18/07/2025
Today starts a new series, 10 Dog Myths of Summer.
Myth busters 1: Dogs will bite out of nowhere.
Being able to read animal body language is a critical skill for anyone working or living with animals. Humans are physical and verbal animals: we use gestures, touch, facial expressions, and language to communicate. Dogs are non-verbal, using their body more to demonstrate emotion.
Animals rarely use aggression until they feel they have little to no choice. Early signals of stress and frustration include avoidance, looking away, and lip licking which can then escalate to body stiffening, staring, growling, then snapping and biting.
If those early signs are ignored, or worse, punished, the animal will choose tougher body language since they had been previously corrected or ignored for their earlier warnings. The dog that bites out of nowhere likely had been giving signals they were uncomfortable, but no one listened.
