My dog bit me and drew blood - should I put it down?

It's always upsetting if you have a pet dog that has bitten deliberately. The reason she has done this is because she obviously feels that she is the boss and not you. Dogs only have their mouths and teeth unfortunately to show their displeasure.

If a dog feels that they are the boss over the human, then they will use their teeth to show their displeasure, especially with food. However, it is more worrying that the previous owner lied to you, but there's not much you can do about that now.

But there are a couple of things you can do to sort this situation - rather than having her put to sleep. Dominance in a dog can, much of the time, be rectified with advice and training. Have a word with your vet first of all and try and rule out anything on the health side that might have caused her to bite.

You should also consider an animal behaviourist who will give you and your dog training on how to ensure that you are the boss in your own home and so stop the dominant/aggressive behaviour in your dog.

In the short term, if you need to take anything from your dog and are worried about getting bitten, then put on a good pair of gardening gloves. Also, and I know this is hard to do, but when you have to assert your authority with her, be totally relaxed, calm and above all confident. Dogs can sense with your voice tone and level if you are nervous.

Above all, don't show aggression back by shouting or hitting out, that will only make the situation much worse. Hope some of this helps, good luck.

Something similar happened to me, but I didn't even consider having my beloved dog euthanized. If a dog hasn't been properly trained not to "guard" her food, this can happen, but training is possible even with an older dog.

You didn't say how long you've had the dog, but, since she was previously owned by someone else, she may not have been trained as a puppy. You should consider the services of a certified animal behaviorist, if one practices near you.

On the other hand, teaching her to obey the command to "drop" non-food objects, then graduating to food objects may be all that's needed. It's unlikely that your dog is truly aggressive if she bit you because you were taking a bone (food, to her) out of her mouth. It's more of a territorial issue, with anything she considers food the catalyst.

With the right kind of training now, she is most likely salvageable.

You may want to read my hub about my experience and the aftermath. Here's the link.

I hope you will find this helpful and have the patience to work with your dog in order to correct the problem.

P.S. For some reason, the link won't print like I typed it. The title of the hub is My Dog Bit the Hand That Feeds Her. You can find it listed on my profile page.

Dogs need training. If you only just got the dog I would recommend training it. If that doesn't work and she is truly a danger to people, only then would I consider putting her down.

It's definitely important to consider the situation. It's not horribly uncommon for dogs to get snappish when you take a bone away. This is definitely something I would be aware of and work on, but it doesn't mean that your dog is going to bite you for no reason.

It sounds like this is a new dog for you. It seems even more understandable for your dog to feel uncertain of her new situation and be especially protective of her new bone.

You might not find answers neatly labeled in regular obedience books, but this is a very common problem. She needs to know that she is in a safe environment and that you are the pack leader. In general, I would make sure that you don't let her eat around strange people, or put your hand near her food.

I would also start to teach her that you are the leader and she needs to let you take things from her. Start with something she doesn't seem to be possesive of - a stuffed toy for example. Teach her "give" or "drop."

Work your way towards replacing the toy with a bone and slowly work your way towards reaching for the bone and see how she reacts.

If you do, they might be as lucky as you. Training will take time, if you have children, you may not have time to invest in this dog. Rather than putting the dog to sleep, maybe try and find a home for it with no children.

That would be my priority. If not you have to weigh up the risk, is iy a big dog? , could the bite be worse next time?

, it has bitten you once, it will probably do it again. (All within my own experiences, we have had dogs for 20 years).

No. My dog liked to run and do jump attacks. It was like being attacked by a wolf because my dog is around the size of a wolf.

However we trained him to behave. People always comment on how well behaved my dog is but they have not seen my ripped up coat and they did not see my wounds. My dog does not guard his food or toys but if he is biting something and you put your hand in the way you may get bit hard.

It would be like someone putting their hand in your mouth when you were about to bite something hard.

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