How to Avoid Dog Bites at Home

Dogs are wonderful pets and great to have in the family. However, the fear of dog bites is a universal one in every household. The fear is even greater in households with small children. There are several things you can do to help socialize your dog when it is growing up and throughout its life to help avoid getting bitten at home.

Instructions

    • 1

      Socialize your dog as early as possible. All puppies should be socialized before the age of 16 weeks. Socialization means exposing your puppy to everything it will encounter as an adult dog. This allows your puppy to grow up to become well adjusted to all situations and be less likely to bite as an adult. Let your dog be around all sorts of other dogs and humans.

    • 2

      Enroll your dog in an obedience or socialization class. This has two positive advantages. Your dog not only gets the socialization that it needs and exposure to different dogs and humans, but it also learns some life lessons that will stick with it throughout its lifetime. Your dog will learn tricks and commands, such as how to sit and come when called. This is a great advantage to have in a situation where your dog becomes uneasy or upset because it will calm the dog when you take control of the situation and give it a command.

    • 3

      Teach your children along with your dog. Many dogs bite because they are upset from being abused by children. While children don't mean to hurt the dog, they are curious about the dog and what will happen if they touch certain parts of the dog or do certain things to the dog. Some things that can happen is that a curious child can put their fingers in the dog's eyes or ears, or carry the dog in an improper way. These are not pleasant experiences for the dog. If or when the dog cannot get away from the child, the dog may become upset and possibly bite. This is an important reason as to why you should never leave your dog alone with a child and why you should teach your child early on the proper way to handle the dog and treat it with respect.

    • 4

      Touch your dog as much as possible while it is growing up. This includes bathing and grooming your dog often so it is used to it when it is an adult. Many dogs are not exposed to grooming till they are adults because their coats are usually not developed enough to groom when they are puppies. This can cause the dog to become upset to the unusual experience. Hence, touch and groom often so that the situation is not anything new when the dog is an adult. Touching as often as possible will also make the dog less nervous when a stranger comes up pet it. Dogs are more liable to bite when strangers come up to pet it if they have not been touched much as a puppy.