My wife has a friend who has a basset hound that is 15 years old. They asked me to look at his mouth because he is starting to have issues with his teeth and gums. I put my hands near his mouth and he growled. I proceeded. I moved his cheek back to see the area and he growled, then a quick snap. I gripped the top of his muzzle and checked his gum. As I was letting him go he bit the shit out of me. A dog can only tell someone so many times that he is going to bite. If all his warnings, or even his one and only warning, are ignored, then the person being bit carries the overwhelming majority of the blame. Way back when we got our thumbs and the ability to reason we are suppose to be smarter than them, just does not seem to happen that way all the time. EWO