By Ryan O'Meara on March 24, 2011

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“Out of the blue, it attacked for no reason”

 

When a dog attack is reported we will often hear the same old phrases bandied about.

 

“It came out of the blue”

 

“It was totally unprovoked”

 

“We didn’t see it coming”

 

“It was totally out of character”

 

Ring any bells? Well let’s try and understand how and why a dog might attack someone.

 

Dogs rarely, if ever, attack for no reason. Us humans often misinterpret a dog attacking “out of the blue” and “without warning”‘ because we simply missed the signs.

 

Let’s be clear about one thing. A dog who is prepared to bite someone has his reasons. Can we, as humans, justify those reasons using the social values of people?

 

Probably not. But of course, dogs do not live their lives according to human social values.