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100% trust a dog?

10K views 91 replies 45 participants last post by  Suni52 
#1 ·
Can you ever trust your dog 100% ? By trust I mean trusting he will not harm a person. Let me clarify that I am not including intruders or anything of that nature. Do you trust that your dog would never bite anybody on purpose ?


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#2 ·
Absolutely. I totally and completely trust all my dogs.
Bite inhibition is something they all have, and learned from puppyhood, both in the whelping box from their littermates and mama, and from the people they have encountered as young dogs.
We did have a Shiba once that I could not trust at all- he was a trickster. We got him at 10 weeks and nothing we did could change who he was. If something or someone infringed on his own interest, he would react. When he became an opportunist, and attacked Hudson a time or two, he went back to the breeder who was accustomed to that sort of behavior. Thankfully little Wasabi didn't change Hudson's attitude towards smaller dogs.
I once had a girl, Bess, that I trusted to let my kids walk- Bess would only go to the end of the driveway then would sit, refusing to budge. At the beach, she'd walk with them till I was about 50 yards behind, then sit and refuse to budge. If someone told me any of my dogs bit them I would be certain they were lying!
 
#3 ·
Nope. Both of my dogs - my sweet, dear Tesia, and now my bright, happy puppy, Shala - I would never leave unattended with young children. Far too risky, even with a sweet-tempered Golden. You never know what can happen - something like an accidental stepping on a tail or falling onto a leg can result in a fear or pain reaction from the dog. Tesia was the sweetest old soul, who let my nieces dress her up and play with her endlessly - but I still always sat there with them.

With adults, as long as no one was threatening Shala or me, I don't believe she would ever intentionally bite someone. She's be too busy licking them to death. And Tesia didn't have an aggressive bone in her body.
 
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#5 ·
I would have to say no, because she is a living breathing animal, with her own free will and there is always a chance, I guess. 99% sure, yes.
I agree. Chance is probably one of the sweetest most loving dogs I have ever had. But...he has teeth and the possibility is there. They're not robots. I really don't believe you can ever say 100%. I think all dogs a have their "trigger" that would cause them to act opposite of their usual behavior.

I do believe, though, that Chance's trigger, (whatever it is), would have to be very extreme in it's nature to cause him to ever bite.
 
#6 ·
Yes, I trust 100% that none of my goldens would ever bite anyone on purpose. I know two of them wouldn't bite even someone who was posing a threat to me, one of them might. Two of the three are therapy dogs (with the third on his way to being one) and they work with children, having them read to them. Danny also works with children with autism who can be unpredictable in their movements and behavior and I don't worry for one second that he would ever bite one of them, even if they were to hurt him accidentally (the teachers and Jay and I protect him from that possibility, but it's still something that could happen).

Jasper is the other therapy dog and I never, ever worry about him hurting a child. But he is also the one golden who I think would possibly bite someone if they were to threaten or hurt me. He's very attached to me and very protective of me. If I am sleeping and anyone comes into the room where I am sleeping, he barks at them. Even if it's my husband. He never barks at anyone at any other time.

My lab/golden on the other hand, I am sure she would bite someone if they stepped on her or hurt her physically. Or threatened her. She probably wouldn't break the skin, but I would never leave a child unattended around her. She doesn't much care for kids in the first place.
 
#8 ·
Our Golden's would harm no one, under any circumstances. If someone broke in they would bark at them and them 'lick them to death' LOL

Two notable exceptions:
If a dog is attacked by another dog and a dog fight starts, they may bight anyone jumping in. I would not trust any dog in this example...

Also, if a dog is injured, like being hit by a car (God forbid) or if a dog is very, very sick and in pain....they can bite if you hurt them when moving them....

In both cases move the dog by wrapping them in a blanket, you can keep their head in line so that they cannot bite, and it stabilizes their body for transport.
 
#9 ·
For me it depends on the dog. None of my dogs would ever react over resource guarding or because children were being loud and crazy. But if Steve was in enough pain? I don't know. His response to pain is to get grumpy, so I guess it's a possibility- however I can't ever picture him laying his teeth on a well-meaning person, and particularly a child (Steve is a mommy-dog trapped in a boy-dog body!). But I am certain that if a person was ever to hurt me Steve would react very aggressively.

