(by client and guest blogger Kristi Mohrbacher)
Recovering from a dog bite sucks for both the victim and owner. Worse for the victim of course, but it’s pretty emotional for the owner too. From shock to shame, to anger too, an owner has a lot of emotions and responsibility to sort through. As an owner's worst fear, and possibly more commonplace than we know, I think it's an important topic to discuss.
A bit about the bite
This past week, I was the owner of a dog who bit someone – my brother. I couldn’t believe it. I had not seen aggressive signs previously from my 8-year-old GSP, but the minute he jumped up and nipped my brother on the arm, shock and fear coursed through me. Shock that he would actually do that, and fear that my brother might be really hurt.
We were lucky as it wasn’t a full-mouth-around-bicep kind of bite, instead, it was a front-couple-of-teeth-over-fleece-jacket kind of bite. My brother quickly took his jacket off, and we saw two dark red ruts in his arm, about 1.5” long, with bruising already showing up around them. My brother was a champ as we cleaned the cuts with three different kinds of antiseptic pads and coated it in Neosporin. In fact, the most complaining he did was about the fake tattoo Band-Aid that was the only one I had in the house. It was in the shape of a heart with “Mom” tattooed on it and it did the job.
Just as my brother had a healing process to go through, I found I had a process of my own. The shock and shame were tough to take. I felt terrible for my brother and I nervously wondered if my dog would do it again? Would we have to sweat our way through every introduction from here on out? What’s next?
Dog bites in and on the news
This bite came right on the heels of the dog-bite incident with 9News anchor Kyle Dyer who was bit in the face on-air while filming a segment about a dog rescued from a frozen pond by a firefighter. There was an outpouring of emotion from the viewers and community members concerned for Kyle's well-being on various social media pages, but something else too, that surprised me. People took sides. Dog lovers, trainers and experts piped in listing all the ways Kyle had violated the nervous dog's space and trust and how her behavior sent aggressive messages to the dog. Other people piped in saying just the opposite and blaming Max, the Argentine Mastiff. Who really is at fault here?
Max was quarantined for 10 days and Kyle faced 70 stitches along with cosmetic surgery to help fix her lip and nose. Kyle has said she's on the road to recovery and around 5,000 people signed a petition to spare Max's life. It's a sad story, with a happy ending for Max, and a long road for Kyle and Max's owner as they work through the healing processes. And it made me wonder what Colorado law is for dog bites.
Colorado dog bite law
Here's some great resources for Colorado Dog Bite Law:
- Animal Legal and Historical Center (Michigan State University College of Law)
- Dog Bite Law: Solutions for Victims, Lawyers, Canine Professionals and Dog Owners.
Essentially:
"This 2005 Colorado law makes a dog owner strictly liable for dog bites only if the victim of the bite suffers serious bodily injury or death from being bitten by a dog while lawfully on public or private property regardless of the viciousness or dangerous propensities of the dog or the dog owner's knowledge or lack of knowledge of the dog's viciousness or dangerous propensities. Further, the victim is entitled to recover only economic damages (as opposed to noneconomic damages like pain and suffering, inconvenience, etc.) in a civil suit against the dog owner. Also, the statute provides that an owner is not liable where the victim is unlawfully on public or private property; where the victim is on the owner's property and the the property is clearly and conspicuously marked with one or more posted signs stating "no trespassing" or "beware of dog"; where the victim has clearly provoked the dog; where the victim is a veterinary health care worker, dog groomer, humane agency staff person, professional dog handler, trainer, or dog show judge acting in the performance of his or her respective duties; or where the dog is working as a hunting dog, herding dog, farm or ranch dog, or predator control dog on the property of or under the control of the dog's owner." (Animal Legal and Historical Center, Michigan State University College of Law, 9/2011)
What's next for the perpetrators?
The good news is that it looks like Max and my dog shouldn't be sued. However, myself and Max's owner have an obligation to figure out what went wrong and do every single thing we can to prevent it from happening again. After a multi-hour Dog Whisperer marathon, with Caesar's help, I think I've come to some conclusions on what set my dog off:
- My brother and my dog had never met before. I came into the house a full minute before my brother did and was already in the kitchen when he came into the house.
- He was shutting the door as my dog went to sniff him, and when I turned around, I saw him with his arm up on the door and this thought went through my head, "Oh God, that pose looks so aggressive, like's he's going to hit him. I hope he doesn't think that."
- With that thought, I freaked myself out, and I think my dog sensed it and mistook my fearfulness as though I was afraid of the man at the door.
- You know the rest...
As professional dog trainers, I turned to Aimee and Brad to find out what they recommend doing.
Here are their tips:
It is so scary to think that the dog you love so much has caused pain and fear in someone else. I don't think fault or blame need be placed on the owner or dog. We always need to remember that dogs are animals and not to be treated like humans. We are bringing them into our world that is very different from their natural world. Animals are such innocent creatures. In the wild, biting another dog is merely the equivalent of a human yelling at another human that they have overstepped their boundaries.
Here are some things to consider:
- If the dog is new to you and you are unsure of his past, you need to express very calm assertive energy to the dog.
- New dogs are generally very anxious in their new surroundings. If it is a dog such as a Pointer, at least 1 hour exercise a day for this dog to release some of his anxiety. Pointers are hunting dogs and have the capacity to run and sniff for many miles and many hours. This is great mental stimulation for them.
- Another very important aspect of owning a dog is reading the body language. I think that a lot of people mistake anxious for excited. Two very different things.
- Some signs that your dog is anxious and nervous: excessive panting, pacing, can't settle down, won't listen to you because he/she is in such a nervous state of mind.
- In this specific scenario, if the dog has never met this person, it needs to be done in a very calm manner.
- First let the person enter the house while the dog is in another room. You guys can all sit and be extremely calm and mellow in the room.
- Once the energy in the room is calm, one person can bring the dog out. However, it is important to let the dog adapt to the surrounding, don't force the dog or person to meet, let it happen on the dog's terms.
- You always want meeting new people to be a positive experience for the dog. It can also be helpful for the new person to have some dog treats to give the dog when he is nice and calm.
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