Usually, this confusion plagues you when your dog bites someone as the dog owner. In this post, I will be sharing some first aid steps you can take to calm yourself down and attend to the injured victim that helps you handle the situation better.

5Dogs are considered man’s best friend, but they can also bite when they become aggressive. They are polymicrobial and release bacteria from their mouths whenever they bite a person or an animal. Some breeds of dogs that bite easily include Pitbull, rottweilers, cocker spaniel, German shepherd, Doberman pinscher, bullmastiff, etc. These dogs are primarily in high demand worldwide because they serve as pets and protectors to their owners.

What Steps to Take When Your Dog Bites Someone

1. Be Calm

The first thing to do is be calm and avoid being anxious. You should shift your attention from punishing the dog and focus your attention on attending to the injured victim.

2. Restrain your dog immediately

Remove your dog from that environment to prevent further attack or more severe injuries. You can hold your dog leash to something firm to avoid running away.

3. Attend to the injured victim immediately

Ensure that the injured victim is seated in a calm and relaxed position to reduce the bleeding and infections. This helps calm the tension around and relieve the pain the injured victim is going through. You must put yourself in the shoes of the injured victim to better under the plight of the injured victim.

4. Clean the injured spot

Wash the wound surface with warm soap and water thoroughly. You can ask those around for assistance if the incident occurs far from your home or in a place where you know those around. Ensure the cloth is clean and dry using it.

5. Contact the services of medical professionals

This is very important because you are not a doctor; as such, you need the assistance of an expert. Ensure you explain the whole incident adequately to them. You can call an ambulance for the injured individual to the nearest medical center for proper medical attention.

6. Exchange contact with the injured victim

This helps you be up to date with the health improvement of the individual to avoid any legal actions or any unforeseen events.

7. Inform the medical professional of your dog’s health status

This is important because if your dog is experiencing any illness, it can easily transmit those bacteria to the victim.

8. Insurance Cover

Inform the medical professionals of your dog’s medical insurance cover for third parties, if any exist, to help contact them to cover the cost of treatment.

NOTE: You may need to tender your dog’s vaccination certificate if demanded by the medical professionals for proper examination and treatment.

How to prevent your dog from biting others?

You will need to understand why dogs bite to prevent it. It is often said that prevention is better than cure. It is better to prevent your dog from biting someone than to attempt to treat the injured victim. You can watch out for certain things to prevent your dog from biting someone.

Be cautious and vigilant when going for a dog walk for the first time. It is essential to be mindful of your dog whenever you are going for a dog walk for the first time because they can quickly react to a change of environment by being defensive and aggressive.

Ensure your dog socializes with your environment. Once your dog becomes familiar with your environment, it is most likely to befriend those around him because they would have been familiar with the faces around and would not feel threatened.

Restrain your dog when hurt; Ensure you restrain your dog when someone hurts them intentionally or by mistake—the dog defends itself by using its teeth to bite to avenge anyone who hurts them.

Encourage good behavior: This can be done by training your dog to avoid attacking anyone and everyone to prevent them from biting someone whether or not they are familiar with them.

It is essential to abreast yourself with the easy practice steps whenever you find yourself in such an unhealthy situation. Be calm and attend to the victim by caring for them.