Dog Bite Case Study

746 Words2 Pages

Dog Bite: How Bad Is It? (Part 1)

Bite levels can range from minor to deadly. Assessing the severity of the bite is the first step to figuring out what to do about it. The following is a version of the bite severity assessment scale originally developed by Dr. Ian Dunbar.

Level 1: pre-bite
The dog snaps or “air bites” but makes no contact with the skin. The “air bite” is a warning signal, not an actual attempt to bite. People tend to think that the reason they weren’t harmed was that they managed to move away in time. However, this is highly unlikely. Humans react very slowly in comparison to the speed of a biting dog.
Owners should take the air bite as a sign that someone wasn’t paying attention to the dog’s earlier signs of displeasure …show more content…

(Part 2)

Level 3A: shallow bite
The dog bites once and punctures the skin, but the puncture is shallower than the length of their canine tooth. This bite may not be severe, but it is both painful and reportable. Once a dog has bitten at this level or higher, they will always be considered a liability, even if their behavior is greatly improved through behavior modification.
Level 3B: several shallow bites
The dog bites multiple times, leaving skin punctures that are shallower than half of their canine tooth. Multiple bites usually mean that the dog is reacting without thinking between bites, and this indicates a high state of arousal.
Level 4: deep bite or slashes
The dog bites once, leaving punctures deeper than the length of the canine (meaning that the dog bit and then clamped down) or the bite produces slashes in both directions from the puncture (meaning that the dog bit and shook their head).
Level 4 bites are very serious. Unlike previous level bites, these show no inhibition in strength. While any of the lower bite levels should act as a warning sign indicating that the owner should seek help from a qualified behavior modification specialist, a level 4 bite indicates that the problem has been building up and neglected for a long time, possibly years. A dog biting at this level presents a severe liability to the owners, both in terms of money and family members, because a level 4 bite can kill a

Open Document