# Bite Statistics- How accurate are they?



## ilivenanigloo (Jul 6, 2006)

German shepherds and other dogs that get a bad rap are dogs more likely to have a bite reported due to their size, but I wouldn't be surprised if small dogs actually have a higher bite rate, though people tend to think it's "OK" because it won't cause as much damage. But, these dogs are also used for police work and home security.

Obviously, it would be insane to include police dogs, but do they? Do they EVER take into account that the dog was right to bite (protecting itself or its owner)? Statistics is essentially lying with numbers, so from where, exactly, do the numbers come?


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## clearcreekranch (Mar 18, 2010)

I have heard that they also include bites by mixed breeds that are classified as gsd/pits/dobermans when there is no independent verification of the dogs breeds. Small breed bites are often not documented because of the person not reporting them.


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

They aren't accurate at all. As clearcreek stated above small breed bites are most often not documented, and are far more prevalant. I've been bit by my brother in laws min pin at least a dozen times. Never reported to a hospital as at worst they were minor flesh wounds.


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## smyke (Sep 24, 2009)

yeah, I bet just a little puncture wound by some old lady's chihuauha will not be reported as opposed to the big chomp with the pearly white fangs of a GSD.


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## ChristenHolden (Jan 16, 2010)

Bella (NIPED) my mom on the back of the leg. No blood no broken skin and a very small bruse. If it had been anyone else she would have been turned in and labeld dangious. I was out back emptying a kitty litter pan. And mom came over from her house. And when she came around back Bella ran up and niped her leg. My parents are ok with it they know she's going tho a fear stage. And is now scared of mom so now its back to squar 1 and having to be put on a tie out. But my in laws are convinced she will turn on me and DH at any second.:rollseyes: We all know what she COULD have done if she had not showd restrant. Now MIL don't want to visit. I guess something good happend after all LOL.


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

ChristenHolden said:


> Now MIL don't want to visit. I guess something good happend after all LOL.


 HA!


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## ilivenanigloo (Jul 6, 2006)

Yeah, the irony is, when I first got my GSD, my dad (GSD hater/fearer) sat me down on the couch and said if she EVER bit me under ANY circumstances, he'd shoot her. Guess who has a fear-aggressive year old mini-dachsund that has bitten (or made serious attempts to) my sister THREE times and tried to bite a little kid minding its own business? 

Clearcreekranch, I've heard they often don't even bother classifying mutts and sometimes not even pure-breds: a dog bit, therefore it is one of these breeds! I've also heard stories of idiots getting herding breed puppies and claiming them to be dangerous because, oh my gosh, it chases the kids and nips their heels! 

I'm actually concerned Lupa's going to bite someone because she lives with my parents (soon to be fixed; come on October!) and every time we're together and I have to leave my dog with him, I get nervous. I'm worried that, since he thinks GSDs are out to bite every child, that some little kid is going to pet my dog and my dad is going to freak, causing Lupa to see the kid as a danger and try to protect them both the only way she knows how. Hopefully that's far-fetched, since she never really pays him attention anyway. All I know for sure is, a dog is what you think it is and I'm not willing to see if that "you" refers to owner or whoever has the leash at the time. 

Is it just me, or are dogs expected to be altruists? Lupa protects me, Good dog, what a hero! Lupa protects herself.....BANG.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

there was a study done a while back that was about dog bite stats and how accurate they are. When they dug deeper they concluded that Chihuahua's and pomerenians were the most likely to bite. Our dogs only get targeted because they're big. Little yip yaps dont get faulted because most people have this mentality of how the dog is so much smaller than everything around, its just scared blah blah blah. Most little dogs bite because they werent socialized properly and/or were allowed to get away with it without correction. If i know one of my dogs will bite, they dont leave my side when we're out and about and in some situations, they're muzzled as well. Zena will bite but only to protect. As long as i'm not being threatened and my kids arent being threatened you're okay in her book but the minute there is something off about a person, hackles up, growling. They get too close after she's given very clear warning, she's lunging and snapping. And because she's willing to protect my family, she'd be considered aggressive whereas the neighbors yorkie could rip someones face off literally and it would be excused as "he's small and scared."


