The Library: Empty-Hand Fighting: Dog Techniques

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What are the facts when considering whether dog attacks are a real risk for you?

Dog Bites Man

There are, perhaps, millions of people who are so terrified of being killed in an earthquake that they refuse to live anywhere West of the Rockies, or reside much above the second floor of a home. After every news account of an earthquake, however minor, people shake their heads and wonder “How can anyone live there?”

Your odds of being killed, sometime in your life, of an earthquake are 1 in 117,127. Roughly, in the course of a year, one in ten million Americans die in an earthquake. With three-hundred million in the country, that could be a sobering thought.

What are the odds of being killed by a dog? Coincidentally enough, your lifetime odds are 1 in 117,127. That’s not an error: this year, one in ten million Americans will be killed by a dog. Your lifetime odds of being killed by a dog are exactly the same as being killed in an earthquake.

Here’s an important difference: this year, millions of Americans will be injured by a dog, but not earthquakes. This is enough to make many people reasonably concerned about dog attacks.

Unfortunately, the discussions about dog attacks often become extremist: many dog fanciers dismiss the risk, saying that dogs are perfectly safe, and that dog attack stories are either grossly exaggerated or are really the result of the victim’s ignorance or the owner’s lack of responsibility. At the same time, many people carry firearms or other weapons expressly for killing any dog that may intend to threaten them. Even those who fall into the middle often take an extreme position: they claim that dogs are supernaturally strong, and all are aggressively lethal animals who move at impossible speeds; others believe even enraged dogs are easy enough to kill bare-handed.

The amount of incorrect information that is shared as fact is too long to list here. Ridiculous notions such as forcing your hand down the throat to gag the dog, or pulling its tongue to effect a bite release, or the use of non-existent acupuncture points, or holding your hand over its nose, and so on, are whispered among self-defense groups as special techniques. None of these are true. Further, it is often easy to spot the person whose advice is based on playing with his dog: one individual claimed that spreading a dog’s front legs apart will cause it to release its bite. He did admit is was based on his own studies...on his own dog, during play. It did not occur to him that nearly every dog will yield to its owner when playing.

So what are the facts about dog attacks? We’ve compiled some meaningful ones below, but before you accept or dismiss them, read the disclaimer at the end!

Over four million people are bitten by dogs each year. Meaning: Dog bites are a serious consideration; maybe not the biggest threat by a long stretch, but enough to consider the tactical risk.
About 80% of victims are under 14 years old. Indeed, 5-9-year olds are particularly at risk. Boys get bitten more than girls; however, at ages 15 and higher, there is little difference between which gender gets bitten more. Meaning: If you’re an adult, your risk goes way down.
Less than 500,000 bites are non-accidental. Meaning: The dog is probably not trying to really hurt you. Bites where the dog is determined to hurt you are the minority.
About 800,000 dog bites require medical care. Meaning: Most dog bites are not playful nips, or scratches to be shrugged off. Indeed, most dog bites will be severe enough to require you to see a doctor.
About 350,000 are serious enough to require immediate medical attention. Meaning: Only about one out of ten bites will require an ambulance.
About 10,000 people require hospitalization. 98% make a full recovery. Meaning: even if your bite is severe enough to require you to stay in a hospital, you will probably be all right.
About 30 will die. Meaning: Your odds of being killed by a dog are pretty remote.
If you’re an adult, 55% of bites will be on your arm or hand. 31% will be on your leg. 9% will be to the head or neck. Meaning: The dog usually attacks the part closest to it. If facing a snarling, menacing dog, he’s probably going to try for your hands.
About 75% of all bites were dogs well known by the victim and otherwise considered friendly. Half are the neighbor’s dog; 30% are the family dog. Meaning: That snarling, menacing dog is either Bandit from next door, or your own dog! However, this also means that one in four dog bites are from a dog you don’t know. Treat all strange dogs with suspicion.
61% of all bites occur in the home, not outdoors. Meaning: While most people think of a dog attack as happening out on the street, the fact is that you are just as likely to be bitten inside your house or a friend’s home.
Approximately half of bites occur when interacting with dogs, with the other half being surprise attacks. Of the bites that happen during interaction, 18.5% occur during petting and feeding, and 17.5% occur while playing. Only about 8% occur from a dog being threatened. Meaning: You are far more likely to be bitten by a dog while treating it nicely. Bites from mean, menacing, snarling dogs are the minority.
Only about 5% of dog bites are to people delivering packages. Meaning: While being a mail carrier or delivery person carries the risk of being bitten by a dog, it’s statistically rare. On the other hand, if you think you’re safe because you’re not in a job that brings you into contact with dogs, you’re mistaken.
No dogs have jaws that lock down. Meaning: The idea that a pitbull or American bulldog or rottweiler has jaws that lock onto a bite (meaning the dog must be killed before it will let go) is not true. All dogs will release a bite, however momentarily, when pain is sufficient.
No breed statistically stands out as more dangerous than another. Only in very local areas where a popular breed predominates will you see an increase. Meaning: Notions that dobermans or rottweilers are more dangerous, or that pit bulls are all aggressive, are untrue. It may be true that rottweilers are more aggressive in a certain neighborhood, because there’s a huge population of inbred rottweilers there, but overall, no dog stands out as more or less dangerous than another.
Dogs most likely to bite a person have two or more of these factors: unlicensed, male, non-neutered, kept outdoors, and with no current vaccinations. Approximately 80% of bites are from males; 60% of all bites are from non-neutered or non-spayed dogs. Meaning: if your neighbor has an unlicensed, non-neutered male dog chained up in his yard, that dog is far more likely to bite someone than not.
A dog’s biting strength varies from one dog to another based on side of the head, age, shape of the jaws, sharpness of teeth, duration of the bite, and so on. There are few reputable studies of how strong a dog’s bite is, because dogs vary their bite due to circumstances. Even a nip can do serious damage to a person, although the strength is only slight. Common citations of “1000 PSI,” “1200 PSI,” or “2000 PSI” are almost invariably without basis in fact. One researcher suggests that any claim of the dog’s bite power measured in PSI (“pounds per square inch”) is likely made up. The best-known study that measures dog bite pressure concludes that big dogs manage only about 320 psi, or three times a human’s average bite pressure.

Disclaimer: These numbers are based on a variety of scientific sources. However, like any statistics, they are no guarantee that you will or won’t be bitten by a dog. Certain risk factors increase or decrease your odds. These include your age (the older you are, the less likely), how often you encounter dogs (the more often, the greater the chance), and very importantly your comfort level during interaction. The more anxious you are around dogs, the greater the chance you will be perceived as dangerous by the dog.

In other words, if you rarely ever encounter dogs in your day-to-day activities, your odds are nearly zero of being bitten. On the other hand, if you frequently are around your neighbor’s chained, male, non-neutered dog, you should be very cautions around them.

In the end, there are more things to be worried about than dog attacks...but the reality of how to address an attack must be part of every realistic training program.