What does a Level 4 dog bite look like? Here’s What to Expect

Level 4 Bite – One to four punctures from a single bite with at least one puncture deeper than half the length of the dog’s canine teeth. The person or dog bitten may also have deep bruising around the wound or wounds from the dog shaking its head from side to side. At this level, the red warning flag needs to go up. The dog needs to be kept away from people and other animals until the situation can be assessed by a professional.

Level 3 Bite – One to four tooth punctures from a single bite with no puncture deeper than half the length of the dog’s canine teeth. At this point, the dog can present a real threat to other people and animals. The majority of my aggression cases fall into this level.

Level 4: a single bite with deep wounds

When the dog bites only once, but the wounds are deep, it will be considered a level 4 bite. The bite may cause one to four perforations which are deeper than half the length of the canine tooth. Injuries may go in both directions, caused by the victim removing their hand while being bitten or the dog shaking their head when biting. In some cases, these bites may be caused by predatory instincts. Dogs shake their heads when biting to cause maximum damage to their prey, so these are serious bites.

The cause is also often fear. It usually occurs in dogs which try to defend themselves against what they perceive as a serious threat, although they evade the situation after the first attack. Any dog which has given a perosn a fourth level bite needs to be seen by a professional trainer. As with dogs which have perpetrated third level bites, they will need either clinical or behavioral treatment methods, whichever is most appropriate.

In some canine sports such as schutzhund or mondioring, bites similar to the fourth level are actively sought after as a function of the game. However, they are directed toward people wearing a protective sleeve or suit. Dogs which are properly trained to play these sports are not dangerous and have bite inhibition. These dogs know they are only authorized to bite the protective suits and do not attack unprotected regions of the body.

However, there are too many dogs which are improperly trained for attack. They do not release their bite on command and ma not have control over their predatory instincts. These dogs are dangerous and should not be involved in this kind of training or gameplay.

Level One:

When a dog snaps at the air in front of a human or another dog, that is a level one bite. This type of bite actually has no contact with the skin, but is rather a warning from the biting dog. A level one snap like this often occurs when a dog is put into a situation where it is frightened or cornered and wants the human or dog causing this distress to back away.

Doctor explains how to assess and treat dog bites

Dog bites are no laughing matter. A Center for Disease Control study reports that every year there are more than 4 million reported dog bites in the United States alone. While many of these do not require professional medical attention, there are certainly cases that result in serious injury or illness if the dog passes along germs from the bite. Professionals often use Dr. Ian Dunbar’s Dog Bite Scale to categorize bites into six different types with varying degrees of seriousness. For dog bite victims and their loved ones, it is important to know what category their bite falls into.