Is it ever okay for a pet dog to bite?

A lengthy response to an Instagram reel

Last month I saw an Instagram reel emphatically claim “Pet. Dogs. Shouldn’t. Bite.”

The on-video text was a list of excuses dog owners might make for their pets’ behavior: “He’s a rescue, he’s anxious, he sleep startled, it’s just a nip, it didn’t break the skin, he’s nervous, he doesn’t like that, we made mistakes when he was a puppy, it’s a fear period, he’s friendly really, he didn’t mean it, he hates the vet, he was eating, he really likes that toy, his bucket was full, children freak him out, it’s only people with hats, your dog started it, it was an air snap, he didn’t mean to hurt me, he was tired, he was too excited, I went over to him, it’s his bed, let sleeping dogs lie, it’s not a real bite, it’s just noise, he’s wary of strangers, it’s only men that he bites, it was out of the blue, he goes from 0-100 with no warning…”

The post inspired mixed feelings. Here’s my attempt to distill them into a coherent take.

TLDR: If you only skim one thing

We should not put people or pets at r…