Dog Bite: What to Do If Your Dog Gets Bitten?
In the United States, there are approximately 10 million dogs living in homes with at least one human occupant. These humans may not always want their pets around them or they may have other animals such as cats or birds. Dogs can become aggressive when left alone too much, but many owners don’t realize just how dangerous their pet can be until it happens to them.
The most common type of dog attack is called a “bite” because it involves biting someone. Most attacks involve a small animal such as a rat, mouse, squirrel or bird.
Other types include mauling (a vicious attack where the victim’s throat is torn out), strangling, drowning and even strangulation.
What Happens When a Dog Attacks?
A dog attack is usually caused by fear, aggression or misbehavior. A dog that has been trained properly will never attack unless provoked. However, sometimes a dog can get into a fight with another dog or person without provocation. That’s why it’s so important to keep your pet under control and off leash at all times! You need to train your pet to behave correctly before you leave home.
The most common types of attacks are a dog attacking a person’s
Ankles or feet
Thighs or legs
Buttocks or genitals
Wrists or hands
Arms, shoulders, neck or head
A dangerous dog is one that has been labeled as “vicious” or “potentially dangerous.” If your dog has ever bitten someone before, it may be considered vicious.
Sources & references used in this article:
- Prevention and treatment of dog bites (RJ Presutti – American family physician, 2001 – aafp.org)
https://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0415/p1567.html - A qualitative investigation of the perceptions of female dog-bite victims and implications for the prevention of dog bites (C Westgarth, F Watkins – Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 2015 – Elsevier)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1558787815001185 - Brief Report: Don’t Kiss a Sleeping Dog: The First Assessment of “The Blue Dog” Bite Prevention Program (K Meints, T De Keuster – Journal of pediatric psychology, 2009 – academic.oup.com)
https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/article-abstract/34/10/1084/901077 - Dog bite wounds in dogs and cats: a retrospective study of 196 cases (MH Shamir, S Leisner, E Klement… – … Medicine Series A, 2002 – Wiley Online Library)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1439-0442.2002.jv416.x - A comprehensive study of dog bites in Spain, 1995–2004 (B Rosado, S García-Belenguer, M León, J Palacio – The Veterinary Journal, 2009 – Elsevier)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023308000476 - Dog and cat bites (R Ellis, C Ellis – American family physician, 2014 – aafp.org)
https://www.aafp.org/afp/2014/0815/p239.html - Knowledge, attitude, behavior and practice study on dog-bites and its management in the context of prevention of rabies in a rural community of Gujarat (US Singh, SK Choudhary – Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 2005 – aeronline.org)
http://www.aeronline.org/rr.asp?B4BA2851295AE90638A051A82DDF0631130AFB78AD8DCFA0A4702656A3159F60DE0CD40F2EFE252AA8905E95D656CA5815745E714DB4D8CF58DAEDFE95ED26FE9F7D4732F9A096E9B6EC49DB7F557C9F8664908D327F8FE5A802954FEFE8B7A7