# Dogs 101: Golden retriever's #3 on bite list?



## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

Wow....
So I was excited to watch Animal Planet's Dogs 101 on Goldens...
Then I heard the line: "Goldens love to chew" (ok, now we talk about shoes right? Wrong!)
"They are #3 on the bite list next to GSD and Chow Chows" They even went on to say "Remember they are biters so begin training young" now... mind you, GSD was also on the same episode and they didn't mention them being number one during that clip... anyway, thoughts? I didn't know Goldens are #3 on the list of bite reports?


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

I think the sentence, "Remember they are biters, so begin training young" is just ignorance on the show's part.

I think Goldens are number three on the list because more families with little kids have them. And because they are "great family dogs," they are too often left alone with little kids, and so there are incidents of biting. 

The show would have better served people by talking about the dangers of leaving any dog unattended with little kids. Be they GSDs, Chows or Goldens.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

People have said Lila has bit them when she tried to hold their hand or arm.
One of her few bad habits....

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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

lhowemt said:


> People have said Lila has bit them when she tried to hold their hand or arm.
> One of her few bad habits....
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


This is a good point, too. Many a little kid described Tesia's mouthiness as "biting." She just liked to hang on, though never with any force or strength. But she needed _something_ in her mouth at all times. If there was no toy, your arm would do.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

lhowemt said:


> People have said Lila has bit them when she tried to hold their hand or arm.
> One of her few bad habits....
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I think this is a common misconception. Many Goldens like to gnaw on hands, my Hank is really bad about that. He doesn't do it in an aggressive way but I'm sure if you are new to Goldens or observing, it may look like biting. 

Young Goldens are rough and like to play, mix children in and accidents sometimes happen.


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## Ruby13 (Dec 28, 2013)

I love to watch Dogs 101, too! Never know what breed is going to cross my path, and it doesn't hurt to be informed about them.

They must be referring to the puppy stage and mouthing??? Surely not aggression related...


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## MaDeuce (Jan 7, 2014)

Willow52 said:


> I think this is a common misconception. Many Goldens like to gnaw on hands, my Hank is really bad about that. He doesn't do it in an aggressive way but I'm sure if you are new to Goldens or observing, it may look like biting.
> 
> Young Goldens are rough and like to play, mix children in and accidents sometimes happen.


My Mal is mouthy. But Mals are called Maligators for a reason. 

I think Goldens suffer from the same fate as Labs. They are known for being great family dogs and hey, Goldens already "come trained".


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## Burd (Aug 11, 2011)

MaDeuce said:


> My Mal is mouthy. But Mals are called Maligators for a reason.
> 
> *I think Goldens suffer from the same fate as Labs. They are known for being great family dogs and hey, Goldens already "come trained". *


Exactly what I was thinking.
Goldens and Labs suffer for their popularity.


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## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

I agree.... I was thinking SURELY not aggression... but the way they said it was,

Goldens love to chew, yup it's that soft mouth again. <-- seems like a statement directed toward explaining their chewing habits but then it changes to,

They are #3 highest in bite reports <--- wait so are we now talking aggression?

Then comparing them to GSD and ChowChow, very different dogs. And then wrapping it all up by saying they can be biters so need training...

There was no explanations and I felt it really betrayed the amazing dogs that they are. I was shocked and disappointed also

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## robinrd (Oct 30, 2012)

I think it is just ignorance on what people think biting is. Goldens are mouthy and Tucker still will wrap his mouth around my arm but does not bite down. I use to have shihtzu and when he was 10 weeks old my neighbor came over with her little girl and my puppy jumped up to get her mitten, the little girl cried and the mom said "oh he bit her, does he have his rabies shots?" I said "he's 10 weeks old! he's playing!" some people are just dumb.


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

#3 biters? Oh yeah, pretty much every time I turn on the TV I see another story about a vicious Golden Retriever attack -- how they are killing children and old women, how they escape from their yards and roam the neighborhoods attacking people and other dogs, how their aggressive viciousness makes them used in dog fighting, and how packs of vicious Golden Retrievers kill neighborhood pets.

Yes, Goldens are such aggressive biters!

Reminds me, my vicious puppy jumped up and bit me on the lip yesterday. I'm seriously thinking of putting her down for the safety of the neighborhood.


