I am confused by this part "As far as her not meaning to bite...
Most dog aggression experts feel there is no such thing as a "mistaken" bite by a healthy/normal dog."
Does this mean they feel every dog that bites is being aggressive? In all honesty, until yesterday afternoon, I would have bet my house that Dutchess would never have bitten a child, especially one she was raised along side of. She has never ever shown any signs of aggression toward the kids. No growling, no food aggression, lets the kids hug her, pet her...ect.
They state that if a dog made contact they meant to. What we humans may call "aggression" is not seen that way by our dogs. Biting is a normal communication device in their world. To me a dog who bites and draws blood on a child, who startled but did not harm them, has a low stress level tolerance...no
t an aggressive dog but a dog who I would not have around children.
Below is from works by Ian Dunbar. Please read level 1 carefully. You will see that he states there is never mistaken contact.
Classification
s of Bites
Well-known veterinarian, dog trainer, and behaviorist Ian Dunbar has developed a six-level system of classifying bites, in order to make discussions of biting behavior more
consistent and understandable
. Those levels are:
Level 1 Bite – Harassment but no skin contact. This is the
so-called snap.
Don’t kid yourself. A snap is an intended
“air bite” from a dog who did not intend to connect. He
didn’t just “miss.” It is a lovely warning signal, telling us that
we need to identify his stressors and either desensitize
him or manage his behavior to avoid exposing him to the
things that cause him undue stress.
Level 2 Bite – Tooth contact on skin but no puncture. Again,
this is a bite from a dog who didn’t intend to break skin,
and a warning that this dog is serious. It’s a very good idea
to remove the dog’s stressors at this point, before he graduates
to the next level.
Level 3 Bite – Skin punctures, one to four holes from a
single bite (all punctures shallower than the length of the
canine tooth).
Level 4 Bite – One to four holes, deep black bruising with
punctures deeper than the length of the canine (which means
the dog bit and clamped down) or slashes in both directions
from the puncture (the dog bit and shook his head).
Level 5 Bite – Multiple-bite attack with deep punctures,
or multiple attack incident.
Level 6 Bite – Killed victim and/or consumed flesh.
