Stopping dog bites before they happen

Both dog owners and everyone else can learn about how to train and approach dogs to prevent bites from happening.

While dogs are a wonderful part of many people’s live in North Carolina, it still happens sometimes that a person ends up getting bitten. In most of these cases, a more educated and aware person being involved in the situation would have prevented anything from happening. Whether it is the person approaching the animal or the animal’s owner, there are ways for people to educate themselves about how to be safe and responsible around these animals. Dog owners in particular should be careful, as a dog bite can occasionally be grounds for a premises liability suit.

Guidelines for dog owners

There are a lot of things people can do the make sure they can have confidence in their animal’s ability to safely be around people, including some of the items on the following list:

· Prevention is the first step. Owners should keep their dogs away from stressful situations such as fireworks displays, large crowds and strange dogs.

· Dogs can become frustrated when left unsupervised for long periods of time. It is better to include them with the social group.

· A dog should start training classes as early as possible. The best time to start training a dog is when it is a puppy.

· It is best to begin socializing a dog right away. The more different situations, people, and dogs a puppy can learn about, the more comfortable it will feel in unexpected situations in the future.

· Neutering or spaying a dog is known to reduce unwanted behaviors such as biting.

In addition, it is ideal to be able to get an idea of an animal’s background and history before adopting it, so as to best be prepare for which behaviors to deal with.

How to read a dog’s body language

A dog will almost never bite without first giving a warning sign that it is feeling threatened or afraid. One telltale sign that a dog should be left alone is if it is looking away and ignoring someone. This is the opposite of if a dog is happy, friendly, and relaxed, in which case it will probably enjoy some attention.

There are other signs that a dog will give to show if it is threatened. If it stiffens up and tucks its tail between its legs, this is showing that it does not want to be in the situation. Being aware of how a dog shows how it is feeling is an important way to avoid a situation where a bite could occur.

If someone in North Carolina has been injured by a dog bite, he or she may have some expensive medical bills to pay, and the pain and suffering can be life-changing. An attorney in the local area with a practice in personal injury law may be able to help obtain a just result.