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## dezymond (May 3, 2012)

Dogs 101 is a great show, but they miss out on some key details on the breeds they covered. 

When people see or hear "bite list" the next thing _assumed_ is that the bite was aggression related, so that's something that should have been cleared up. Luckily the Goldens' personality and other quality characteristics can overpower that negativity that was mentioned on the show. 

Either way caution with any dog; breed, size, temperament, etc. needs to be applied. Never, ever, leave a small child alone with any sized dog. One wrong tug or poke to the eye or something can trigger the dog to react out of fear and protection.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Goldens suffer due to their reputation for being good family dogs. A lot of "dog ignorant" people obtain a golden because of their stellar reputation for temperament. Unfortunately they often don't grasp the idea that puppies are not born "trained". (Just look at the number of 8 - 10 week old "aggressive puppy" threads that get started on this site each year.) 

Goldens by nature are mouthy. They have to be tought what is acceptable to put in their mouths and what is not. If they aren't taught not to put their teeth on humans they will often grab and hold fingers, hands or arms. They aren't being aggressive they just have to be holding something in their mouths. Now add that trait with somebody who doesn't like dogs or is afraid of dogs and you have a problem waiting to happen. The dog grabs an arm, the person panics and pulls away quickly scratching themselves on the dogs teeth and you have a "dog bite" report in the making. 

Also keep in mind that in the E.R., large black dogs are Labradors, fluffy yellow dogs are Golden Retrievers, small black and white dogs are Springers. In other words the recorded "breeds" in bite data are not even close to being an accurate account.


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## tine434 (Nov 24, 2013)

Well, I believe that a bite report on a dog is HUGE and sadly people don't care what caused the bite.... dogs are put down for bite reports, no matter the reason for the bite was.

I believe that is where it was a bit wrong of Dogs 101 to even mention it.... Mention chewing and mouthing, but the bite list? When GSD was #1 on the list and they didn't mention it at all in the GSD segment... 

I feel like if you're not going to elaborate or explain, don't mention it at all. Especially a detail that gets dogs PTS all the time.



dezymond said:


> Dogs 101 is a great show, but they miss out on some key details on the breeds they covered.
> 
> When people see or hear "bite list" the next thing _assumed_ is that the bite was aggression related, so that's something that should have been cleared up. Luckily the Goldens' personality and other quality characteristics can overpower that negativity that was mentioned on the show.
> 
> Either way caution with any dog; breed, size, temperament, etc. needs to be applied. Never, ever, leave a small child alone with any sized dog. One wrong tug or poke to the eye or something can trigger the dog to react out of fear and protection.




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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I think the problem with goldens is people buy them thinking they are 100% trustworthy and come trained. 

It's actually not a bad thing in my brain to point out they rank high as far as dog bites. People need to keep this in mind before they make the mistake of leaving their little kids alone to hang all over the dogs or flip them around. 

And yes, they do bite for real. I have a "crooked" mouth from where our first golden snapped at my face and removed part of my upper lip. This was a week before he died and he was in pain when I hugged him... and when I didn't let him go right away, he snapped. <- He was my dog and I never blamed him. Particularly as I understood why the bite happened. Best that people always remember their dogs are dogs, and not fluffy children.


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## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

They also rank high because there are a lot of them. The bite ranking is based on raw numbers - not the percentage (number of bites divided by the number of goldens in the population). So with Goldens ranked as one of the most popular breed (3rd or 4th for the number of dogs registered yearly) for the last decade there are simply a lot of Goldens that could bite. In comparison, Chow Chows, which rank 2nd for dog bites rank 69th in number of dogs registered every year. While I am not a statistician, even I can see the discrepancy in these numbers.


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

I have seen a list at my Vet's office in which the staff told me was reported. It asked if the dog/pup had ever bitten, broken skin before. Of course I checked the block for "yes". When I asked, I was told that Goldens are known biters. I explained that this was young puppy biting and non aggressive at all. I was uncomfortable and scratched out my "yes" to "no". 

Wonder now if this is part of the criteria used to decide this? If so, it is horribly unfair to any breed. So I feel the information compiled to report that Goldens are biters is probably not worded the best way to get a correct answer - So unfair for the breed for me. I watch all these shows with a huge grain of salt.


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