I wouldn’t say usually. I think most dog injuries aren’t even bites, but trip and falls. Most state dog bite statutes are written as strict liability for any injury caused by a dog. I’ve seen cases where a dog runs out into traffic, causes a car to swerve and hit a, pedestrian, and the owner of the dog is liable. Another common one is a package car driver who comes to your door and get startled by your dog and falls off your step, something like that. Most dog bite injuries are people that work with dogs, vet techs and so forth. Point is, dogs are domesticated. They don’t do anything without human decisions. Even in places where they have feral dogs, that’s because of human decisionmaking.
Even with dog bites, I think most bites are caused by negligence. People who aren’t careful enough when opening their door, or when new peipoe walk up tk the dog, or obviously people that don’t train their dog (or themselves) to properly control the dog and manage the dog’s emotions.
How often do you see it where someone’s dog gets excited at something, and the owner starts yelling at the dog and similarly freaking out? It only makes the dog more excited. Dogs are looking to humans for their behavior and emotional cues. Calm human, calm dog.
At my house we greet people quietly and welcome them in calmly. The dog just sits there until he’s invited over to say hello.
If people come in and start doing that loud sing-song excited greeting bullshit, the dog runs over and starts pushing into people while nervously wagging. That’s not abusive, but I bet that’s what leads to the substantial majority of dog bites. If a dog bites, and the victim, or the owner, starts screaming or tries to hit or kick the dog, that just makes the dog panic more, bite more, “attack” more. That’s not an aggressive dog, that’s a defensive dog.
Dog injury statistics are all shit. It’s nobody’s job to keep an accurate count or to accurately report the breed or cause.
And usually those decisions involve significant abuse or neglect.
I wouldn’t say usually. I think most dog injuries aren’t even bites, but trip and falls. Most state dog bite statutes are written as strict liability for any injury caused by a dog. I’ve seen cases where a dog runs out into traffic, causes a car to swerve and hit a, pedestrian, and the owner of the dog is liable. Another common one is a package car driver who comes to your door and get startled by your dog and falls off your step, something like that. Most dog bite injuries are people that work with dogs, vet techs and so forth. Point is, dogs are domesticated. They don’t do anything without human decisions. Even in places where they have feral dogs, that’s because of human decisionmaking.
I’m just talking about dogs that attack humans.
Even with dog bites, I think most bites are caused by negligence. People who aren’t careful enough when opening their door, or when new peipoe walk up tk the dog, or obviously people that don’t train their dog (or themselves) to properly control the dog and manage the dog’s emotions.
How often do you see it where someone’s dog gets excited at something, and the owner starts yelling at the dog and similarly freaking out? It only makes the dog more excited. Dogs are looking to humans for their behavior and emotional cues. Calm human, calm dog.
At my house we greet people quietly and welcome them in calmly. The dog just sits there until he’s invited over to say hello.
If people come in and start doing that loud sing-song excited greeting bullshit, the dog runs over and starts pushing into people while nervously wagging. That’s not abusive, but I bet that’s what leads to the substantial majority of dog bites. If a dog bites, and the victim, or the owner, starts screaming or tries to hit or kick the dog, that just makes the dog panic more, bite more, “attack” more. That’s not an aggressive dog, that’s a defensive dog.
Dog injury statistics are all shit. It’s nobody’s job to keep an accurate count or to accurately report the breed or cause.