We actually did have a scary situation when we were camping in the bush once. Two strange men wandered in to our isolated camp on foot in the middle of the night. Scared the hell out if us and Steve actually did lunge for them snarling and barking, with little chicken Fuzzy hiding behind him. I ran over and grabbed his collar and held him back while my husband dealt with the men, but it was a terrifying situation and a very long night for us. What luck for us- pretty sure we randomly camped near these peoples grow-operation or something like that, in the middle of the bush:(. And now we camp in provincial campgrounds when we travel! But yes, I know Steve would've bitten those men if they had kept coming forward after he charged at them, or if I'd let go of his collar. And I find that pretty reassuring.


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#10 ·
100% is probably hard to achieve. Bentley is very mild and never aggressive, but if he got rowdy in play he might mouth (he still has a bit of a puppy brain :) ), which could hurt a little one, though I don't think he would do such a thing, I wouldn't risk it. My kids are teenagers, so I guess it's the unknown factor of how he would be if little ones were playing etc. around him. I wouldn't leave them unattended for that reason. So I am probably at 99%.
 
#11 ·
yup, I trust both our dogs not to bite anyone who means no harm to us. When our one year old granddaughter came by at Christmas she was running all over the place screaming and playing. Rose while excited she undulated her body around her protecting her from falling.
 
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#12 ·
Amber was bomb proof. Maddie, I would trust around 75%. Probably she wouldn't react, but I don't know for certain.

I still remember when I had Amber out (yes, off leash) in a Smith and Hawkins store in town. I heard an "ooff" and looked for Amber. A small child about three or so had flung herself across Amber. Amber just looked at me with those golden eyes, "um, is this one of ours?"
 
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#13 ·
I do as much as you can trust any living being. If you step on a tail, you may get bitten just as if you slam into me from behind on the sidewalk, you may get a smack before I realize what's going on. If you inflict enough pain, expect it back! I consider a tail step (even unintentional) to be provoking.

A 100% out of the blue unprovoked attach, I don't see happening.
 
#14 ·
The only thing that my former boss said that I totally agree with is "all dogs bite, it's a question of when." Every dog has a threshold... When my kids were younger, it was my job to keep them and my dogs safe. The boys learned at a very young age to respect out pets. But they were never left unattended with them and they were never around the dogs when they were eating. It was all about safety for everyone.
 
#15 ·
Pilot, our older GSD, no way. She'd bite someone for sure they messed with her.

Huck, our other GSD, he'd attack an intruder or someone who meant me harm in an instant. I don't think he'd ever bite anyone for any other reason - he has an extraordinarily consistent, even temperament, solid nerves, and great confidence. Having said that, I'm not a dummy, he is a GSD and I would never leave him unattended with anyone else's children.

Willie, Golden #1, we'll see, he's too young yet to tell. I expect to be able to trust him though.
 
#16 ·
Can you ever trust your dog 100% ? By trust I mean trusting he will not harm a person. Let me clarify that I am not including intruders or anything of that nature. Do you trust that your dog would never bite anybody on purpose ?


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Absolutely.

My goldens will probably bark at an intruder, and then have a happy greeting party around them. Goldens should have golden temperament. And after everything we went through with our first two goldens, temperament was high on the list when interviewing breeders. Jacks has never even growled or raised his lips or come close to either in all his 6 years and knock on wood, Bertie is the same way.

What you need to be concerned about is when a dog is in pain and out of his mind. I would not be surprised if a bite happens if this dog is moved in such a way that it hurts very badly.
 
#17 ·
Absolutely not.

Dogs are animals with their own sets of impulses. No matter how well trained and how great their temperament it is impossible to say that what a living creature will do with 100% certainty.

For that reason I do not leave my dogs alone with children and when they do meet kids I am mindful of the quick lip lick or the whale eye, the ear twitch, or the calming signals.
 
