Avoiding Dog Attacks and Defending Against Them

This past year the United States Postal Service reported that over 5,800 letter carriers were attacked by dogs. In a recent publication they cited Los Angeles as the leading city in the country for attacks on letter carriers. Shockingly, small children and babies are the second leading target for dog bites and dog attacks.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) which tracks these statistics reports that close to 5 million Americans are bitten by dogs annually with close to 1 million of them requiring hospitalization. Countless other millions are attacked by dogs. It is a nationwide problem and one that seems to be getting worse every year. The Insurance Institute reported that $480 million was paid out in claims from dog bites last year. Homeowners are ultimately the recipients of bigger insurance bills because of that.

A variety of professional organizations have teamed with animal behavior groups to come up with some dog bite and dog attack prevention tips.

1. Learn to read the dog’s body language. If a dog is growling and barking with his teeth showing, that means he’s getting ready to do business and bite you.

2. If the hair on the dog’s back is standing up, he’s ready to attack.

3. If the dog’s ears are laid-back against his head or his legs are stiff, he is getting ready to attack.

4. If you fall down or a dog jumps on you, curl up into a ball and cover your face with your arms.

5. Never scream or yell at a dog.

6. Avoid eye contact with a dog and don’t stare at it, but certainly never smile at a dog. He sees a smile on your face as bared teeth and a sign of aggression.

7. If you think the dog is getting ready to bite you, remain motionless and count to 5 to yourself then move away slowly sideways or backwards.

8. Never pet a dog that is eating, drinking, sleeping or caring for puppies.

9. Most dog attacks occur outdoors, so always carry a self-defense product with you, such as a pepper spray and consider carrying a blocking device of some kind such as a cane or stick that you can use to place in a dog’s mouth rather than have him bite your arm or leg.

10. Dogs that are under anxiety such as being left alone for a long time or being exposed to noise created by a thunderstorm or fireworks are much more likely to bite. Children are often very noisy and so make good targets for anxious dogs.

If you follow these dog attack prevention tips, you are much more likely to avoid getting a dog bite.

The MACE® Brand Pepper Spray Gun shoots up to 25 feet away making it ideal fo dog attack defense.

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