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## ilivenanigloo (Jul 6, 2006)

KZoppa said:


> there was a study done a while back that was about dog bite stats and how accurate they are. When they dug deeper they concluded that Chihuahua's and pomerenians were the most likely to bite. Our dogs only get targeted because they're big. Little yip yaps dont get faulted because most people have this mentality of how the dog is so much smaller than everything around, its just scared blah blah blah. Most little dogs bite because they werent socialized properly and/or were allowed to get away with it without correction. If i know one of my dogs will bite, they dont leave my side when we're out and about and in some situations, they're muzzled as well. Zena will bite but only to protect. As long as i'm not being threatened and my kids arent being threatened you're okay in her book but the minute there is something off about a person, hackles up, growling. They get too close after she's given very clear warning, she's lunging and snapping. And because she's willing to protect my family, she'd be considered aggressive whereas the neighbors yorkie could rip someones face off literally and it would be excused as "he's small and scared."


Exactly. My parents are those people, sadly. My parents and I were hanging out on a porch one evening and a guy from the neighborhood walks up to say "Hey." Lupa, being a wonderful guard dog, starts barking and my mom tells him not to worry, she doesn't bite, not paying any attention to her small dog, who is also barking. The guy says, "Aw, naw, she's just a Germany Shepherd Dog, it's the small one I'm worried about!" He then specifically mentioned chihuahuas as biters. I could have hugged the man. Of course, when we're in bad neighborhoods, my mom notes what a good thing a barking GSD is. 

Zena sounds like a great dog and even if she were aggressive, dogs are our creation and we should take responsibility for that. But who would give you any credit for taking responsibility if the dog you have on a tight leash and muzzled were to go after someone? 

I could have hugged my potential landlady today too! Yesterday, I saw on the application for a rental property a space asking for the breed and size of the applicant's dog. I called and left a message asking about breed restrictions (may they die a quick and horrible death) and explained that my dog is 7 years old and tiny- _60 pounds on a fat day_ (oh yes, she's full grown in that picture and I'm 5'4''). Today, I got a message from her saying that GSDs are on the list of aggressive breeds but I know my dog and if she's aggressive and bites someone, that's my responsibility.


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## windwalker718 (Oct 9, 2008)

My sister had 3 Bishons and a Chihuahua... and a GSD... the 1st four were horrible ankle biters, but big lug, who loved everyone was the reason they couldn't get home insurance! grrrrrrrr.....


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## ilivenanigloo (Jul 6, 2006)

windwalker718 said:


> My sister had 3 Bishons and a Chihuahua... and a GSD... the 1st four were horrible ankle biters, but big lug, who loved everyone was the reason they couldn't get home insurance! grrrrrrrr.....


 
Maybe we should send a herd of chihuahuas and poms and other various small biters after the insurance companies! Brilliant!


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

Last year, people were coming to look at the rental property next door (same landlord as mine). I found out later that one of the potential tenants told the landlord that he didn't like having "one of those nasty dogs" next door and that Rayden didn't like him. The landlord told me "I figured if Rayden didn't like him, I wouldn't either"


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Difference is often the effect of the bite between a Chi and a GSD or maybe a Rottie or a Pit.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

ilivenanigloo said:


> Exactly. My parents are those people, sadly. My parents and I were hanging out on a porch one evening and a guy from the neighborhood walks up to say "Hey." Lupa, being a wonderful guard dog, starts barking and my mom tells him not to worry, she doesn't bite, not paying any attention to her small dog, who is also barking. The guy says, "Aw, naw, she's just a Germany Shepherd Dog, it's the small one I'm worried about!" He then specifically mentioned chihuahuas as biters. I could have hugged the man. Of course, when we're in bad neighborhoods, my mom notes what a good thing a barking GSD is.
> 
> Zena sounds like a great dog and even if she were aggressive, dogs are our creation and we should take responsibility for that. But who would give you any credit for taking responsibility if the dog you have on a tight leash and muzzled were to go after someone?
> 
> I could have hugged my potential landlady today too! Yesterday, I saw on the application for a rental property a space asking for the breed and size of the applicant's dog. I called and left a message asking about breed restrictions (may they die a quick and horrible death) and explained that my dog is 7 years old and tiny- _60 pounds on a fat day_ (oh yes, she's full grown in that picture and I'm 5'4''). Today, I got a message from her saying that GSDs are on the list of aggressive breeds but I know my dog and if she's aggressive and bites someone, that's my responsibility.


