I’ve been bit twice in 4 days!

[Odd Duck]

@anewbie I’m ORD as usual, but 🤣!

[Torrey]

On 11/24/2021 at 7:50 AM, Atitagain said:

I always associate any lizards with one that looks like yours but had the dinosaur looking spikes on his back(sorry only way I can describe not sure what there called). Anyway when I was like 8-9 I had never heard of let alone seen lizards. We visited some friends of the family and they had a whole bedroom set up for one. We had to be real careful squeezing in the door quickly shutting it behind us, so I’m already terrified. This thing kinda came running out hissing and chomping it’s mouth. I may have actually #1nd or possibly #2ed in my pants. They wouldn’t let me out of the room. I went to the car and wouldn’t come out of it. 
I can laugh about it now but…

That's a horrible way to meet an iguana,  I am so sorry you went through that! Sadly, I suspect that the adults thought it was amusing, and I doubt that helped.😔

 

Things that have bitten me:

I got mauled as a child by a Samoyed & 2 Dobies that were allowed full roam of our new neighborhood. To get over my fear, I got an adorable Rottweiler puppy (she looked like a teddy bear) and got seriously invested in proper dog training (to the point the owners invited me to help them at the school).

Over the course of a decade helping out, and rehabilitating dogs, I was bit by more chihuahuas, spaniels and labs than I would have expected, but not a single pit, rott, GSD, or Doberman ever bit me!

We even helped rehabilitate some dog/wolf hybrids (some people have more money than brains) and I never got bit by any of them, either. 

A tiny teacup dog jumped up and took a chunk out of the back of my calf as I was walking away, worst injury I got was from the smallest dog🙄

As for tank inhabitants, my betta Kismet would eat out of my hands and was the gentlest, sweetest betta I have ever had. She had a couple of pet snails, and 3 pet ghost shrimp. The only time she would ever show aggression was when I would clean her tank. If I got too close to her pets, she would viciously attack my hand!

[Atitagain]

On 11/26/2021 at 2:25 AM, Torrey said:

I suspect that the adults thought it was amusing, and I doubt that helped

☹️
 

I’m sorry to hear what happened with the dogs. It did turn you in such a helpful and positive direction tho. I remember hearing one time that the most common dog that bites is a wiener dog. But when a pit, rotty, or Doberman bits as rare as it is because it is rare relative too, it does such damage it’s easy to sensationalize. Of course if it bleeds it leads and everyone pays attention to shock value. ☹️
I think that’s cool that kismet would protect his buddies. Good for him 😁

[Odd Duck]

On 11/26/2021 at 5:48 AM, Atitagain said:

☹️
 

I’m sorry to hear what happened with the dogs. It did turn you in such a helpful and positive direction tho. I remember hearing one time that the most common dog that bites is a wiener dog. But when a pit, rotty, or Doberman bits as rare as it is because it is rare relative too, it does such damage it’s easy to sensationalize. Of course if it bleeds it leads and everyone pays attention to shock value. ☹️
I think that’s cool that kismet would protect his buddies. Good for him 😁

It is very true that the most common breeds to bite are some of the smaller to medium breeds but they are less likely cause enough damage to need medical care and certainly unlikely to cause enough damage to need hospitalization.  Larger breeds are less likely to bite but more likely to cause significant damage.

People often ask me if I’m afraid to see certain breeds, like pit bulls.

I tell them I’d rather see an average pit bull than an average chihuahua because the average chihuahua is far more likely to try to bite me.  The average pit bull is a super sweet, goofy, clown of a dog that’s a joy to see as a patient!

But would I rather see an aggressive chihuahua or an aggressive pit bull?  Well, that’s obvious.  I can toss a towel over the most vicious chihuahua and still get an exam and vaccines, etc, done easily (they tend to calm down once in hand).  But I’d have to sedate a fearful or aggressive pit bull to get the same things done and it would take 2-3 times as long overall with far more stress to everyone involved including the dog.

Most dogs bite out of fear, not aggression, and fear makes them far less predictable.  It is incredibly uncommon to see a truly aggressive dog.  Most are fearful and taking steps to reduce their fear can do wonders for reducing the risk of bites to myself and my staff.  The wonders of modern chemistry, and all.

