Why do some dogs bite without provocation? - Page 2

I don't believe dogs do bite without provocation.

I do believe that often dogs bite because they have been disciplined for giving warning signals such as growling.

I do believe that only results in removing the warning signal and giving the dog no option but to bite "without warning"

I also believe a lot of dogs bite because they are convinced they have no option,

If people will not or cannot control their dogs perhaps they would be better of without one.

bites are bites.......

What is provocation to a dog is not the same as provocation to a human. Most of my dogs bite me when they greet me just as they bite each other in play. Sometimes this is a pinch, sometimes a crushing grip on my arm with a look like "What do you think about that?" Some dogs are pushy and dominant and are aggressive toward children because they perceive them as vulnerable to challenge as a means of climbing the social ladder.

You don't teach a dog to bite. They are born knowing how to do it.

I know a dog that bites without provocation, but usually is known to give a warning. The owner fears something I believe she called, "idiosyncratic biting behaviour", by a fee charging expert. It is very distressing for the owners and they in no way caused this by using punishment for a warning growl.

The breeder fears a genetic component, as in what she calls a seizure line, as the cause. She wants to euthanize the whole line, but my friend is looking at other options.

Ever heard of predator behavior? I had a dog heeling by me with perfect focus on his handler and latched on my arm with serious intent. By the time the handler who is 6'4 and 250 lbs tried correcting him he was back heeling perfect. We imediately set him up by coming very close again and guess what? Perfect healing again. He bit me because he could. Period. BTW his father was a WSUV champion.

As my husband says every time someone asks him if our dogs will bite,"They've got teeth, don't they? Anything with teeth will bite!" Both of my dogs are sweethearts, but I think either would be capable given the provocation.There's no such thing as a 'bite proof' dog...that's why responcible ownership is so important. Training, leashes, and fences all help, but in the long run, if you have a dog, you need to supervise them when they are in public, and not let them run at large. JMHO, jo

Well the update on this situation in the neighborhood is that the police went to the dog owners house and asked to see shot records and a rabies tag along with the county dog license that is required- she was unable to produce them and gave some story about her husband not being home and he's the one who knows where they are....they gave her 24 hours to produce them.  Honestly I was rather surprised that the owner wouldn't have the tags- she always struck me as a responsible person.  Guess I was wrong? lol 

I personally think the kids tried to shoo the dog away when he was following them home and I surmise that the dog didn't just decide to chase them and bite for no reason.  BUT at the same time the dog had no business running loose anyways.  I try to school the kids on how to respect not just MY dogs but any dog- don't get in their face, don't run and get the dog to chase you, don't mess with it when it's eating,drinking, has a bone-common sense stuff that people should just tell their kids anyways, but they don't.  I allow very little interaction with my dogs and kids outside our family not because I don't trust my own dog but because other people do not teach their kids how to respect animals.  I'm curious now to see if a run or a fence goes up in the neighbor's yard.  My guess is that she's gonna down play this incident because she already stated the dog was "just playing".  Maybe he was, but that still does not make it ok for a kid to get bit while walking home from the bus stop.  If it were my kid I would be pretty upset.  I don't necessarily know if I would have gone to the extent of making enough trouble that the police or animal control would need to get involved but I would have certainly made it clear that if I saw the dog running loose in the neighborhood again she may as well not even go look for him unless she checks the pound.

We are well past the day when a dog can run loose. Between dog nappers and people making specious allegations as well as the rare occurrences when the dog does bite or jump on someone, it is simply not worth the risk.

Dogs are opportunists and manipulators. If it is in their disposition to bite and there is some gain in it for them to bite( what ever that may be) they will bite. If it is not in their makeup to bite they will not, but they will still try to achieve their objective in a less aggressive way, avoidence begging whatever. A dogs objective in life is to get what it wants from people, and how he goes about that is determined by his temperment.
The key is in knowing the dog, and then acting accordingly with him to keep him and the pubic safe if need be.

There is no such thing as "bite for no reason". I"m going througha situation right now where my GSD bite a kid. She broke the skin . I have been dropped by my ins.  And the REASON was teenage boys have been plucking her since she was a pup. We slipped up and got lazy , she got passed us and bite. It's not her fault, it's mine and my husband. We should have been more careful. Thee is always a reason.