Speachless

That was great that you recognized it might have been partly your fault. Dogs will instinctively protect the pack leader and react to being dominated or threatened by a human.

In this video a lot of the blame goes on the shoulder of the police officer as he was not even sure of his new partners reactions. He allowed the reported to get way to close.Almost every dog bite situation you see posted on u tube a human got into the face of the dog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHLnjiISsOo

In that video, anyone with a bit of "dog savvy" can see by the dog's reaction prior to the bite, that the dog was unsure of the reporters intentions, just look at the laid back ears, especially when the reporter puts both hands on him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noseyarentcha

One evening, I was having a very "lively" discussion with a friend of mine.
It was nearly dark, we were standing beside his barn and I was wearing a hoodie.
My friends cousin whom I had never met was standing with 2 other guys about 50 feet away with his dog on a leash.
Finish my conversation with my friend, look over at the dog owner and ask, "Is your dog friendly?"
Guy replies, "Yep he's really good."
I whip the hoodie off my head, quickly walk over to the leashed, sitting dog, reach over the dogs head to scratch it...end up with 3 stitches.
Entirely my fault.
I did everything wrong...dark, hoodie, loud conversation, rush up to dog and reach for it.
That dog perceived me as a threat and was protecting itself and/or its owner.
I refused to give the owners info to the authorities.
Dog bit me.
My fault.
Owner sent me a copy of the dogs vaccination records. I was not concerned about rabies.
End of story.
Sometimes us people need to accept responsibilty for dog bites.
Yes....I intentionally left the breed of the dog out of this post because it does not matter what breed it was.
I was the one in the wrong.
Too many people automatically blame a dog for biting.
Well...some people deserve to get bitten.
In this case it was me.
My behaviour and the situation/conversation/tones of voice/hand gesturing put that dog on alert.
It perceived me as a threat....and then to make matters worse, I pretty much ran up to the dog and reached for it.
Duh me!
I did not read that dog.
I saw no sense in a 10 day quarantine being imposed because I saw the vaccination records myself.
Also saw no need to stress the owner and his family by involving the authorities nor to have the dog labelled (for lack of the proper terminology).

you got it!
I was bitten a few years ago. completely the owners fault starting from his unintentional behaviour that scared the hell out of the dog before the incident and too little socialization in general.
I didn't go to the hospital to avoid the fuss that might come with it (would have just been a stitch or two anyway). Vaccinations were up to date and the owner was certainly more shocked than I was. what I did learn (and what is similar to your story): don't trust any owner, just look at the dog
People are so scared of any dog larger than a rabbit nowadays. How rational is that; just look at them having their heads down texting while driving on the highway or in heavy traffic, running red lights to make it on time to the manicure. How many pedestrians get run over every fall - no actions other than some radio dude reminding one "it's that time of the year again"...
Perceiving larger dogs as a threat is rather irrational (in our society), but as long as the bitbull makes the headline (and not the thug who owns it) that won't change anytime soon.