In your opinion, why did the dog bite this man face? Who fault was it?

Question

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pvDcZ3f_f1I

I love German Shepherd but, this video worry me. But do you think the reporter provoke the dog?

Answer 1

In your opinion, why did the dog bite this man face? Who fault was it?

Answer: What happened and why is obvious: the reporter was closing distance on the dog handler (note the lean forward and [from the dog's perspective] over) and the dog moved to stop him ... he did.

As to who was at fault:

1: The reporter for assuming liberties he should have not;
2: The Handler for allowing the reporter to have those liberties.
3: The dog's trainer. Why? Because if it was trained as an apprehension dog or a dual purpose dog, it should not have gone for a face bite. If it was trained as a drug or detector dog, it should not have gone for any bite.

Because the dog's movements seem to be more 'natural' than taught further suggests some inadequacy in the dog's basic training and certification.

Tony Ancheta

Answer 2

Right from the start you can see the dog is stressed (licking lips, ears going back).

Definitely the reporter unintentionally provoked the dog. But the handler also was not paying enough attention to the dog. I doubt that this is the first time the dog has displayed stress in close proximity to strangers, the handler should have been on the watch for it.

I have two girls who will go for other dogs if they get too close. Any time I am in public with one of these two, I have to keep a sharp eye on them for signs that they are getting ready to lunge and stop the situation before it happens. This is my responsibility as a handler.

I don't know what job that dog was trained for, but I'd say he's at the very least temperamentally unsuited to be a PR dog.

Answer 3

German shepherds are large dogs with strong jaws and teeth, bred for protection. So if you get one, you need to be prepared and train it properly, and take precautions.
This dog was a working dog, not a pet. Some breeders breed them for work, and encourage protective and aggressive traits a little more than others. These dogs are more businesslike and don't necessarily act like the typical pet. What this dog did was not really a dangerous bite; at most the man got a few little punctures from the teeth. From the dog's point of view, it was a strong warning, not an attack. If the dog had intended to, it could have done serious damage.
You have to understand that this dog has probably been trained to deal with hostile strangers, and to be ready to defend himself and his handler. Because of this, it has been taught to have some degree of authority over humans other than its handler. Pets are usually taught that humans are always to be respected. I'm only surprised that the handler didn't know his dog well enough to prevent this incident.
If you get a German shepherd as a pet, get one from a breeder that breeds for the pet temperament. And get some good obedience training.

Answer 4

The bite was provoked. The dog was doing exactly what a police service dog is TRAINED to do, protect his partner.

The reporter was an idiot. He ignored every sign that the dog was giving; flattened ears, pulling away, etc. He did this while leaning into and over the dog and his handler.

The "fault" lies solely on the shoulders of the police officer and/or prehaps the dog's trainer. If the officer can't "read" his dog better than that, he does not belong on the street. The guy who trained this "team" should never have let them pass certification for the street.

Answer 5

The dog took the reporter to be threatening him. You could see it when the reporter put his hands around the dogs neck. The dog looked like he was trying to back away. Then the man rose up over the dogs face. I can definetely understand why the dog felt threatened. That was just my take on the video. Other people might have other opinions, but from what I saw, the reporter was unintentionally threatening the dog from his actions. I also believe that the handler should have been able to read the dogs signals better because he was clearly uncomfortable in that situation. I have never met the dog and read the signals just fine.

Answer 6

Dog's biting varies in my mind. In a situation of breaking up a fight between two dogs, unless the dog straight turns on you and attacks you, you do so at your own risk. It is like trying to break up a fight between two large men and you accidentally get hit, you going to sue because you stepped into it? When you have a dog it is your responsibility to take precautions, like making sure kids aren't playing with him/her, or if so that you are right there no matter how friendly the dog. Or making sure no one ever puts there face near your dogs face. People are stupid about that, then get mad because the dog bite them. It is easy to put someone else's dog down, if you weren't doing what you were doing most of the time you wouldn't have been bitten though. For your question in particular though it is completely the humans fault, not the dogs.

Answer 7

The reporter was being an idiot assuming body posture like that. And the handler was being an idiot letting the reporter do that, and by not noticing the CLEAR stress signs the dog was giving off.

The dog is licking lips, rigid body posture, face frozen, and WHALE EYE. You know, when the eye gets huge and you can see the whites of a dog's eye? That means the dog is stressing out big time. Normally, you never see the whites of a dog's eye. Unless they're freaking out.

Many people don't know enough about dog body posturing and facial expressions. I mean, everybody knows about play-bows and stupid stuff, but most people cannot recognize when a dog is seriously stressed. If they did, there would be many less dog bites. I mean, do not approach a dog with whale eye!

A really interesting book about this is "For the Love of a Dog" by Patricia McConnell.

Answer 8

This is a clear case of human-dog mis-communication. I'm guessing the dog doesn't know the reporter, who is very close to it and petting it from above, which in dog language is a dominant-threatening gesture.

Now the dog is clearly uncomfortable. It lays back its ears and licks its mouth. In this connection, both are submissive-calming gestures showing that the dog is feeling pressured and in dog language it is actually politely asking the reporter to back off, the reporter doesn't see/understand this and instead he grabs the dog's neck and leans in over it, which in dog language is a clear sign of escalating aggression/attack, and the dog then decides to defend itself/give a serious warning. To be fair to the dog, the reporter doesn't give it time for additional warnings (like growling and showing its fangs), before the reporter goes in for the "attack".

The dog reacted as a dog, but there are several worrying issues here.

1. That the dog is not more relaxed around humans and their strange body language.

2. That the handler has the dog squeezed in between him and the reporter with very little room to back away if it gets too much for it.

3. That the handler doesn't know his dog better than this and doesn't read the dog's warnings.

I believe this happened because a number of factors just happened to coincide. It's just all very unfortunate.

Answer 9

I think the reporter pushed this dog beyond its comfort threshold and the handler is responsible for not seeing it coming. The dog looks at him and makes eye contact and then for whatever reason the report not only stares back at him, but grabs the dogs face and sticks his head even close to it.

The dog was obviously stressed out. In the beginning of the frame, you can see the dogs ears are flattened and its licking its lips-signs of stress and discomfort. The handler should have realized that the dog wasn't comfortable.

This is also a police dog that does not have the bite inhibition that a family pet would.

Answer 10

This is in no way shape or form the dog's fault, this was clearly the handler's fault along with the reporter's fault. This dog is a police K9 and as such the handler should have respected the K9 and not allowed that type of contact. The first and foremost training a K9 receives is to protect the handler - any movement that is deemed threatening to the handler will result in the K9 going into protection Mode. I blame the handler for the bite as he never should have put his K9 partner in that situation. Police K9's are WORKING K9's and are not pets - they are trained to react to threatening behavior and the K9 handler should have known this. GSD's are very good dogs but are protective with proper training GSD's make great friendly dogs - Police K9 training is completely different. They are trained to react to perceived threats which is exactly what this dog did - exactly what he was trained to do. Can't fault the K9 only the handler and the idiot reporter.