#18 ·
Dog bites are usually from people provoking the dog. I trust Maverick about 90%, however I won't leave him alone with someone I don't trust 100%. And ANY interaction with a child must be monitored by me or someone I trust with Maverick and basic understanding of dog body language.

Dogs are still animals and I think as humans, we're still learning about these animals we've called companions for centuries.
 
#21 ·
Two of my girls, Molly and Autumn, 100%. Molly grew up with my daughter - fallen on, tail stepped on etc. I never saw her snarl, lip curl or bite - ever. Autumn was adopted at 8 - that girl was a dream - She had to put up with my snarky resident golden who attacked her a few times, drawing blood - never fought back. If you stepped on her tail she would wag it after you got off it. Both the sweetest dogs ever. Sure hope I will be blessed with another golden like them. I know they are both resting in peace.
 
#24 ·
Nope, it is my responsibility as a dog owner to understand that every dog CAN bite, and I should not assume they will not bite regardless of the situation. However I do trust 100% that my dogs will tell me how they feel about any situation or environment and they trust that I will listen to them.
 
#59 · (Edited)
I agree with this. I don't think my dog would ever do anything without letting me know. And it's my job to handle their feelings. Many owners are oblivious to their dog's signals and I think that does contribute significantly to many 'random' 'never before now' bites. All dogs should be respected for their ability to bite.




I'll also add that I raised a lab mix from a puppy when I was much younger, my first apartment on my own at 17, and she never showed any aggression or uneasiness with people.... We were at the river one day and a drunk guy came up asking to throw the ball with her. He was nice as can be, although drunk, and wasn't threatening outwardly but after Millie chased the ball and began to come back she growled like no one's business at him. I got her to bring the ball to me instead of him and parted ways, but something about THAT man or alcohol or something.... Never before that and never after did it happen, so that began teaching me about how much dogs do need to be respected and I began researching a lot more at that point.

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#25 ·
Yes, I 100 percent trust my past dog Joplin and my current dog Tally would never hurt a person.
 
#26 ·
I do 100% trust my girl. I don't leave her unattended with children though, but this is mostly as a re assurance to the parents, more than me concerned with what Ripley will do. Ripley is constantly around my 3 year old nephew and they are best friends. He calls her "Prickly" and they sleep in the same bed together on occasion :p
 
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#27 ·
I've had six goldens. Not once in the over 20 years we've owned goldens has any of them ever shown any aggression or propensity to be aggressive to humans. But I would never say that I trust them 100 percent to not ever nip or bite a human, they are dogs and there is always something in my mind that says under unusual or stressful situations it might or could happen. We have young grandchildren who are here frequently, the greatest danger is that the dogs could knock them down in their eagerness to play with them, but the kids and dogs are never left together unsupervised. As far as strangers in our house, if a burglar would break in they would probably show them the way to the safe and where we store our jewelery, as long as the strangers would give them a cookie and pet them on their way out the door.
 
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#28 ·
My first golden, Sally, was a well trained, very obedient dog. When I was pregnant with my first son, I attended a neighborhood party at my in laws. It was outdoors with food all around. I decided to put Sally in a sit stay to keep her away from the food. She never ever broke a stay... A neighborhood girl that she knew, about five at the time, came up behind her and choke hold hugged her around the neck. Sally didn't growl or snap, but she whipped her head back and the look in her eyes scared me. I ended up taking her to a behaviorist, who found nothing wrong with her temperament...instead we worked on teaching her to pick up the dumbbell. Sally was so conflicted, I had told her to stay, so she did, but she couldn't flee when she was "hugged" because she would never break a stay...

And I step on tails and paws sometimes when I am cooking... No one ever reacts. In fact, once when I was trimming George's tail, I lacerated it... He just turned his head and looked at me like I was an idiot, but he never snapped...
 
#29 ·
my Pudden was a kind gentle soul around people, including children, she was very trustworthy. Biting people was not really in her repertoire.

Even so, mama would never have left the Pudden alone with small children, or even subject her to small children for an extended amount of time. Small kids, esp. boys, are often obnoxious little blighters who can be unbelievable rude to dogs. Mama would never impose one of those little pests on her dogs and expect her dogs to be angels about it. Not fair to the dog.
 
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