Bite inhibition is a concept that, as a
dog owner, you know about, but you probably pay it little
attention unless and until your dog bites. Most dogs are
inhibited from biting. That's what makes them desireable
companions.
A
few people seem not to mind living with an animal that
might inflict serious injury on them. They buy
lions, tigers,
wolves, and dogs that are likely to bite, often and
hard, They probably also like bungee jumping and
parachuting. While these all have a large element of
risk to the
individual
who likes living on the edge, only the first presents
a hazard to others.
Inherited
Component
Bite inhibition begins before birth, since it is partly
inherited. Unless you are a telepath, you have
really no way of knowing how quickly a dog might
reach its flash
point. It may have a good reason for biting,
but, again, unless you're telepathic, youll also
never know.
When a dog bites, the family's first impulse
is to find a good reason for their dog's
behavior. Most
people love
their dogs deeply and feel hurt, guilty, defensive,
and protective when it transgresses. "He was protecting
his owner, was abused by the former owner, was startled" The
list of reasons is only limited by the owners'imaginations.
You
will seldom be in a position to judge the
accuracy of their reasoning, and if you like the dog,
your regard
may shade your opinion, too. Because the
willingness of
the dog to bite a person has a genetic component,
the safest option in breeding is to select dogs that
have
never done
so.
Simply
stated: Don't use any dog for breeding if it has bitten
a human.
Training
Not to Bite
While the height of the threshold at which
a dog will bite may be initially determined
by
inheritance,
it can certainly
be raised or lowered by training. Puppies
begin learning it from each other and
from their mother.
Learning the Limits
When puppies play with each other, they
engage in biting behavior. The strength
with which
they bite is tempered
by the response of their playmates.
The hurt puppy protests with a loud, high-pitched
scream, and
the offending puppy
lets go.
Likewise, nursing puppies can bite
their mother once their teeth come
in. Moms
react by moving
away from
the puppy,
pushing it away, or, in extreme
cases, by growling at the biter. She may
also intervene
in the
puppies' play should
one puppy prove too aggressive
to his siblings. In these ways, puppies
learn
to set limits
on the force
they exert
when biting.
Time
To Grow Up
Social interactions are very important
for the developing puppy not
just for bite inhibition
but for learning proper
doggy manners. The lessons
they learn here will remain with them
all their
lives which
is
why leaving
the litter
together past the traditional
six weeks is vital.
At six weeks, puppies are just
beginning to play with each
other, with toys,
and with their mother
and other dogs.
Taking them away too early
can deprive them of valuable
lessons
in life.
What
Does This Mean To You As the Breeder?
You and the rest of your
household should jump
right in with the
rest of the puppies,
teaching
them that
humans
are very delicate beings.
You will be bitten because
that's
how puppies
test
their world.
As soon as
a puppy mouths you, even
if he does not bite hard,
you
should
mimic his littermates
and give a high-pitched
yell.
The puppy
should immediately let
go and will probably
lick
a couple of times.
Give him a warm "thank you," and
wait for the next time.
Very
young puppies will continue to bite
but
the bites should
get progressively
softer until
they
disappear altogether.
Extend your indications
of discomfort to
bites on your clothing
as well. If you walk
among the puppies
in
a long night-gown,
scream when they
bite the edges.
This
technique is highly
effective and will work with young dogs even more quickly
than it does with
puppies. All children
should be taught to deal with nipping
puppies
and young dogs this
way since they rarely have the social standing to correct
the dog by indicating
their disapproval.
Soft
Mouths
Many Akitas have
soft mouths,
probably from
crosses to
native dogs
that were retrievers.
Their bites
may be
more like nuzzles
and may never
cause
you
pain.
As adults,
soft-mouthed
dogs may
have the same toys
for
years. They
may never
cause
problems
to your
furniture
or shoes. Don't
be fooled,
though. They
can still
inflict serious
damage on
people or
other dogs, because
when
they want
to bite hard,
they can.
Hard-mouthed
dogs have
a slightly different jaw structure,
so few
Akitas have the same bite
strength
as a German Shepherd or Rottweiler.
If your
face is being bitten, however,
this distinction
will be
of little concern to you. All
bites
hurt.
Is
Bite Inhibition Important?
The impact
of a
dog bite extends
far
beyond
its effect
on
the
people
involved,
which
can be
devastating
by itself.
Very
few people
actually
die
as
a result
of dog
bites,
but
the physical
damage
can be
horribly
disfiguring.
Medical
treatment
can range
from
simple
cleaning
to multiple
surgeries.
The owner
of
the dog may
be
faced with
huge
legal
fees
and
damage awards
to
the
victim. Most
of
these suits
are
covered
by
homeowners insurance.
However,
the
unfortunate owner
may
find himself
out
of
a policy
and
unable to
secure
a new
insurer
so
long as the
dog
is
present.
Even
worse, the bond between dogs and humans is based in
part on trust, and part of that is eroded once
you are bitten. If the victim is a bystander and not
a dog
owner, he is likely to be lost forever to any relationship
with dogs and may become hostile to them. Hostility
coupled
with
activism can sound the death knell of a breed.
Does
this sound extreme to you? If so, you should investigate
the plight of "pit bulls." That breed designation
is used by the UKC to refer to dogs identical or similar
to our American Staffordshire Terrier. The further
distinction between Staffordshire Terriers and Bull
Terriers may be
too fine for most laymen to make, so all these breeds
have borne the brunt of the assault from animal rights
activists.
Led
by organizations such as PETA and the ASPCA, this lunatic
fringe is actively working against
the interests of pure-bred dog breeders (or all dog
breeders for
that matter, we're just the most easily identified).
If this is news to you, you need to pay more attention
to the
world around you Their anti-dog stance has found its
way into newspapers or magazines and television.