 
Zena is awesome. All around she's a fabulous dog. I know i shouldnt do it but i actually compare other dogs (including our current ones) to her. We gave her to my inlaws because she kept getting ear infections, one that required surgery while we were visiting back in march because of the humidity here in NC. We never had any issues with ear infections in CO until we got stationed out here. I'm anxiously waiting for the time we move some place with less humidity so we can have my girl back! The sad thing is most people dont go on a case by case basis. I know if my husband and i were ever crazy enough to rent out a house or lost our minds and owned an apartment complex, there ARE insurance companies who will insure even with GSDs on the property and will often state that the owner has to have their own insurance for any damage the dog does to property or person. We would go on a base by case basis. meet the dog (s). If we feel they're an issue, special requirements to keep the animals would be put in place. its the owners who should be responsible and we would hold them accountable. none of my dogs are aggressive. protective yes as they should be but not aggressive!




windwalker718 said:


> My sister had 3 Bishons and a Chihuahua... and a GSD... the 1st four were horrible ankle biters, but big lug, who loved everyone was the reason they couldn't get home insurance! grrrrrrrr.....


EXACLY! We have renters insurance and our insurance company knows the dogs we have and say as long as the property we're on allows for the breed so will they. homeowners insurance could be a different story but i'll cross that bridge when i come to it. 



Dainerra said:


> Last year, people were coming to look at the rental property next door (same landlord as mine). I found out later that one of the potential tenants told the landlord that he didn't like having "one of those nasty dogs" next door and that Rayden didn't like him. The landlord told me "I figured if Rayden didn't like him, I wouldn't either"


 
More landlords and people in general should have that attitude! I swear if my neighbors had dobermans, GSDs, rottweilers... any large breed who will bark at possible intruders and maybe do more, i'd feel pretty darn safe! as is with my dogs in the neighborhood, a few people still think they're retired K9 cops so crime has actually gone down on our street and our neighbors say its because we have GSDs



codmaster said:


> Difference is often the effect of the bite between a Chi and a GSD or maybe a Rottie or a Pit.


 

True but the fact remains, some people are more likely to fault the larger dogs as they should have known and been taught better whereas little dogs, as mentioned previously, arent blamed because of their size and "self defense". When a little dog bites a child, its because the child "needed to be bitten" to leave the dog alone. When a larger dog bites a child people seem to think he's trying to kill the kid. Yes, larger dogs can cause more damage quickly but little dogs should be faulted as well when they bite. I cant stand those people who pass off a smaller dog biting because of his size or he's scared. You scare me i'd probably bite too but thats no excuse. Train the dog properly, without taking size into account in terms of excusing unwanted behaviors and bite stats would be more honest and true and in fact probably go down. I mean, how often have we started seeing on the news that a pitbull PROTECTED his family and didnt get in trouble for it? Its becoming a larger occurance. People are starting to see that dogs really arent to be judged solely on breed. Zena is the sweetest dog you'd ever meet in your life but the minute someone unwelcome tries to come into our home or a home we're visiting and heaven help that person. I'm not saying that bites shouldnt be reported or covered, i'm saying the good should also be covered. My dogs protect my family, you can sure as **** bet i'm calling news crews to help protect the GOOD aspects of my breed.


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## DogGone (Nov 28, 2009)

Statistics are often wrong. Perception, policy, psychology and agenda often influences statistics. A small dog like Chihuahuas bite more people then large dogs. The statistics are skewed because people are much more likely to report a large dog. I think bites from small dogs are vastly underreported because they just are not taken as serious and probably because people are afraid that they are going to be laughed at for reporting being bitten by such a small dog. One has to have an sense when interpreting and judging statistics. Regretfully having sense is not common. Protection breeds, or breeds that are stereotypically portrayed in the media and by urban legend as dangerous are much more likely to reported and entered into the statistics. Therefore prejudice has skewed the statistics. Statistics should always be taken with a degree of skepticism, open-mindedness and reason. Remember that "scientific" "statistics" were used in a political manner to claim that some races are better than other races; and this was in turn used for racial genocide.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

very very true. If other people were to read this i think it would open up some eyes on the matter all together. I mean people who dont have the dogs that do anyway. I'm definitely going to report an ankle biter that bites me. Size doesnt matter. You can still get hurt and that bite can still cause some serious harm (infection, below tissue damage, etc....)


