Former Marine trains dogs – and people – to avoid disaster

Kathy was out jogging one early fall morning when she heard a bark and saw a large dog running at her.

She tried to speed up, but felt his teeth sink into her calf muscle before she could get away.

The dog then turned and ran away. Luckily, a neighbor witnessed the incident and called an ambulance. Kathy was laid up for almost a month.

The dog’s owner is facing charges.

Robert’s young son Michael was at a birthday party. He saw a small dog standing off to the side of the room and decided to put his face next to the dog’s face so he could get licked.

Instead, the dog bit Michael in the face and off Robert went to the emergency room.

Unfortunately, these aren’t isolated incidents. They happen dozens of time every day.

Fortunately, people like Hector Hernandez live in Michigan and train people all over the state about preventing dog bites and avoiding confrontations.

Hector is a former Marine and law enforcement officer who now is an author, speaker and police K-9 instructor. He has more than 20 years of experience in becoming one of the foremost authorities in the country on dog bite prevention.

“Even though I’m an expert on dogs, I absolutely still get scared in certain situations,” said Hector, who has suffered five “serious” dog bites, the last one in September. “I not only train people on what to do around dogs, I also train dogs.”

He has four key pieces of advice.

1)    Always have a plan in the back of your mind in case a dog attacks.

2)    Always maintain eye contact with an aggressive dog.

3)    To get away from an aggressive dog, slowly back up while maintaining eye contact with it.

4)    Give firm “common commands,” to the dog, like “No. Go Home. Sit.”

While adults can have a plan for such situations, Hector worries about young children and senior citizens.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, those are the two age groups that see more serious injuries from dog bites.

Each year, more than 4.5 million people in the U.S. are bitten by dogs, with one in five requiring medical attention.

“Children are, by far, the most common victims of dog bites and are far more likely to be severely injured,” said Hector. “Most dog bites affecting young children occur during everyday activities and while interacting with familiar dogs.”

So what happens?

“The dog has a loyalty to its owners, but there are many instances where the dog doesn’t know the child,” said Hector. “So kids are vulnerable. As adults, we have to monitor those situations and try to read the dog’s body language. Kids may feel very relaxed around a certain dog, but that doesn’t mean the dog feels relaxed around them. Dogs can feel threatened if a person invades their personal space. That’s what can provoke an attack.

“My best advice is to never leave kids unsupervised around a dog they aren’t familiar with.”

If a dog does attack a person, Hector has some tips on how to react.

“To pull a dog off a person, grab it by its back legs and pull it away,” he said. “Then, depending on the dog, you may have to strike it in the spine.”

If it’s your own dog, he said, “you can grab it by the neck and try to lift it straight up.”

Each situation is different, he cautions.

“I started training my own dogs in 1982 and police dogs in 1986,” said the 47-year-old Hector. “So I’ve been working with them most of my adult life. I have a passion for both training dogs and training people about dogs.”

That’s reflected in the many testimonials Hector has received on his website – DogEncounters.com.

“I love dogs,” he said, “but I know from first-hand experience you have to read their body language and be ready with a plan in case a dog feels provoked.”