Ms Nanci Creedon:

When it comes to the bite, the size of the dog will obviously massively impact the potential damage it can do. The size of a car will massively impact the potential damage it can do. Dogs learn what is called bite inhibition often from a very young age, which again goes back to puppy farms. If your puppy in a puppy farm is not being handled correctly during those early socialisation weeks, they are not learning proper bite inhibition at an early age. Bite inhibition is where if a dog is going to bite, it understands how much pressure. I have been bitten by a handful of dogs. I have done grooming in my past, which dogs do not like and often leads to bites.

I was once bitten by a German shepherd. This German shepherd had bad hips and I was sending him to the vet to get his hips checked. Stupidly to myself, the dog was wound up outside the vet and did not want to go in. I was called over to put what is called a ThunderShirt, which is a calming wrap, on the dog to help him settle down and the vet was going to come out. Of course, I go to put the ThunderShirt on the dog and I hold him by the hips. This German shepherd called Max turned around, took my arm and looked at me. He held my arm and looked at me. I said, “Sorry, Max.” and he let go. Do I have a mark? No. Was I bleeding? No. Did I have any long-lasting damage? No. However, I was bitten by a dog on the restricted breed list. That dog bit me appropriately in a situation where I was in the wrong. He was communicating to me “Do not touch my hips.” He gave the message clearly and used bite inhibition. I would rather have bitten by Max than by that terrier that took a chunk out of the Deputy.