Many dog owners are guilty of agreeing with the commonly held belief that their "nice dog" would never bite someone, but they would be wrong. Biting is an instinctual behavior for dogs and although they hopefully learn "bite inhibition" when they're a puppy and that helps prevent any serious biting from occurring there are times when a dog may be pushed past their limit of toleration and a bite will ensue. Sometimes it's their only recourse when their warning signals are not taken into account by the other party ( both human and/or canine).
Dogs can be considered to be very polite in many ways such as giving out warning signals before they feel pressed to resort to a bite. It's our responsibility as the human to be aware of such signals and intervene on our behalf or others to prevent a possible bite. These warnings include the following emotional states (of our pups) and situations they may find themselves in:
highly aroused or excited (such as when you're playing rough and tumble with your dog)
fearful (of the environment and whatever is in it)
frustrated (by something or someone)
threatened territorially (when someone is invading their space)
When we take the time to watch for these signals and then realize that they can be a polite warning that a bite may be on its way, we can also take the time to back off from engaging with our dog and respect his/her wishes to stop doing whatever is causing the pup to feel uncomfortable.
Thanks for reading.