# What does an 'air snap' look like?



## Jellybean12 (Sep 6, 2016)

Ok, so this is my second post on this forum. I have another thread in Puppies up to 1 year about our 9 month Golden Retriever growling and air-snapping at our 14 month old toddler. The summary of that is, toddler and dog are currently separated, not on floor together etc. Vet and breeder think it's a dominance thing, many on this forum disagree. We don't feel qualified or experienced enough to make that call, and we are scheduled to see a behaviouralist.

So, to this post... I am currently in an email exchange with the behaviouralist, who has asked for details of the 'air snap' incident (the other was just a growl - although very concerning in itself, much easier to describe), and it seems I may have been calling something an 'air snap' that was not really this at all.

Please note that we intend to treat it as a snap in the doubt in terms of the behaviour management because we do not want to put our toddler at risk, but I feel like the world's biggest idiot for perhaps getting it wrong. Also, if our dog does end up being rehomed, apparently it's very important because an 'air snap' qualifies as a bite. I want to get this as accurate as I can for the sake of our dog as well.

I am not an experienced dog owner, but grew up with a spaniel who has aggression issues. This may have clouded my judgement on what constitutes a real 'snap'. The spaniel narrowly missed my hand a few times, and once just made skin contact (but didn't break the skin). On those 'near misses', I always believed that these were intended bites that he missed because I pulled my hand away. It seems that I was probably wrong, and that these were most likely 'air snaps', because if he had wanted to bite me he would probably not have missed. In fact, it's more likely that moving my hand caused unintentional skin contact with the one that touched. They were always preceded by the classic low warning growl and anxious body language.

What I actually saw and heard when our 9 month Golden growled at my toddler a few days ago (which was definitely something very concerning whether or not she snapped, which is why we have separated them - I just want to know what others would call what I saw), was this: a growl that could have been a 'play growl' in a different context. The start of 'bitey face', which again in a different context would have been a playing face, a sharpish movement of her head towards the toddler, who was at the same level, and then I couldn't see properly because my toddler obscured my view. There was no snarl, no 'snapping' sound. I called it an 'air snap' because she definitely bared her teeth ('bitey face', as she often does while playing), and moved her head down towards my toddler, but it looked more like the movement a dog would make while turning sharply to get a flea on their coat that was bothering them, or when pouncing on a toy (sorry - that's the best description I can think of).

Was this what you would call an 'air snap'? As I said, it is going to be treated as such in the doubt, but I'd like to know what everyone thinks.
Thanks


----------



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Your description indicates to me she did snap at your child, and I would treat it as such. I don't see any "play" from your description. Your only choice really is to keep your child safe.

An air snap is still a snap with intent to do harm, in most cases if the dog did not make contact they did so on purpose, but it's a clear warning that they are willing to bite. If the dog meant to bite they would not have "missed".


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Not sure what I would call it either. Sounds like what my older dog Molly does to my younger one when Maisey is stepping all over her. It is a half hearted correction/warning and in my case never escalates beyond that even though Maisey ignores these "warnings". Molly will often give in and start playing with Maisey, although she did indeed tell her to back off initially. Molly will also let out a short, wimpy growl when she is annoyed at her that is more like a grumble and can sound like a play growl. Since a human child is involved, I wouldn't dismiss any type of warning, half hearted or not, so you are doing the right thing.


----------



## Jellybean12 (Sep 6, 2016)

mylissyk said:


> Your description indicates to me she did snap at your child, and I would treat it as such. I don't see any "play" from your description. Your only choice really is to keep your child safe.
> 
> An air snap is still a snap with intent to do harm, in most cases if the dog did not make contact they did so on purpose, but it's a clear warning that they are willing to bite. If the dog meant to bite they would not have "missed".


No, we already established in the other thread that this was not play. What I was asking was whether this was an actual 'air snap', or a pre-snap (or whatever else comes before a snap), or part of teeth-baring. It may sound like I'm splitting hairs, but I'm using terminology that I don't understand. Was it the movement that made it a snap? That's what I initially thought, but detailing it for the behaviouralist made me doubt what I thought I saw.


----------



## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

My heart goes out to you guys because I can only imagine how incredibly difficult and scary and complicated and overwhelming this has been for you. I'd be concerned it was a snap, but its impossible to know for sure. I would just try to be as descriptive and as honest and factual with the behavioralist as possible, without trying to rationalize or contextualize, don't second guess or let your emotions into it, and let the professional help guide you through the process. 

Here's how I think about snaps and growls: 

A muzzle punch is where a dog does not open its mouth or bare its teeth in any way, and pushes towards a person or dog in an aggressive manner. A snap is baring of the teeth, opening of the mouth, and closing it in an intentional way. It doesn't have to be dramatic, loud, with a huge jaw "snapping" sound, although you can hear that sometimes. It might not be the exaggerated snap you see when your dog is riled up and playing "bitey face." Snaps, bites, they often happen within a split second. I don't know if you ever looked at the link someone posted on the last thread you sent showing dogs "warning signs" including lip licking, snaps, etc, but they have a video of a reporter getting bitten by a GSD, and he goes from petting a dogs neck to getting bitten in less than half a second. Its faster than you are going to be able to recognize. Furthermore, it sounds like you have a nice, kind dog, who obviously has not been brought up to be aggressive. I suspect that she has probably been experiencing increased stress regarding your toddler for a while, and has been exhibiting a LOT of displacement behaviors that you guys just may not have picked up on (and if you haven't gone through this before, you would never know). She sounds like a submissive dog, and probably did not want to growl or snap, but things got pushed to a breaking point and so she did, but she's going to to this more in a way where she might try and displace and turn away right after. Fearful dogs aren't screaming pitbulls barking and lunging at the end of a leash and pouncing on prey....they growl and snap and cower almost at the same time, because its actually a defensive behavior. A dog playing bitey face is confident, a dog on defense who feels threatened looks VERY different. 