I’ve owned examples of both breeds, even both at the same time, with no troubles between them or me.  I just had to put down my most recently rescued chihuahua about 8 months ago (she was quite geriatric when rescued) and I still have my last pit bull rescue (she’s going on 13 now and I’ve had her about 12 years).

The real lesson here is to PROPERLY SOCIALIZE AND TRAIN YOUR DOG!  That’s the real crux of the matter!

[Atitagain]

@Odd Duck some very good info. Is exactly what I was trying to say but much more articulate and informed. 🐕 🐶 

[Flumpweesel]

My mum always says you can never trust a dog because you have no idea of what kind of day it's having. They don't have the best set of stress coping mechanisms so it's up to us to learn to read them better and notice the clues. And not to hold grudges because we pushed our luck because they don't hold our bad moods be against us.

@Torrey what an amazing story of turning things around. Nothing must ever hold you back.

@Atitagainthat is a horrible lizard encounter story, people don't realise how easily such things can take root in our personality. I still have issues with people dressed as Santa from getting scared going to grotto as child (I think I already misstrusted the concept the grotto was tipping point). 

[Taco Playz]

This is so hilarious. 😂 My killifish has bitten me before when I was clipping off a dead anacharis stem in my 29. It was so funny. 

[Odd Duck]

On 11/27/2021 at 7:08 AM, Flumpweesel said:

My mum always says you can never trust a dog because you have no idea of what kind of day it's having. They don't have the best set of stress coping mechanisms so it's up to us to learn to read them better and notice the clues. And not to hold grudges because we pushed our luck because they don't hold our bad moods be against us.

This certainly can be true about dogs you don’t know.  Some dogs don’t have good stress coping mechanisms but we can certainly socialize them so they are less stressed by what should be normal events for them like meeting strangers and being out in public.

Most people are terrible about reading a dog’s body language.  It can be learned, though, and I rarely get bitten, largely because I have great techs that work with me, but also because I have learned what to watch for as signs of stress and fear in dogs.

Most dogs are incredibly forgiving of our tempers and they don’t tend to hold grudges.  Once in a while I’ll see a dog that does hold grudges, though.  You always have to be a little careful when working with dogs when you are the one that sometimes has to do rude things to them!

[Patrick_G]

On 11/26/2021 at 8:47 PM, Odd Duck said:

The real lesson here is to PROPERLY SOCIALIZE AND TRAIN YOUR DOG!  That’s the real crux of the matter!

 

On 11/27/2021 at 12:03 PM, Odd Duck said:

Most people are terrible about reading a dog’s body language.  It can be learned, though, and I rarely get bitten, largely because I have great techs that work with me, but also because I have learned what to watch for as signs of stress and fear in dogs.

I agree. We have a Lab/GSP mix whose hunting and protection instincts (or maybe trauma from the three months of her life before we rescued her) occasionally get triggered. It’s my job to not put her in situations that might trigger these behaviors and let others know what makes her anxious. 
Fortunately a trip to the vet isn’t one of those things. She loves the techs and their magic pouches of treats. 🙂

Edited November 27, 2021 by Patrick_G

[Odd Duck]

On 11/27/2021 at 3:13 PM, Patrick_G said:

Fortunately a trip to the vet isn’t one of those things. She loves the techs and their magic pouches of treats.

Yes, to all the treats for routine visits!  And spray cheese!

[Torrey]

@Odd Duck that's what I loved about volunteering with Cedarwoods. They had an excellent working relationship with the vets and the Animal Control officers.

When dogs were not properly socialized, Whatcom county Animal control would get called. If skin had been broken, that was supposed to be an automatic "potentially dangerous dog" where the dog was frequently surrendered rather than the humans doing the work to save the dog.

Instead, the officers would frequently investigate as to what triggered the dog to bite, and for fearful dogs, they would recommend Cedarwoods. (We also donated classes at half-price, to people who adopted pitties and other fighting rescues).

After 8 weeks of basic training (humans frequently needed to repeat the class) and 12 weeks of off-lead, we had several "dangerous dogs" go on to pass canine good citizens tests.

It's a very rewarding experience to work with a dog that in many counties would have been born under a death sentence, and watch them progress to obedience trials and search & rescue work.