Across the world, statistics suggest that more dog bites happen when interacting with familiar dogs than with unknown dogs. Dog bites are the biggest reason for fear of dogs. By training and socialising your dog properly, you can enable a change in society’s outlook towards dogs. Act responsibly, and make this world a better place for our furry companions
Train your dog using gentle methods- Training is all about communicating with your dog and helping her learn behaviours that will be accepted by people around her. Train puppies for bite inhibition, and dogs on important control commands like sit, down, a good recall, and most importantly the “no” command. Do not use punitive methods or tools like choke chains or prong collars. And don’t just send your dog to be trained by somebody: participate actively, and learn how to train your dog.
Socialise your dog early on — Socialisation is a way to teach your puppy that the world is safe. Starting with a controlled and safe environment, familiarise your puppy and adolescent dog to different people, animals, things, and situations. This will help her accept these situations cheerfully as an adult. Most bites happen out of fear, and by socializing your puppy you are helping her cope with a variety of situations.
Pay attention to your dog’s body language - We humans have the gift of language to communicate. Yet, we all know how important it is to read another's body language, tone etc. This ability to read body language and signs, becomes even more important in inter-species communication. Believe it or not, biting is the dog’s last resort. She will give enough signals - like tucking her tail to say she is scared, licking her lips, staring into your eye or wagging her tail slowly from side-to-side to warn you. Keep an eye on your dog’s body language when she is interacting with people or animals, and when she is experiencing different situations.
Learn how to behave around a dog – Just as we expect a dog to behave well around people, we must learn how to behave around a dog. Simple things like not bothering a dog that is sleeping or eating, not pulling a dog’s tail or ear and not treating a dog like a pony and making children sit on the dog, not snatching away something the dog is holding – all these behaviours can reduce incidents of dog bites.
(Rajeshwari is a canine behaviourist and trainer based in Bangalore. She can be reached at rajeshwari.09@gmail.com)
