built a team that includes a Veterinary Behaviorist. So when I tell you that wading through pet training and behavior information on your own is ROUGH, please know I understand this as a regular human person looking for help.
The lunging incident Petey and I had at my desk happened around the time we were seeing an overall trend in Petey’s reactivity toward sounds in and around the house. We ended up trialing some supplements and eventually increasing his meds, which made a huge difference. The other strategies that we use with Petey mentioned in this blog would not have come about without the help of our trainer, my colleagues, our primary vet, and VB. It truly takes a village sometimes.
If you’ve never worked on behavior changed with a professional, here are a few posts that discuss what it’s like and what we do:
- Why is There So Much Conflicting Information? – There are many paths up the mountain, in a field where anyone can give themself a title from “trainer” to “behaviorist,” you’re also going to run into some flim flam. Allie provides her thoughts on this frustrating topic.
- I Don’t Know Where to Start – Where do you even start on a behavior change journey? Allie has some ideas.
- 5 Questions to Ask to Find the Right Dog Behaviorist, Behavior Consultant, or Dog Trainer – Emily provides some great ideas for finding a professional that is a good fit for you.
- Things We Wish Clients Would Tell Us – Our own queen of connection, Corinne, encouraging you to gush about your pet. We want to know!
- That’s What Your Behavior Consultant is For – Allie says: When you find the right professional, you don’t need to come up with the solutions!
- Recognizing Your Limits: How Pet Parents and Pros Know It’s Time to Refer Out – Emily brilliantly covering why you might need to add to your behavior team.
- Your Pet is not Like Your Car -We don’t need to see your dog get stressed or bite you to believe you. But you don’t have to take my word for it, take Allie’s
- Reframing How We Think of our Pets – Allie shows us how the stories we tell can affect the way we see our pets.
- Data Tracking: Finding a Method That Works For You – Taylor talks data tracking. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to work for you!
- Podcast #108 – Debbie Martin: The Behavior Specialist You Didn’t Know You Needed
Enrichment is for Everyone
Yeah, yeah, we know enrichment is kind of our thing. But we’re not just talking about kongs and flirt poles around here. Enrichment means meeting needs. When you are getting to the bottom of a behavior issue or piecing together events that lead to behavior escalation, addressing unmet needs will be part of the equation. And that includes thinking about what the humans need, too.
If you’ve never been through it before, I can tell you that living with a pet whose behavior is concerning is not easy. Caregiver burden does not just occur when caring for another human. While you’re busy sorting out how best to help your pet and keep your people safe, it’s easy to let your own care slide.
So whether you’re learning about how enrichment works, supporting yourself or someone else who is working through behavior change with their pet, or thinking about where your own needs fit in to the plan, we’ve probably covered it somewhere:
- Dog Enrichment Categories Explained – Allie defining the categories of enrichment.
- All About the Pet Harmony Enrichment Framework – Categories aren’t that useful without a system to apply them. That’s what the framework is for!
- How Do I Know What My Dog Needs? – Meeting needs is easier when you know what is needed, and Allie is here to help.
- November 2023 Enrichment Challenge: Observe Outcomes – Ellen talks outcomes. Because enrichment isn’t just about activities.
- Cautious But Committed: Managing Risk When the Human is Risk Averse – MaryKaye knows a thing or two about working with clients. Risk feels different to all of us, so mitigating it will also look different between households.
- Journaling: Complimentary Practices for Behavior Tracking – Taylor describes how data collection practices can help with human self-care.
- Navigating Difficult Conversations – Everybody’s got something to say about pet behavior. Allie helps reframe some of those conversations.
- Podcast Episode #99 – Living with Pets with Behavior Challenges
- Podcast Episode #54 – Valerie Bogie: Your Self-Care is Enrichment
- Podcast Episode #106 – Dr. Kelly Ballantyne: Combating Caregiver Burden
- Instagram: How We Break Down Our Enrichment Framework for Pet Parents
- Instagram: Wish More People Realized Their Dog’s Behavioral Issues Aren’t “Bad”
- Instagram: Can We Talk About the Impact on Your Mental Health
- Instagram: 3 Ways to Support a Loved One With a Pet Facing Behavioral Issues
Last week I was hanging out and watching Bob’s Burgers (aka Robert’s Hamburgers in our house) with Big Man. I closed the gate on the stretched out x-pen that separates our living room from the rest of the open area of our first floor, and went upstairs to release Petey from behind a gate. As I got closer to the living room, Petey gave a quick “wooo wooo.” I paused, stood still, and said “would you like something to do?” We walked together toward the kitchen and I pulled a frozen snack out of the freezer for him. “Take it to your bed,” I said, our cue for him to go work on his project in his crate. As I stepped over the gate so I could sit down with Big Man, I thought for a moment about all of the work we’d done so that Petey and I could have the interaction we just did. Prevention isn’t about perfection. It’s about support, safety, and understanding.
Here’s to harmony,
Tiffany
Now What?
At Pet Harmony, we start every team meeting the same way, with Allie asking a member of the team what we do. We help people and their pets live harmoniously. In our work as behavior consultants, on the blog, in the podcast, and in our programs for professionals, we’re on a mission! If you’re looking for more information on increasing the welfare and wellbeing of pets and their people, you can stay on top of our weekly content by signing up for our weekly newsletter. If you are a pet professional, we’ve got one in there for you, too!
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