The Warning Signs Most People Miss Before a Dog Bite
From The Dog Who Asked for More: Dog Training, Behavior, & Nutrition for a Calmer Life with Dogs by Emily Breslin | Dog Training, Behavior, & Nutrition | Retired Vet Tech
June 8, 2026 · 10 min · Episode 202
About this episode
Emily Breslin discusses the warning signs of dog behavior that can lead to bites, emphasizing the importance of recognizing subtle body language cues.
Have you ever looked at your dog after a reaction, shutdown, growl, or stressful moment and thought: “Where did that even come from?” A lot of dog parents believe reactions happen suddenly.One second their dog seems fine… and the next there’s barking, lunging, freezing, growling, or biting that feels impossible to predict. But most dogs are communicating long before those moments happen. Most of us just were never taught how to recognize the signs. In this episode of The Dog Who Asked for More , Em shares the moment she got bitten by a dog she genuinely believed was comfortable — despite years working in veterinary medicine and handling dogs professionally. Through stories about Fitz, client dogs, and her own missed signals, this conversation explores the subtle body language cues dogs use to communicate discomfort before reactions escalate:lip licking, whale eye, looking away, freezing, yawning,tension shifts, and the quiet moments most people unintentionally overlook. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: The subtle dog body language signs that often happen before reactions or bites — and why they’re so easy to miss if nobody ever taught you what to look for. Why many reactive dogs…
People in this episode
Host: Emily Breslin
Topics covered
- dog behavior
- dog training
- dog body language
- dog bites
- communication
- stress signals
Keywords
- dog bite
- body language
- reactive dogs
- communication
- stress signals
- dog training
- veterinary medicine
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