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## ilivenanigloo (Jul 6, 2006)

I remembered another apartment story...

An apartment complex advertized 70lb dogs were OK. Mine is only 60lbs, so I checked it out. I talked to the receptionist at the front desk about this and she said it'd be fine, since Lupa meets the weight requirement and there is no Breed Ban BS clause (or maybe there was and it didn't include GSDs). 

Somehow, the owner of the complex was brought into the conversation and the conversation swung around to my dog again. Low and behold, I was wrong! 70lb OF dog is allowed! The total weight of the dogs in the residence must be 70lbs. Mine is still 60lbs, so we're good.

No, wait. No individual dog can exceed 35lbs. Even the receptionist argued for me, becuase it made no sense. I think she just didn't want my dog there and was making stuff up. 

And there is definitely a double standard with protective breeds: they must protect, but never stick up for themselves or anyone else; that would be aggressive and mean! 

The way I see it, a bite is a bite is a bite. If it's bad behaviour in one dog, it's bad behaviour in another, regardless of size. However there are cases in which it is excusable (note I didn't write "acceptable"), such as in puppies who don't know any better (so long as they are being taught to know better) and protection. I was at the vet once and saw a 3 month old GSD. I played with it, of course, how could I not? He was biting my arm, but he's just a teething puppy. The owner said, "Sorry about the biting, he's teething." I think he was worried I wouldn't know that. In this case, it's OK because he's just a puppy and the owner is aware of this.


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## Asche-zu-Staub (Apr 25, 2010)

has anyone seen the story about the 6 week old mauled by a Pomeranian? i like this particular article, because they defend gsds in the end. Dog Bite Dangers


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Bite statistics are very inaccurate. First of all, they only include bites that are actually reported. Second, breed identification is often incorrect. The breed listed is whatever the victim, a witness, or in some cases animal control officers (IF they are called) think the dog is. Many people don't recognize dog breeds or misidentify them-- just look at the thread about what people think your GSD is! This is even worse when you get to the "pit bull" because "pit bull" is not even a breed name, it is a descriptive term which can be applied to several breeds, plus many people think any stocky short-coated dog with a wide head is a "pit bull" so you have a number of breeds that are being reported as "pit bull" and that raises the numbers quite a bit. People have thought my Rat Terrier mix was a pit bull, and my foster Chinese Shar-Pei! You can see a lot of other misidentifications here:
Breed Misidentification

Another bit problem with these statistics is they go by the number of bites without taking into account the popularity of a breed. Of course if there are more dogs around of a certain breed, there will be more bites by that breed. This means that the most popular breeds are likely to be higher on the list. The right way to report this would be using a percentage-- how many dogs of that breed are there in the US for example, and how many of those dogs have been reported for a dog bite? The percentage would give you a much better idea. Unfortunately it is very difficult to know the actual numbers of dogs of any one breed because there is no record of that information available. You could use say information from the AKC, but that would be a problem because a lot of dogs are not registered with AKC (and some popular breeds are not AKC registrable, such as the American Pit Bull Terrier for one.) Plus that would leave out all mixed breeds. So it is very difficult to know the actual numbers, but it is pretty clear that many of the dog breeds often maligned as aggressive are VERY popular, meaning the statistics are skewed. German Shepherds for example are usually in the top 3-4 of the AKC's most popular breeds list, and if you added all the unregistered or non-AKC GSDs I am sure the numbers would be much higher. More individuals=more bites.
Another example- if you count "pit bulls" the way they do on bite statistics-- so the term includes American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, mixes which have either of those breeds in them, plus all the blocky-headed dogs who are mistaken for Pit Bulls those numbers would be quite large. Those breeds/mixes are very common/popular, if you go to any shelter here in Chicago they are full of bully breeds. The statistics don't take that into account though, they just list the number of bites, which gives an inaccurate portrayal.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Asche-zu-Staub said:


> has anyone seen the story about the 6 week old mauled by a Pomeranian? i like this particular article, because they defend gsds in the end. Dog Bite Dangers


 

thank you for posting this article!!!


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