Can you trust your dog?

When it comes to biting and such I trust Max 110 %!  He is an awsome dog and gets along with everyone excluding un neautered males. Thats because he is un neautered as well. It's the dominance thing. Max could be surrounded by kids of all ages all petting and hugging and giving him kisses and he'll be perfectly fine. I have no worries what so ever when it comes to bitting. 

RidgebackGermansShep

I don't trust either of them with cats or small animals- their prey drive is too intense.

LOl oh I don't trust Bugsy with any critters other than dogs and humans. I am 100% sure he would try to catch them and likely would.  See this is where I find him interesting, he doesn't kill the things he catches.  We've had to when through is hunt and play they are injured, but he doesn't.

Strange beast. 

maybe you need to turn the question around- my dogs, I hope, trust me 100% that I will pick up on their signals and get them out of overly stressful situations. Any dog can and will bite if provoked enough, and it's the owners responsibility to know the dog's signals and thresholds and protect the dog from having to bite.

All dogs are capable of aggression, so I don't think I'll ever trust any 100%. However, I do trust my dogs to behave in certain ways given certain situations. If I had to pick the most reliable, Brown is definitely my choice.

With myself, I trust them to be normal (or as normal as my looney toons can be). With others, including strangers, I trust Brown and Tar the most. Grey can still be a bit iffy at times, and if I'm not around to read him, I don't want him to go unsupervised.

My dogs do fine with other dogs, so I'm more concerned about a strange dog's behavior around them. Grey doesn't really care if he's around another dog or not (excluding his pack), so he doesn't give other dogs much attention. Brown never met a stranger, so he's always excited to meet another dog. Tar's pretty much the same.

 They all do great with our cats. They'll bark their heads off at strange cats, but they're not aggressive towards them. They just want to sniff, but other cats don't get that. Our cats don't give a hoot about the dogs. And all three dogs have proven to be very well-behaved around small animals like guinea pigs.

This is an interesting question for me.  I don't believe at this point that I have any worries as far as Willow biting me. 

She has never actually bitten anyone else either.  However, her behavior is so unpredictable I can't feel comfortable with her around other people.  She could be fine one day and not the next, it's very hard for me to read what's different about this day over that.  So, for these reasons I do not trust her with others.  And, limit her interactions with others to only a certain few. 

Chelsea makes a point I can relate too.  It's hard for me to trust her with others when people so clearly are leary of her.  It makes her edgy and worried.  I've found that she does best with those people that are unafraid of her but understand how she is.

Yes I do.

Thor is such a good dog and so sweet. Even though we are aware of his size, we know Thor will not be agressive "for free". Of course, there are new and unexpected situations and even I would surprise myself with my reactions. But generally, I think he will be gentle and nice with cats, people and kids. That said, we will not let Thor be around strange people/kids/cats without our supervision, as we are responsible of the good and bad he could do.

Thank you all for your replies. I like reading the different situations and what may or may not get your dog worked up.  I am on the same boat with you Willow, except Maggie has bitten a kid.  I will say nipped because the only mark from it was dog saliva.  The horrific snarling and growling noise she made after she went for the kid was chilling.  It sounded like a dog fighting.  I don't know what makes her so grumpy some days vs others.  I can't figure out what sets her off. She doesnt growl , show teeth, back away...nothing...before she tried to bite.  My husband had her and said he noticed she got real still and stiff just a second before.  I guess that's our warning and not much of one.  The thing is, she loves attention, she loves to go visit with the kids as we do this often in the summer.  I have decided to keep her away from all kids until I can trust her again.  Kids and adults flock to her because she's white and big but I will just have to keep the kids away because she is unpredictable.

I had her checked out by the vet because I have seen her limp once when she got up from being outside and it was cold.  I was very happy with the vet's exam and after having Maggie jump, get up, sit all that, she saw nothing that would warrant xrays...so i don't think it's health related.

She is not grumpy like that with us.  I can really do anything to her.  She is a trouble maker and I have had to take things from her mouth many times without feeling threatened or scared.  I can clip her nails, brush her teeth, mess with her mouth, clean her ears, groom...anything.

I am sorry for the rant....I love those dogs so much and just want to understand her better.