Their
manifestos clearly express their desire to release dogs
from the
tyranny of humans. No matter how laughable you think
their opinions are, the fact remains that
they have gained quite a foothold with the media. According
to recent reports in popular publications and television
shows, purebred dogs are riddled with disease and deformed
by our breeding practices.
Such
press may scare off some buyers, but obviously, the idea
that people should
get rid of their dogs isn't going to fly. This is only
one assault, their overall plan
is multi-layered and subtle.
First,
people are encouraged to adopt dogs from shelters. After
all, millions of
dogs are euthanized every year because no one wants
them. Adopting one of these saves tax
money and keeps a dog from being killed. Since most
are sterilized,
the dogs will not reproduce, satisfying one of the animal
rightists' goals.
In
countless articles and broadcasts, they make the blithe
assertions that mixedbreeds
are healthier and have better temperaments than pure-breds.
Filthy puppy mills are
shown with pitiful dogs in horrible conditions, but
no effort
is made to distinguish poor breeders from good ones.
Even worse, the very institutions that are charged with
protecting
the interests of pure-bred dogs have rolled-over and
played dead throughout this media campaign.
The
only area in which our side has been effective at all
is
in defeating some breed-specific legislation. The legislative
battlefield still represents the most potent
threat to us as Akita breeders. If getting rid of pure-bred
dogs is not palatable to most Americans, few can complain
about removing or restricting the right to own or breed
one of the breeds that pose a significant danger to
humans, especially children.
Only
the most vigorous action of the part of area kennel
clubs, the American Dog Owners Association, and the
AKC has kept breed-specific bans at bay in cities all
over
this country. The first target in the campaign was the
nefarious "pit bull."
The
animal rights groups are so well organized, have so much
money, and
so many supporters, that the anti pit-bull legislation
was fostered and promoted in both the US
and Great Britain (where the breed is known as the American
Pit Bull) simultaneously.
Fortunately
for us, in the US, they had to work local government
by local government.
In England, they succeeded in having several breeds
severely restricted or banned
altogether.
The
support for their position comes right from the dog community,
where information about dog
bites is published by various organizations. Bite frequency
is organized
by breed. Very few surveys have a category for mutts
nor is any effort made to determine whether breed identification
procedures are accurate! No mention is made either
of how the statistics are compiled nor is any correlation
given between the number of bites and the popularity
of the
breed.
Choosing
the Pit Bull for the first breed, however,
has turned out to be a two-edged sword, since the term
is a catch-all for several breeds as well as cross-
and
mixed-breeds. One attempt to ban them was defeated
when officials in
animal control were shown pictures of various dogs
and asked to identify them. No one actually knew which
ones
were the Pit Bulls, so their breed-specific legislation
failed to pass.
Identifying
the next targeted breeds
is much easier. Included are: Rottweilers, German
Shepherd Dogs, Doberman Pinchers,
Akitas, and Alaskan Malamutes. These breeds have been
chosen because they are identifiable and because terribly
mauled bite victims are available to stand witness
to the
dogs' ability to cause injury.
Make
no mistake, the
anti-dog contingent would like to do away with dogs
altogether, but if they can't succeed at that, they'll
settle for just a few. Ours is one
of them.
They
want to bury our dogs with stories of children undergoing
their fourth or fifth plastic
surgery,
of an actress dragged into the bushes by the neighboring
Akita, of the relative
put into the hospital by an unprovoked attack. Every
one of these victims is a nail in our coffin.
The
antidote to this poison are people who own
well-adjusted, stable Akitas. They are our
soldiers in this battle. Their
good opinion and love for the breed are our
ammunition. To gain their support, we must
produce Akitas with good
temperaments, and this begins with bite inhibition.
If you love the breed
and want it to continue, you
must work in this direction even
if it means some painful choices and difficult
decisions.
Strengthening
Bite Inhibition
You
can strengthen
bite inhibition
throughout
the
dog's life.
Not letting
him bite
you or
your clothing
is the
first and
most important
step in
doing this.
If you
currently
roughhouse
by offering
your arm
as a
target,
switch
to a
lambswool
or
rawhide toy,
a towel,
or a
ball. Throw
it or
drag it
for him
and then
let him
play with
it. You
can pick
it up
(few Akitas
will actually
bring it
back, so
don't be
disappointed
when
your dog
proves to
be a "getter" but not a "returner")
and throw or drag
it along the ground.
Any time the dog tries
to play-bite at you,
switch him over
immediately
to one of these toys.
If
your
dog
has
a
firmly
entrenched
habit,
yelping
may
not
work.
As
an
alternative,
you
may
firmly
take
your
dog's
muzzle
off
your
arm
or
clothes
if
he
puts
his
mouth
on
you.
Hold
his
mouth
shut,
but
don't
try
to
hurt
him,
and
with
a
very
low,
growly
voice,
firmly
tell
him, "No."
Don't
strike the dog or shake him. You may also be battling
a dominance problem, which is covered in another section
of this discussion. Trading aggression for aggression
may get you into an escalating spiral that can cause
the very problem you're trying to avoid!
Insist
that your children and any visitors not play chase allowing
the dog to pursue them. If dogs could talk,
they'd probably call this game "Chase the Prey." Given
the right set of stimuli--the
right movements, the
right sounds, the right
smells--this can become
pursuit in deadly
earnest.
When
you send your charges on to
new home, you don't need to scare your
buyers to death, but you should make them
aware of appropriate behaviors. Give them
a book like Terry Ryan's Alphabetizing
Your Dog or Carol Benjamin's Mother
Knows Best and ask that they read it before
they pick up their puppy.
The expense is negligible when you
consider the tragedies it can
prevent.
