Dog Bites
Differing Types/Motivations for Dog Bites
Bite Scales
Is Every Dog Bit Aggressive?
Attention Seeking Biting & Mouthing (Mislabeled as Aggression)
Jumping and mouthy dogs can be overzealous and the behavior problematic, but the behavior is playful.
http://www.petbehaviorchange.com/blog/2018/11/15/is-every-dog-bite-aggressive
https://veteriankey.com/soft-tissues-of-the-oral-cavity/
Dog Bite Scales
Dr. Ian Dunbar’s Dog Bite Scale
An assessment of the severity of biting problems based on an objective evaluation of wound pathology
Level 1. Obnoxious or aggressive behavior but no skin-contact by teeth.
Level 2. Skin-contact by teeth but no skin-puncture. However, may be skin nicks (less than one tenth of an inch deep) and slight bleeding caused by forward or lateral movement of teeth against skin, but no vertical punctures.
Level 3. One to four punctures from a single bite with no puncture deeper than half the length of the dog’s canine teeth. Maybe lacerations in a single direction, caused by victim pulling hand away, owner pulling dog away, or gravity (little dog jumps, bites and drops to floor).
Level 4. One to four punctures from a single bite with at least one puncture deeper than half the length of the dog’s canine teeth. May also have deep bruising around the wound (dog held on for N seconds and bore down) or lacerations in both directions (dog held on and shook its head from side to side).
Level 5. Multiple-bite incident with at least two Level 4 bites or multiple-attack incident with at least one Level 4 bite in each.
Level 6. Victim dead. The above list concerns unpleasant behavior and so, to add perspective:
Levels 1 and 2 comprise well over 99% of dog incidents. The dog is certainly not dangerous and more likely to be fearful, rambunctious, or out of control. Wonderful prognosis. Quickly resolve the problem with basic training (control) —especially oodles of Classical Conditioning, numerous repetitive Retreat n' Treat, Come/Sit/Food Reward and Back-up/Approach/Food Reward sequences, progressive desensitization handling exercises, plus numerous bite-inhibition exercises and games. Hand feed only until resolved; do NOT waste potential food rewards by feeding from a bowl.
Level 3: Prognosis is fair to good, provided that you have owner compliance. However, treatment is both time-consuming and not without danger. Rigorous bite-inhibition exercises are essential.
Levels 4: The dog has insufficient bite inhibition and is very dangerous. Prognosis is poor because of the difficulty and danger of trying to teach bite inhibition to an adult hard-biting dog and because absolute owner-compliance is rare. Only work with the dog in exceptional circumstances, e.g., the owner is a dog professional and has sworn 100% compliance. Make sure the owner signs a form in triplicate stating that they understand and take full responsibility that: 1. The dog is a Level 4 biter and is likely to cause an equivalent amount of damage WHEN it bites again (which it most probably will) and should therefore, be confined to the home at all times and only allowed contact with adult owners. 2. Whenever, children or guests visit the house, the dog should be confined to a single locked-room or roofed, chain-link run with the only keys kept on a chain around the neck of each adult owner (to prevent children or guests entering the dog's confinement area.) 3. The dog is muzzled before leaving the house and only leaves the house for visits to a veterinary clinic. 4. The incidents have all been reported to the relevant authorities — animal control or police. Give the owners one copy, keep one copy for your files and give one copy to the dog's veterinarian.
Level 5 and 6: The dog is extremely dangerous and mutilates. The dog is simply not safe around people. I recommend euthanasia because the quality of life is so poor for dogs that have to live out their lives in solitary confinement.
https://apdt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ian-dunbar-dog-bite-scale.pdf
John Rogerson Dog Aggression Bite Scale
“I thought it may be helpful if I let everyone have the Scale of aggression that I use which I believe predates all other scales of aggression. My Friend the late John Fisher also used and developed a similar scale which we often discussed together.
You will note that I interpret the word aggression as ‘intention to harm’. Thus if a dog catches you with one tooth during a fear based reaction it actually did not intend to do you serious harm.
There are some grey areas where a more significant injury may occur but that was never the dogs intention. “
Aggression
Aggression (the intention to do harm) is measured on a scale of 1 to 5 thus:
1 = physical contact but no bite as in one dog wrestling and rolling another dog over. Or a dog jumping up and knocking someone to the ground or head butting or muzzle punching. No evidence of teeth marks. Little intent to do harm
2 = open mouth bite where the dog has snapped at another dog or person and caught it with one tooth but had not tried to close its mouth. Evidence of just one puncture mark. This is usually a warning but with little intent to do harm. This is the most common type of bite and is perfectly normal behaviour when the dog feels threatened.
3 = Front tooth bite often referred to as a nip. Grazing and bruising of the skin but no deep lacerations. This is a severe warning and often referred to as a reactive bite.
4 = Grip and hold. Designed to temporarily disable the other dog or person and subdue it. Deep puncture marks but no tearing of the skin by the attacking dog’s teeth.
5 = Grip hold and shake. This type of bite is designed to permanently disable the other dog or person. Depending on the part of the anatomy that has been targeted (for example the throat) it can be a killing bite.
A police dog is only trained up to level four and it takes a dog either with unusually aggressive tendencies or one that has previously practiced and rehearsed the behaviour to deliver a level five bite.