Providing high-quality care for any animal begins with a basic understanding of the behavioral needs of that species. Proper housing, handling, and even feeding is dependent upon knowledge of the species, and it is often helpful to ask ourselves, “What would this animal be doing if it were in the wild?”

My baby book has an interesting entry at age three. “Biggest Fear: dogs.” My mother showed that book to my mother-in-law a few years ago. Mom-in-Law Opal couldn’t resist asking me, “I bet you don’t know what your biggest fear was when you were three.” I immediately said, “Dogs.” She was amazed. She couldn’t imagine I would remember, because I work with dangerous dogs all the time.

I answered her question with another. “Do you think I’d be likely to forget?”

After eight years of working in shelters and 25 more working as a behaviorist and trainer by veterinary referral, dogs still scare me. I have turned that fear into a productive sense of caution. I think that is why I have never been seriously bitten. I also think that is why many people end up with bite wounds when they start working in the dog professions. A lack of caution leads to careless handling. That may work for a while, but there is always a dog that can hurt you out there. In that spirit, I would like to offer some ideas I use while handling dogs.

Warning: Do not try to test these things by yourself. Find the most skilled animal handler in your business and talk about these things. A good dog business should have a policy that requires safe-handling classes, regular refreshers, and a high standard for safety. These things have worked for me, but I cannot promise they will work for you. They are simply food for thought.

1. Never make direct eye contact with a dog you haven’t slept with. You can argue this ‘til the cows come home, but I live by this rule. A protracted stare can cause a dog to attack with no other provocation. Use your peripheral vision to watch the dog. You can actually react faster to movement from your peripheral vision than by looking directly at an object.
2. Do not touch a dog on the head, neck, and shoulders as a first greeting. Watch two testy dogs strut up to each other in a dog park. They stand cheek to cheek, and then one will try to touch the other dog at the withers with its paw or chin. If the dogs are playful, this starts a wild game of chase. If they are serious, the fight starts with the touch. Touching a dog’s chest for a couple of seconds, freezing for a few seconds, and then repeating is the best greeting. Remember, no eye contact while you do this. One other caution: some dogs do not like to be rubbed for extended periods. Some dogs don’t like to be rubbed at all. This suggestion will not give you free reign to treat a strange dog like you treat your own. All of this is on the dog’s terms, not yours.
3. Never bend over a dog. If King Kong bent over and got in your face, you’d feel threatened. That’s how they feel about us. If you do it suddenly, the dog may not perceive an escape, and your face becomes a target for defensive aggression. If you wish to make safer contact, squat or sit down and face slightly away from the dog. This is simultaneously risky and safe. You are less likely to trigger an attack if you are lower to the ground, but your face is closer to the dog if a bite occurs. Like I said, it’s risky. If you break your composure while low to the ground, bad things happen.
4. Never face fully front. The best way to greet a dog is to turn sideways or fully away. You can do this with the safety of chain link between you and the dog to test the waters. Obviously, if you are facing away from the dog, you are less of a threat. Reducing your presence as a threat is critical to getting a dog to feel comfortable with your presence.
5. When in doubt, freeze. Aroused dogs are more likely to bite things that move. A good way to tone down a situation is simply to stop moving. Look away, and if possible, turn your body slightly away from the dog.
6. If you have the dog on a leash, figure which way you’d have to pull to stop the dog from biting you or someone else. No matter which way a dog is looking, a pull on the opposite direction can stop a bite. The problem is that most people don’t think of that in advance. When the critical instant occurs, the leash must move quickly to create tension at an angle that will slow or stop a lunge.
7. If a dog does try to bite you, put something the dog can bite in its mouth and slowly retreat. There are shelters where the kennel workers carry “bite sticks.” These are short police batons that can take the place of your hand or arm if a dog attacks. The idea is not to hit the dog but simply to feed it something other than you. I have never used a bite stick in a kennel, but my metal dog catcher clipboard was cross-hatched with bite marks.
8. Make your first contact feel like an inanimate object. If you have a dog on a leash and sit down, you can manipulate the leash to get the dog to pass by your back and side. Stick your elbow out so that the dog will touch your stationary arm as it goes by. Often you can combine this with a soft brush of the coat with your fingers. The idea is to try to touch the animal as if you were a wall or chair at first contact so that you can eventually touch the dog safely. Dogs rarely bite walls or chairs.
9. If you feel uncomfortable about a dog, tell your supervisor. Over the years, I have handled many dogs that sent a chill up my back. I trust that chill. I didn’t have it automatically. I learned which situations were really serious and which ones weren’t. Beginners focus on the wrong things and may miss a dog’s truly dangerous signals. As a manager, I always let someone off the hook if a dog had them buffaloed. In my mind, this should be a standard business practice. Often one member of the team already has a rapport with the dog, and there is no need to press the issue. Safety has to come first, last, and always.
10. Make your movements moderate and smooth no matter how scared you are. No quick motions. One of the signs of an aroused dog is stiff, jerky motions. If you imitate an aggressive dog at the wrong time, it may end poorly for you.

Gary Wilkes has extensive skills handling dangerous dogs. He has taught safe handling to veterinarians, veterinary techs, groomers, kennel attendants, and animal control officers for many years. He also works to teach dogs to be handled after years of muzzles and hard knocks.

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