Subliminal Bite Cues
How to tell when your dog is warning you
Ian Dunbar, Ph.D., MRCVS
When a dog bites, its common case history is that it had been "perfectly trustworthy" for any number of
years until suddenly, out of the blue, it attacked a child without warning and without reason. At least
this is the owner's version of what transpired. The dog may have a very different story.
Reasons
When applied to the analysis of behavior problems, the medical model prompts us to search for a single
reason to explain a dog's actions-direct cause and effect. Usually, however, there are many reasons for a
dog to bite, or at least there are many situations and/or specific stimuli which cause a dog to feel uneasy.
Whereas none of these stimuli alone are adequate provocation for aggression, simultaneous exposure to
several anxiety-provoking stimuli may cause the dog to bite. The concept of subliminal bite-cues is a
more productive theoretical model, both for interpreting and resolving individual bite incidents and for
implementing a preventive intervention program.
Most owners are well aware of the situations-the people, actions, places, sights sounds and objects-that
tend to make their dogs feel uneasy. For example, let's consider a typical dog as described by its owner.
The owner has known for a long time that 1) the dog is not overly fond of kinds; 2) the dog takes a
while to warm to strangers; 3) the dog is a mite hand-shy and 4) the dog is protective of its food, bones
and toys. Each euphemistic excuse is a master of understatement and self-deception. Here we have a dog
that has not been give the foundations of its temperament, yet its owner remains confident that all is fine
and dandy. And certainly, on the surface, the dog seems sound and comparatively friendly. The dog
only appears to be uneasy and apprehensive in some specific situation. Basically, the dog has a brittle
temperament, like a Minnesota lake in late fall-smooth covering of fresh snow and ice just half an inch
thick: It's fine until you walk on it!
Seeing It Coming
Suppose your typical dog, we'll call him Rover, lives with a six-year-old boy called Johnny. Rover has
never bitten Johnny but, on the other hand, does not particularly like him. The only time Rover ever
growled was when Johnny (bless his heart) prodded Rover's posterior with a pencil. But mutual consent
they stay out of each other's way.
Rover has never bitten a stranger. He has never even growled at a stranger. But he doesn't greet
strangers either. Rather, he remains at a respectful distance and will only cautiously investigate after
carefully observing an unfamiliar person for several minutes.
Rover has never snapped or growled when handled, but he does imperceptibly duck his head and flinch
when family members reach for his collar. Also, both the veterinarian and the groomer have mentioned
that Rover has always been quite a handful during routine examinations and, recently, he was difficult to
restrain.
Rover has never snapped or growled to protect his food bow. But then he never has the opportunity,
since everybody has been instructed not to go near the dog when it's eating; however, an observant
owner might have noticed subtle posturing cures around the food bowl and passive protection with toys
and bones.
Rover was just your normal, faithful pooch. The owner was not aware of any signs of aggression. Then,
one day, Johnny's best friend, Jimmy, came over to play after school. Rover retired to the family room
while the two children played with Jimmy's new toy-a remote-controlled plastic dinosaur that squirted
sparks from its jaws. In the course of play, the little green monster bumped into Rover's aluminum food
bowl. "Ahhhh! Dinner time," mused Rover. Rover's anticipation of food overcame his antipathy towards
kids in the kitchen, and he happily trotted toward his bowl, which he reached just as Jimmy reached to
retrieve the toy, inadvertently brushing against the dog's collar in the process. Rover bit Jimmy, and the
bit broke the skin.
With a stranger-a child- next to the food bowl reaching for the dog's collar, the combined anxiety proved
too much for Rover and he felt the need to defend himself. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Whereas no single stimulus was extreme in itself, the compounded stress of a number of subliminal
bit-stimuli exceeded the dog's bite inhibition threshold. Whenever the desire to defend exceeds the level
of bite inhibition acquired during development, the dog bites. Certainly, from his pint of view, Rover
had reason to bite-in fact, several reason.
Warnings
In reality, ever since puppyhood the dog had repeatedly warned the owners. Over and over Rover had
tried to convince his owners that he felt extremely uneasy and apprehensive around children, he felt on
edge when strangers invaded his living space, he really did not like people reaching for his head and
neck and then grabbing and jerking his collar, and he felt completely at odds when people approached
his food bowl, because he had become accustomed to eating alone. Either the owners failed to notice
these warnings, or the warnings were summarily ignored, excused or evaded. But Rover did warn the
owners, In fact, numerous times.
The dog also warned Jimmy to back off immediately prior to the bite. It is hardly the dog's fault that its
quick and subtle warning went unnoticed and unheeded by a six-year-old child.
Over thousands of years, the propensity for issuing warnings has been progressively bred and trained
out of dogs. During the early days of domestication, there were a number of strong selective pressures
which markedly influenced specific behaviors and temperamental qualities of the domestic stock, namely:
breeding in captivity-domestic dogs were more promiscuous than their wild counterparts, and living in
captivity-domestic dogs were selected for friendliness toward familiar people, but vocal aggressiveness
towards strangers.
In the past 150 years, with uni/bilateral selective breeding for conformation and/or working behaviors,
the primary selective pressures have been removed, producing dogs that are more difficult to breed, less
friendly towards people and less inclined to give warnings. Basically, we have dogs with shorter fuses.
Some kinds of training cut the fuse even shorter. Customarily, dogs are punished for growling. Luckily,
the practice usually makes dogs growl more. Unfortunately, however, sometimes punishment effectively
eliminates growling. Now we have a dog that is still upset but no longer gives warning.
The priorities are backward. First, one should resolve the dog's underlying temperament problem and
desensitize it, then train the dog not to growl.
Socialization is the Solution
The above example is probably an oversimplification. In reality, for each individual dog there are at least
a dozen or so specific stimuli and/or situations that give it the heebie-jeebies. We know the things that
upset dogs; they are no great secret. Unless desensitized during socialization, dogs tend to become
uneasy when around their valued possessions and when handled by strangers, especially children and
men, and especially people acting peculiarly or dressed out of the ordinary. During routine puppy
husbandry, the owner should actively desensitize the dog to each potentially worrying stimulus in turn.
Owners must realize that a domestic dog is not domesticated until it is socialized and trained.
Socialization is the answer-puppy parties and off-leash puppy training classed. These allow the pup
numerous rewarding and confidence-building interactions with many different people-some acting
strangely or wearing and carrying bizarre things-in a plethora of vastly varied situations. We know the
solution, so why don't we get on and solve the problem?
Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, animal behaviorist and dog trainer based in Berkeley, California.