What would you do if your dog attacks you
Dogs form a legendary attachment with their owners. The reaction of a dog when the master is seen would not fail to give credence to the idea that dogs are man’s best friends. A dog will enthusiastically meet the master with relaxed ears, lolling tongue, a wagging tail and a face that seems to say “I miss you master”.
It was believed that the alliance between man and dog has existed for thousands of years. These animals that are highly attuned to the feelings of humans would offer affection; comforting presence and protection. However, statistics tell us that almost five million dog attack incidents occur in US and most of the victims were attacked by their own dogs.
Dogs are well love pets that are commonly treated as the “baby” of the family and the putting an aggressive dog to sleep would be a very hard decision for the dog owners. The priority of a dog owner though is to protect the family from the attacks of the aggressive pet. Despite domestication, dogs have retained the high prey drive and the cunning, territorial, ferocious behaviors they have inherited form their wolf ancestors. The latent aggressive nature of the dog will surface once triggered by a situation in the environment especially if the dog was trained by the owners to fight and to be aggressive. So what would you do if you or a family member was attacked by your own dog?
An attack situation calls for presence of mind to be able to evade the attack of the pet that has suddenly gone berserk. Being pack animals, dogs would try to dominate pack members perceived to be weak by showing aggression. The dog may have gone berserk but a well trained pet would still hesitate to attack if the command of the master is heard. You are still the alpha male and a “sit” or “stay” command given in an authoritative voice would bide you sometime to get to safer ground.
Don’t run – running will make the dog more determined to attack you. Staring into the eyes of the dog would not be a good idea as it can be misconstrued by the dog as a sign of your willingness to fight. Not showing fear would be difficult but dogs that can sense human’s fear becomes more resolute with the intention to attack. If the attacking dog cannot be stopped curl into a ball to protect your face and your throat.
What to do if your dog attacks you? More information on this and first aid for dogs can be found at Sarah’s Dogs.
robbie on March 31st 2011 in Dog Ownership, Dog behavior, training Tips
