What happens if my dog bites someone?

If he's nipping/snapping at people, look for signs that he's about to do it or what the cause is. It could be that he's nipping when people grab his tail, or spook him from behind, and that gives you a start on how to train him not to nip. If it's more like nibbling/gnawing, then the question is how old is he? If he's under a year, it's likely he's still teething and he'll grow out of it. However there are still ways to train him it's not ok to chew on people.

When he nips/snaps, he's doing it for a reason, so once you figure out the trigger, it's easy enough to redirect him. For instance, my dog started getting aggressive around unneutered male dogs shortly before I got him neutered. It's been 7 months and he's still trying to play alpha dog. However, since I knew his triggers, and he occasionally gave a warning via body language (hair up, ears back, tail lowered), I could step in and redirect. My favorite redirection game is "watch me/focus." It's getting eye contact from him while the trigger goes by behind his back. I train this by taking a good high value treat and leading it from his nose to my eyes. When he focuses on me, he gets the treat. Then I add the distraction into it. I'll take him somewhere I know he'll run into dogs he doesn't like-like a pet store, and I'll stand up front while customers come in with their dogs and make him focus. To start out, I'll walk him around the store and get a little energy out and let him smell all the good doggy smells, then I'll park him near the door but far enough away that he can't reach dogs coming in on 6 foot leashes (I keep my dog right next to me on a short leash, but I can't control other owners. If they allow their dog to approach mine on a retractable, any injury to their dog is on them because I kept my dog near me like a responsible owner). If he ignores the focus command and tries to bark at the dog I give a correction marker-I use a correction spray that's basically a can of air so compressed it makes a very loud CH sound. Just a short burst is usually enough to break a dog's concentration and they start looking around for the source of the noise. That's where I jump in and get that treat right in front of his nose and bring his focus back to me to allow that dog to walk past. As he gets comfortable ignoring the things he wants to bite, you gradually bring those distractions closer. Now he still has the occasional issue with some dogs but for ... (more)