I trust Kodi like 500%..shes fine with kids, adults, dogs, cats, birds..you name it..shes very submissive and gentle..she just lays their and ignores things..

Tessa..err..i trust her for the most part..shes just a wild puppy..so what defines trust! LoL

Diesel..i dont trust at all with others.  Withmyself..i'd say about 99%...sometimes i worry hes going to be a terd..but hes always has been gentle with me and allowed me to do whatever, even when its something he really doesnt want..he may fight with me but hes NEVER snapped or tried to.  As for others thats another story..i about 0% trust him around other dogs (besides tess and kodi)..other people...if im there, sure, i dont mind people petting them..(hes better with kids)..but i'd never trust him if i left him with someone.

Maze I trust 99% with me, the cats and a few certain friends. She will nip and play bite when highly excited. But I wouldn't trust her around small children that are at her eye level or smaller and I wouldn't trust her with strangers. She will bite, I know that, BF knows that so because of that she is never unsupervised around these situations.  She is getting better around the children but in general, she'll growl lightly if they get to close. I find kids listen better to me then their parents when it comes to "how to pet Maze without getting bitten."

Her warning are generally growling, lip curling and she'll give a warning snap. Her hackles also stand on end.. She looks like she's part Razorback Pig.. Lol. 

Kids and adults flock to her because she's white and big but I will just have to keep the kids away because she is unpredictable.

I understand what you go thru.  Willow looks very bear like and kids go nuts when they see her--they want to hug her!  And, all kinds of adults are interested in her too, women like her because of her looks, men are interested because of her breed.  I always say she's in the wrong package!

Yes and no. I trust Casey with me, and a few other close people - brother, close friends, boyfriend, etc. and of course, with other dogs (inside and out) and indoor cats (not outdoors...he sees those as prey - not friends)

I DO NOT trust him with strangers. He is getting better, but I do not believe I will ever trust him 100%. We have come a long, long way - but there is still so much work we have to do. He has never tried to bite a stranger outside of my home, but I am always very quick to imform people he is very leary of strange people and does not like to be pet. Off leash - he just scampers away. On leash - we don't stop close enough or allow any petting. He has always given a warning bark, to let you know he is not happy (one exception being the horrific bath incident in the back yard, but that was 100% my fault, and I deserved the bite).

He likes kids - as long as he can sniff them first, they are not grabbing at him, and they do not run. The herder in him does not like running children....

Casey's a complicated dog. I don't think he would ever seriously hurt someone, but given his past, and current, issues - I cannot trust him 100%. That is asking for problems. Frankly - I believe you can never trust any animal 100%. They all have teeth - therefore they all have the ability to bite.

Hmm....

Blaze I trust 100% with me, 99% with DH, and 95% with other people (the 5% is for people who do things that scare or hurt her).  I don't trust her at all w/ other dogs (outside our pack) sometimes when she sees another dog she lunges/barks/snarles other times she doesn't care.  It may just be leash reactive, but I'm too scared to let her off leash to find out.

Co-Co I trust 100% with me and DH, 90% with other people (she's shy of new people so anytime there's fear....usually she avoids them but if she's cornered I don't know what would happen.  She's never bitten anyone, and I don't plan to let her get into a cornered situation to find out).  I trust her 99% with other dogs.  She feels like everydog should want to play w/ her.  She likes to play rough so I'm aware that it could get out of hand.

Mystic I trust 99% with all people.  She seems to love everybody.  She likes to mouth, though, and sometimes that hurts.  I trust her 90% with our pack and I'm not sure about other dogs.  She acts like she really wants to sniff them but she has snapped at another dog that wouldn't leave her be, plus her breed isn't known to be all that great w/ other dogs.

Pooch I trust 99% with all people.  Again, loves everybody.  I trust her 100% w/ our pack and probably 85% with other dogs.  When she sees other dogs on our walks she barks at them but there hasn't been an incident when another dog is close to her, she usually just ignores them.

Dusty I trust 100% with me and DH and 99% with other people.  95% with other dogs, b/c sometimes she has a large area of personal space and she doesn't always like for that to be invaded.  She has never bit or attacked anyone, but she has growled to tell others to leave her alone, and it works.

Yes I do..all but Buckwheat. She's a pill at times.