How to acquire dog bites

Three separate incidents around the world last week reminded me of how little people understand dogs and what makes them tick. A baby in the UK got killed by a mastiff, a young man in Madagascar was hunted down by German Shepherd dogs, and a 4 year old boy got mauled by a pair of savage German Shepherd dogs in our own Lagos.The stereotypes are failing us. There are always reasons for dog bites, and 7 out 10 times they occur it's the human's fault. 

Most dog bites in Nigeria go unreported, but they occur. With the increasing interest in dogs, the frequency of bites will follow suit. Regardless of the breed of dog you encounter, if you go against the tenets of the canine society, you will get bitten. Commonsense is key. Always. 



Here are a few ways to get bitten by dogs;

• Allowing children to play unsupervised in your compound knowing fully well that your neighbour's dogs are ill mannered and not always caged, even when you know that your 7yr old boy is inclined to taunting the dogs when he goes past their cages when they are inside

• Strange/Unknown dog familiarity

Avoid smiling at unfamiliar dogs; you may be putting on a friendly face, but an aggressive dog sees you baring your teeth for a fight...

• entering homes uninvited, mistaking the dog's crouch for submission and going past briskly without checking your back periodically till you get inside the apartment 

• encouraging your untrained dog to bite a bite sleeve on command, then absentmindedly using the command in a discussion while the dog is around  

• Purchasing pups of 'super aggressive' parentage and leaving with the mum (long enough to have imprinted on the pup). All this without thinking of seeking professional opinions, or buying from a source that confirms temperament and breed purity of pups s/he purveys

• Getting involved in a dog fight without a well thought out plan. 

It's never a nice thing, but when this scenario plays out, you want to be everywhere but the recipient of their ministrations. If you try to separate fighting dogs, you might just end up being attacked by both dogs. 

• Abuse a dog sufficiently
Most dog attacks are the result of insufficient containment of the dog, poor training or taunting. Unfortunately, the world will never be rid of bad owners, so it is wise to be prepared.

• Assuming that every dog that wags its tail is happy...

• Forming Superman where you should be humble. 

I'm a pet psychologist, yes we know, but the truth should be said- there are bully dogs. They just take one look at you and decide that you are too proud, or that the jeans you are wearing would look better with rust colored holes in the calf region. Oga, na fight or flight.. 

Seeing how curious and 'sapiosexual' many now profess to be, choosing to reenact the scenarios depicted above will get you dog bites worthy of intellectual discourse.

'Deji Asiru-Balogun is an animal behaviorist, he works with @TailLords (Pet mgt firm) as a resident canine Life Coach, and on Twitter is @Wildeji.