Do you take dogs with a bite history for board and train?

Words such as nip, snap and attack mean different things to different people, so the profession uses a common yardstick. Dr. Ian Dunbar's Dog Bite Scale, published in an official version by the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, grades an incident by the wound rather than by how frightening it felt. It runs from Level 1, aggressive behavior with no skin contact, to Level 6, a fatal attack. The table gives the first five levels in plain words.

Dunbar adds that Levels 1 and 2 make up well over 99 percent of dog incidents. That matters at intake, because one family calling a Level 2 a bite and another calling a Level 4 a bite are telling us very different things. Grade every incident you know of, including old ones and those aimed at other dogs, and say when you are unsure. An honest estimate is worth more than a confident guess.

The first route is a stay considered, with a plan built around management and handling, in which daycare integration may play no part. The second is an owner-present program, often the better fit because aggression usually changes best where it happens, with you learning the management: Polished Pup runs 10 weeks and 20 sessions for complex cases, and React Less, Relax More runs 8 weeks and 16. The third is a referral first, to your vet or a veterinary behaviorist, with training picking up afterward.

Several things weigh in that choice: the highest level on the scale, whether a child was involved, how recent and how frequent the incidents are, how predictable the trigger is, whether pain might be involved, and whether the trigger can be managed in a building with playgroups of 7 to 10. Nobody needs to see a bite to judge these. The UC Davis Behavior Service, for example, states that its appointments do not involve hands-on temperament testing that triggers the patient, and bases diagnosis on video, staff interaction, a questionnaire and medical history.