In Šiauliai, the dog that ate the old man’s hand was evaluated by trainers: the animal will never attack “out of nowhere”

The disaster occurred on Tuesday, October 13, at approximately 10 pm 40 min., In Šiauliai, on the fourth street of Svajoni cuarta Sodų. A dog that attacked an 87-year-old woman seriously injured her.

How Delphi Šiauliai County Police spokeswoman Gailutė Smagriūnienė said, neighbors called the police when they saw the dog turning into an old man in the yard. A woman who lived nearby came to the home of her daughter, who was at work at the time, let the dog out of the aviary and accidentally slapped her on the paw.

The dog was furious: he gritted his teeth with the old man’s hand and tore it up to the elbow. When the police and doctors arrived, the woman was sitting by the tree, her hand broken, her clothes torn, and the dog was eating her hand nearby. After closing the dog in the aviary, officers continued to search the yard for a hand, but only found the remains; there was nothing left to sew.

It is important to monitor a dog’s behavior beforehand – long-term stress turns into an attack

In response to the disaster, Karina Ščuckytė, trainer at the Lithuanian Cynological Society and director of the Canis.lt training school, warns that there are many questions in this situation.

“Without seeing what really happened without knowing the history of the dog, we cannot assess the causes of the tragedy. What can be firmly said is that a dog that has lived in a family for a long time will never attack family members “out of nowhere.” Owners often ignore alarms for years until the dog bites badly, ”says the handler.

According to her, alarms can start small, like when a young dog is storing food or avoiding a nail clip.

“When a dog realizes that he can establish his own rules through aggression, this behavior tends to intensify. If the owners do not exceed the limits set by said dog, they can live with it without injury for the rest of their lives. But one mistake, one action, which the dog will not like so that the long-term stress turns into an attack, may be enough, ”says K. Ščuckytė.

It is true that the behavior of such a dog can be dangerous not only for those around him, but for himself. When the handler says that if the dog does not allow the owners to do much, they often avoid giving the dog veterinary care for fear of conflict. A simple ear infection that is easy to treat but painful at first can lead to a major health problem, which can later affect the aggressive behavior of the animal.

“Health problems can also be a cause of behavior changes. If the dog’s behavior changes suddenly, physical reasons should not be ruled out. Has the dog always liked to pet, but suddenly it runs away and growls while trying to pet its back? It is likely to hurt him and his back should be checked before contacting a trainer. Unfortunately, dogs cannot tell us if they feel unwell. It is the owners’ duty to respond to signals sent by the dog. ” emphasizes K. Ščuckytė.

On the other hand, if the problem is resolved as soon as it begins, the trainer realizes that it can almost always be resolved fairly quickly and easily.

“Not paying attention in time and allowing bad behavior to take hold can make it incomparably more difficult to change something, and for some people it is impossible. The effort required may already exceed the capacity of the owners, for which the dog pays.” , He says.

Serious injuries suggest that the dog has shown aggression in the past.

Vilma Jazukevičiūtė, a dog behavior specialist and trainer, also realizes that the actual information about the event is still small enough to answer the question of why the accident occurred. However, he notes that a dog’s aggressive behavior is often caused by several main reasons: conservation of resources, frustration, improper care, and violence during breeding.

“A dog protects territory, food or an object; it can be a buried bone through which a dog attacks a passing person. Usually, resource conservation arises while the puppy is still around, and this is done can control so that neither the owners nor those around him are in danger. Another cause can be frustration when the dog is tied, kept in an aviary or loose in the yard but does not receive an adequate shock. Such a dog begins to attack everything what moves along the fence: cars, people ”, explains V. Jazukevičiūtė.

According to her, harassment stemming from frustration is quite common among herders and their hybrids, as herders tend to react to movement and “catch” it.

“Improper dog care and violence during breeding can also lead to disasters. The dog may be afraid of the owner and will not attack him, but all people will be viewed with suspicion and feeling the threat will be more likely to switch to the defense. In this case, if the grandmother got on the tail, the dog was most likely lying down or sitting, it did not attack as soon as it reached the territory “, considers V. Jazukevičiūtė.

Considering that the grandmother was seriously injured in Šiauliai, the trainer suspects that this may not have been the first time that the dog had shown aggression to others.

In any case, the severity of the injury suggests that this is not the first time a dog has shown aggression to a human. When it comes to finding the culprits, in the first place, the questions must be answered: if the dog was loose in the yard by decision of the owner, if it escaped from the aviary or the grandmother who released it, ”he says.