They often have many questions about how powerful their jaws are. Obviously for you to ever consider buying a dog you should understand all aspects of the breed. From how friendly they are to how long they live and the potential health problems they have and even the force of their bite.
A German shepherd bite is more than capable of breaking bones, as these are very strong-jawed dogs, which is also why they’re often chosen as military or other types of service dogs.
But how do you actually measure the power of a dogs bite?
Can A German Shepherd Bite Break Bones – The Science Behind
Determining the science of a dog bite and its potential impact is not straightforward, but the simple fact of the matter remains that the power of a German shepherd’s jaw is more than capable of destroying a bone with a bite.
Depending on the health type and makeup of bone, a human bone can stop when it’s 25 psi of force is applied. When you take into account that an average German shepherd can create anything from 200 to 600 pounds of pressure from a single bite, it just makes sense that they can easily break a bone.
So the question you should ask is How likely rather than can is your German shepherd to break a bone with a bite. Most well-trained shepherds are patient and rarely deliver any injuries to others. Regardless, shepherds are known to continuously observe situations and only meet out damage that would be considered to be equal to the actions of their opponents. Having said that if they perceive a threat capable of naming or killing them there’s no way of telling at what point they may stop defending themselves.
The Dangers of a German Shepherd Bite
As we mentioned previously German shepherds and jaws are powerful and can create up to 600 lb of pressure in a single bite. That was pressure is more than capable of resulting in serious injuries. German shepherd attacks regularly call facial injuries, punctual moves, and broken bones; these often result in scarring and taking emotional tolls on the victims. Therefore German Shepherd training is so important.
How to Understand the Force of a German Shepherd Bite?
When someone talks about the force of a dog bite they mean the level of pressure that it’s dog can create. Dogs that can create more jaw pressure might cause greater damage or injury to people than other dogs this is unfortunately one characteristic of German shepherds.
Measuring the Force of a Shepherds Bite
We usually measure dog bite force in pounds per square inch or pounds per kilogram. When using PSI this calculation measures the amount of pressure that is exerted at a single point. It will measure the amount of force that a shepherd can put through one bite.
They can break the classification of a German shepherd bite down into six different levels
- A level one bite describes teeth making impact with the skin but not penetrating.
- A level two bite refers to teeth penetration but no puncture wounds
- A level three bite shows one to four teeth punctures
- A level 4 bite shows at least one puncture where more than half the teeth trusted indicating the dog’s head wide during the encounter
- Level five bites show at least four different bites and incursions
- Level six bites are extremely uncommon and often result in death
When you compare the power of a German shepherd’s bite to that of a human’s A shepherd can create at least 200 PSI when compared to just 80 from the human. This level of force is more than capable of breaking a human bone.
The level of force is so strong that it puts them in the top five breeds of dogs in the world for draw strength. Unfortunately, because of poor training and bad ownership, they have also been reported as causing many fatal attacks on humans. Resulting in them being listed as one of the most dangerous dogs with attacks and bites.
In 2017 they ranked second highest on the most dangerous dogs list having caused four deaths. Even an attack that doesn’t result in death can leave a victim meeting serious medical surgeries and intervention. Shepherd’s jewelers are so powerful that they easily leave lacerations, puncture wounds, scars to experiment with nerve and muscle damage, and can tear tendons. Having said that most experts agree that dangerous German shepherds are rare and are usually the result of poor ownership.
Where do German Shepherds Rank in the World of Dog Bites?
When ranking the top 20 most powerful dog bites in the world the tango comes first generating over 700 PSI and the German shepherd ranks 12th. Having said this they rank highly even as high as 3rd in the US as being the most aggressive and dangerous dog breeds. This is primarily down to the fact that a high proportion of fatal attacks that have been reported in the United States in recent years have been caused by German shepherds.
Experts believe that a bit of an encounter with a German shepherd can result from two obvious issues, the first being that these dogs, if not trained correctly, have a natural tendency to be aggressive. Second, because of their highly intelligent nature, they follow commands and can easily be thought to act aggressively.
Here are the Principal Reasons German Shepherds bite
- Natural aggression
- Trained to protect property
- Maternal or Fear Agression
- They get Pestered beyond their limits
- The suffer from pain-induced aggression
The evidence is clear German shepherds can generate dangerous amounts of bite force as this is an obvious characteristic of their breed. This natural aggression is one of the primary reasons they’re used by law enforcement and the military. So unless you’re willing to put the time and the effort into finding a well bread and well-trained dog, German shepherd is not something you should. Having the knowledge, awareness and basic common sense is essential to safely handle any large dog.
We had a German Shepherd for nearly 14 years and in that time he showed no evidence of a natural tendency towards aggression. But then again we were lucky, this dog came to us, already trained, a K-9 pup who had failed his training. Nobody can convince me otherwise. Dogs reflect their owners., if you want a safe dog, train them and treat them well.
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