I thought of this thread this morning, Lola was laying next to her toy, I went to pick it up to toss it to her. She did not intend to bite me, she just went to grab it and my finger got in the way. I can't believe how deep her tooth went in and how much blood it drew. I actually had chills from it. Lola is 5.25 lbs but when playing or thinking about playing she gets very worked up and mouthy. Had she been a bigger dog I might be at the doctor right now. I know many of you mix dog sizes but like the link Nancy posted proves, without constant supervision the combo of a larger dog with a much smaller dog is an accident waiting to happen.
Play biting can be just as bad as biting on purpose. I was playing tug of war with my friends large dog one evening. I pulled the toy hard towards me and the dog lurched to get it and wound up biting into my lower arm. I was wearing a very heavy sweater but I felt the pain and then later when I got home saw that the dog's teeth marks were in my arm and in two places had broken the skin. I had a doctor friend with a pair of dobby sisters, he used to laugh about how he would have to stich up an ear or a leg from their "playing" So don't be fooled, when it's not a level playing field things could go wrong. |