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Aggressive Dogs by flowergardener
Aggressive Dogs and Problem Dogs
There currently are 74.8 million dogs in the USA. Any dog can become aggressive and will bite someone given the right circumstances. A survey by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta ("CDC") concluded that aggressive dogs bite more than 4.7 million people annually in the USA. An American has a one in 50 chance of being bitten by an aggressive dog each year. ("CDC")
According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites cost insurers $351.4 Million in 2006. The insurance payment for the average dog bite claim was $21,200 in 2005.
Over 50% of dog bites occur on the dog owner’s property.
Aggressive dogs biting send nearly 368,000 victims to hospital emergency departments per year, that’s 1,008 per day.
The vast majority of aggressive biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim’s family or a friend.
Male dogs accounted for 70% - 87% of the attacks studied, and 60% were unneutered males.
Breed Specifics and Aggressive Dogs
Aggressive dogs and the dog bite epidemic as a whole involves all dogs and all dog owners, but there are certain breeds of dogs have a predisposition towards aggressive behavior and are most likely to kill.
Pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes are responsible for 74% of attacks that were included in "Merritt Clifton Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada, September 1982 to November 13, 2006." study. In more than two-thirds of the cases included in the study, the life-threatening or fatal attack was apparently the first known dangerous behavior by the animal in question.
Clifton states: "If almost any other dog has a bad moment, someone may get bitten, but will not be maimed for life or killed, and the actuarial risk is accordingly reasonable. If a Pit Bull terrier or a Rottweiler has a bad moment, often someone is maimed or killed–and that has now created off-the-chart actuarial risk, for which the dogs as well as their victims are paying the price.
Individual genetics and breed are major factors in determining aggression. Guard dogs such as Dobermans, German Shepherds and Akitas were bred to be more aggressive than the hunting and companion breeds.
Terriers were bred as ratters and still retain their urge to snap and bite. There is enormous variation in aggressiveness or assertiveness among dogs. Certain breeds such as Chows are famous for this quality; but there is wide variation within any breed as well.
The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictability is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family’s Pomeranian dog. The average weight of a Pomeranian is about 4 pounds, and they are not thought of as a dangerous breed. Note, however, that they were bred to be watchdogs! The baby’s uncle left the infant and the dog on a bed while the uncle prepared her bottle in the kitchen. Upon his return, the dog was mauling the baby, who died shortly afterwards. ("Baby Girl Killed by Family Dog," Los Angeles Times, Monday, October 9, 2000, Home Edition, Metro Section, Page B-5.)
Any individual dog may be a good, loving pet, even though its breed is considered to be potentially dangerous. A responsible owner can win the love and respect of a dog, no matter its breed. One cannot look at an individual dog, recognize its breed, and then state whether or not it is going to attack.
Symptoms, Reasons, and Causes of Aggressive Dogs
To understand aggressive dogs, you must realize that dogs are domesticated animals, not people. Dogs in a family situation see humans as members of their pack and attempt to establish their place in the social hierarchy by challenging more submissive family members, especially children. When dogs show dominant gestures like growling while guarding their food dish, and they aren’t scolded for this behavior, they inch up in dominance surpassing certain family members.
Subtle signs of dominance can go unnoticed. Because we love them we explain these faults away until the dog finally bites a human who infringed on its alpha read the rest……
To learn everything you ever wanted to know about agressive dogs, visit the entire lens by clicking: Aggressive Dogs
Technorati Tags: aggressive dog, aggressive pet, barking dogs, biting dogs, dog problems, dogs that are aggressive, dogs that bite, hyperactive dogsAdd to:
Sad that you use such bad information to support your article. Mr. Clifton's 'facts' are fraught with error. He misidentifies many dogs as his numbers are based on press reports, which are notoriously erroneous, driving for sensationalism and sales rather than factual data. The real data is concerning, but less sensational. ALL dogs can bite, and nearly ALL breeds have killed.
And the bottom line cause across the board? Human failure. Almost every fatal attack can be traced to a human issue.
On top of that, the issues of 'dominance' is overrated, overblown, and gives littel opportunity for treatment of aggression other than to get owners bitten. Training has progressed far from the day of browbeating a dog into submission.
Good idea for an article….bad infomation to support the public.
Posted by: Jim Crosby | November 21st, 2007 9:35 am |
Jim,
Thank you for your comment. Hearing different thoughts and ideas are a great part of life.
The author of this lens does seem to agree with you. I am not sure if you clicked on the "read more" link and read this part:
"The symptoms, reasons, and causes of aggressive dogs are:
The Dog's Health. When a dog is sick, injured, or in pain, they may become aggressive and bite. If a normally calm animal becomes aggressive then take him for a complete physical check-up with a holistic vet as soon as possible, as there may be underlying health problems. Females nursing puppies may also become protective and aggressive.
Inadequate or Poor Diet. Ensure that your dog is eating a balanced, high quality diet with plenty of raw and unprocessed food (preferably organic).
Excessive Punishment, Hitting, Kicking, Verbally Assaulting, and Teasing. Any dog that's been mistreated can bite. Any dog can be turned into an aggressive dog. Owner, family, and handler temperament is a very important factor.
Chaining a Dog. 26-28% of dogs involved in the fatal attacks of the study above were chained at the time. Chaining also is inhumane. Chaining or tethering has been declared illegal in many communities. California and Texas have no-chaining laws.
Training and Socialization. A dog that has been poorly trained or not trained at all is an obvious danger. Keep your dog on a lead, and consider investing in a muzzle if necessary. Poor socialization and becoming desensitized by children can trigger biting and aggressiveness.
Recent Changes. A new baby or a job that keeps you away for longer periods than before can trigger an aggressive dog.
Provocation or Perceived Threat. A person's behavior toward the dog could provoke an aggressive attack. This includes any behavior the dog could perceive as a threat to their human family."
Most of those reasons cited for dogs becoming aggressive seem to support your what you say about human failure being the main cause.
We love animals here at the AnimalShak and my goal was not to put dogs in a bad light. Aggressivness is a concern for some people and I shared what I think is a good site about it. Thank you again for your input. I always appreciate feedback.
Posted by: KellyBax | November 21st, 2007 1:35 pm |
Thank you Kelly for pointing out the rest of my article. I do agree with Jim about all dogs biting or attacking, but in no way do I support 'browbeating a dog into submission'. Jim was also kind enough to leave me a scathing comment on the lens; 'at best it's sadly misguided'.
Posted by: Flowergardener | November 22nd, 2007 11:51 pm |
I have seen all of your lenses http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/flowergardener and it is obvious that you love animals! Keep up the great work
Posted by: KellyBax | November 23rd, 2007 8:32 am |
Medication is never a true fix to aggression concerns. Dog training is the only way to go about it. I find that this misconception is a true flaw in the article. Also, you CANNOT use the TERM "pit bull" as a breed, as it is NOT. This is false information, as the term loosely describes a classification of dog versus a breed. So you cannot say that it will affect squat… But, you can say that the history and background of a breed, can cause the dogs to have a propensity to have the traits, but it is DEFINATELY not a true guided way to tell. So, I disagree with you on that one. I think that you could have taken the breed information about aggression a different route. It seems you said that these breeds are aggressive be nature which is false, as my APBT is far from aggresssive.
Posted by: whitney | December 20th, 2007 9:44 pm |
Thank you for your point of view Whitney.
Posted by: KellyBax | December 21st, 2007 7:16 am |