The situation you're in is so impossible. It's not on camera. You also couldn't see everything that happened. Even if you have a perfect memory of exactly what happened, unless you are already well versed in dog body language and behavior ahead of time and were 100% paying complete attention at every single second all the time you may not have recognized what was happening in the moment. Witnesses to events are generally not actually that great at remembering objective facts about a situation...the brain pieces together a narrative of what happened that makes the most sense, based on a lot of different input. You saw what happened. You're emotionally attached to the dog. You're a parent, and trying to protect your kids. She's a puppy and she's bitey. Your family LOVES that dog. The biggest problem is that you can't undo what happened, and its immensely hard because you can't exactly use your kid as an experiment with your puppy either. Then it becomes a question of, at what point would, if ever, you feel safe with the two interacting again? I personally would be more inclined to tell you to consider it a snap, simply because I'm not a professional and heaven forbid give you reassurance and then have the worst happen to your children. 

We are here to support you. I hope your behavioralist is able to shed some light in the matter...please keep us posted, I'd like to know what the professionals think.


----------



## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Jellybean12 said:


> No, we already established in the other thread that this was not play. What I was asking was whether this was an actual 'air snap', or a pre-snap (or whatever else comes before a snap), or part of teeth-baring. It may sound like I'm splitting hairs, but I'm using terminology that I don't understand. Was it the movement that made it a snap? That's what I initially thought, but detailing it for the behaviouralist made me doubt what I thought I saw.


An air snap is a snap, it doesn't matter that the dog may not make contact with an air snap, they are giving an aggressive warning to back off, they aren't comfortable with whatever is happening.

Dogs that are uncomfortable with a situation will try to diffuse, with body language, lip licking, turning away, white eye showing, stiff body, getting up and moving away, then if those things don't prevent or stop the unwanted situation, they will move to a growl, show teeth, then the snap, then bite. 

Each of those communications from the dog may happen multiple times before they escalate. Growling and showing teeth may not be in that order, or may be alternated.

So to answer your question, there is no "pre-snap". The "pre" part of the situation is the growl. 

Showing teeth in play is a very different expression, and usually is a full open mouth with the mouth being kept open. 

All of my comments are from personal experience and I am not a professional trainer. You are doing exactly the right thing getting a behaviorist involved, and they really are the person to help you understand her behavior and what is and is not aggression.


----------



## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

An 'air snap' is at Level 1 on Ian Dunbar's Bite scale - no contact with skin

*Level 1* (pre-bite): the dog snaps or air bites but makes no contact with the person. Now people tend to say, “The dog tried to bite me but I moved away.” I say, “Give me a break.” Humans have sloth-like reactions compared to the speed of a biting dog and dogs have pretty good aim when trying to grab things. If the dog actually meant to bite (rather than just give you a warning), you would have the holes to prove it. Owners should take this air snap as a sign that someone wasn’t paying attention to their dog’s earlier signs of displeasure or fear. Owners should get help before this sort of pre-bite behavior progresses to an actual bite. Avoid punishing these warning signs or the dog may progress to biting without warning. Instead, learn the signs of fear and anxiety that the dog probably showed prior to this situation and learn to spot the common inappropriate human actions that may have contributed to the snap.










https://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/was-it-just-a-little-bite-or-more-evaluating-bite-levels-in-dogs/

'Technically' a 'bite' but realistically a 'warning' that a bite could follow if the threat that caused the dog to give warning is not removed.

It is upsetting, it is confusing. Your dog is a puppy who does not understand, has no experience with toddlers, and by nature is intimidated by what she does not understand. Your toddler's safety is of course of the utmost priority, and management (keeping them separated) is the best way to ensure that everyone is kept safe. 

My advice is to hang tough until you have had an 'in-person' consult with the behaviorist. He/she should visit, assess what is going on, be able to explain the signals your dog is giving, help you understand, and offer you guidance in how to work with your dog, and with your family towards a positive outcome for you all.


----------



## Jellybean12 (Sep 6, 2016)

Vhuynh2 said:


> Not sure what I would call it either. Sounds like what my older dog Molly does to my younger one when Maisey is stepping all over her. It is a half hearted correction/warning and in my case never escalates beyond that even though Maisey ignores these "warnings". Molly will often give in and start playing with Maisey, although she did indeed tell her to back off initially. Molly will also let out a short, wimpy growl when she is annoyed at her that is more like a grumble and can sound like a play growl. Since a human child is involved, I wouldn't dismiss any type of warning, half hearted or not, so you are doing the right thing.


That's exactly what it looked/sounded like to me; like a dog reacting to another dog. My mother's terrier used to do just that with our (pretty badly behaved) spaniel. I'm sure everyone is right about our toddler annoying our dog and our not picking up on the signs. And if our dog is seeing our toddler as another dog in some way and growling at her, that's a problem anyway.

I'll give an update in a few days.


----------

