Educational and safety notice

This notice describes the intended scope and important limitations of the INSTINCTIVE website and the Before the Bite field guide. It is a scope notice, not a claim that responsibility can be excluded where applicable law does not allow that.

1. General education only

All content is general educational information about common changes in canine body language. It is not a handling protocol, behavioural prescription, training programme, step-by-step instruction, directive, professional assessment or emergency procedure. Accessing the site or guide does not create a veterinarian-client, behaviourist-client or trainer-client relationship.

2. No diagnosis, prediction or safety classification

The material cannot diagnose a dog's physical or emotional state, determine intent, predict a bite or other future behaviour, classify a dog or situation as safe or unsafe, or establish that risk is absent. No single signal, cluster of signals, photograph, video or short moment is sufficient for those conclusions. The presence of a described signal does not prove danger, and its absence does not prove safety.

3. No guarantee, prevention promise or proof of competence

INSTINCTIVE does not promise that use of the material will prevent a bite, attack, escalation, injury, loss or other incident. The guide does not certify, qualify, authorize or equip a reader to assess or manage a particular dog, interaction or dangerous situation. It is not a safety guarantee, risk assessment, professional opinion or substitute for situation-specific support. The title Before the Bite is the name of the publication, not a representation that a bite can be predicted, prevented or avoided.

4. Individual context remains essential

Canine behaviour varies with the individual dog, health and pain, learning history, prior experiences, environment, handling, anatomy and the immediate context. Educational examples necessarily omit facts that may be decisive in a real situation.

5. Children and vulnerable people

The guide cannot replace close, active adult supervision or situation-specific safeguarding for children, older adults, disabled people or other vulnerable persons around dogs. A child or vulnerable person must never be used to test a dog's tolerance or comfort.

6. Pain, illness and professional assessment

Pain, illness, injury, medication, sensory impairment and age-related change can affect behaviour. The guide is not veterinary advice and cannot rule out medical causes. Sudden or unusual behavioural change, possible pain, repeated growling or snapping, bite history, serious guarding or ongoing safety concerns call for assessment by an appropriately qualified professional and, where relevant, a veterinarian.

7. Active danger and emergencies

The material is not intended for use as real-time guidance during an active dog fight, attack, bite incident, medical emergency or other immediate danger. In those circumstances, appropriate local emergency, veterinary or animal-control services — rather than this guide — are the relevant sources of assistance.

8. No provoking or testing

Nothing in the material invites a reader to approach, corner, stare at, restrain, punish, provoke, chase or expose a dog to stress in order to reproduce a signal or see what happens. The examples are observational and are not exercises or tests.

9. No situation-specific reliance or undertaking

Access, download, email delivery or reading does not mean that INSTINCTIVE has received or evaluated the facts of a particular dog, person, household or situation. INSTINCTIVE does not undertake ongoing monitoring, supervision, case management, warnings, emergency response or intervention for any individual situation. The material is not represented as a basis for decisions about approaching, touching, introducing, separating, restraining, transporting, housing, supervising or otherwise managing a particular dog.

10. Photos, videos and AI-generated illustrations

Photographs and short videos omit context before and after a captured moment. AI-generated illustrations used in the guide and on this site are synthetic visual examples. They do not depict verified diagnostic reference cases and must not be treated as evidence of a particular emotional state, medical condition or future behaviour.

11. Inherent uncertainty and real-world risk

Interactions involving animals can include variable, rapidly changing and sometimes unforeseeable circumstances. Publication of general observations is not a representation that a described signal will be present, visible, noticed or interpreted correctly, or that any particular outcome can be achieved or avoided. Educational examples cannot account for every environment, person, animal or event.

12. Sources, links, accuracy and changes in knowledge

Sources are provided for transparency, but summaries can contain errors and scientific or professional understanding can change. Publication does not turn general information into advice for an individual case. External links do not constitute endorsement of, control over or a guarantee concerning third-party content. The version and access dates stated in the guide are relevant when evaluating its contents.

13. United States users and state-law variation

United States federal law and the laws of individual states, territories and the District of Columbia can differ materially. This notice is not a universal release, waiver, assumption-of-risk agreement, choice-of-law clause, forum-selection clause, arbitration agreement or class-action waiver. No such agreement is created merely by visiting the site, requesting the guide or receiving the email. Any mandatory consumer protection or other non-waivable right remains unaffected.

14. Mandatory legal rights and liability

Nothing in this notice excludes or limits liability, remedies or other rights where an exclusion or limitation is prohibited by mandatory law. In particular, it is not intended to exclude liability for intent or to restrict liability for injury to life, body or health or for gross negligence where such a restriction would be unlawful. The purpose of this notice is to define what the material is — and is not — represented to provide.