Ok coming in as a trainer here who has to rehabilitate these "fear aggressive" dogs that live secretly in society.
Humans have very unrealistic expectations about their dogs. They expect the dog to be MANHANDLED to a point where I as a human would punch, blow up, yell at and get defensive.
Yet an animal, who doesn't completely understand our language, our intentions, and certainly shouldn't be expected to have the patience a human does, is expected to lay back and let it happen?
I don't think so!
I get calls all the time "my dog bit our child please come evaluate our dog and rehab it". When you sit back, hold back your opinions, to an extent act like you are on the humans side, you get a REALLLY good picture of whats going on in that house. People are usually flabbergasted when I first begin talking, then they hear me out and realize they DO in fact have completely unrealistic ideas of what a dog should act like in a home.
I see videos all the time on youtube, funniest home videos, and in person at my clients homes, of dogs putting up with ridiculous treatment. The parents think its "cute" or adorable and take photos and videos.
The fact of the matter is, Who in their RIGHT MIND puts their child in a situation that sets both the CHILD and the DOG up for FAILURE?!
what part of letting a child rip a dogs ear around, shove things in the dogs ears and eyes, steal the dogs valuables, riding the dog, or pulling the dogs hair or tail, seems like a GOOD idea?
What part of "leaving a child and dog alone unsupervised" sounds like a good idea?!
I deal with this EVERY day in my job.
You can bet your butt I point out to those parents the VERY real danger they are putting their children in. They don't think its so funny anymore when they find out how very real this could be.
All that being said. I will say this. I have not, and don't have the time to read through all of these responses.
A dog has thresholds (obviously) and each individual dog varies (obviously). Seeing a stick waved around near a pack member, or themselves is a very real threat to a dog. Even a dog who has NEVER been abused will react in a negative manner to this.
My 3 month old puppy saw me with a stick when I was playing with it slapping it on the ground. My puppy who has never been abused alert barked on me and considered it a threat. Raising something over the top of a dog is a very real reason to get defensive.
If someone you didn't know raised a stick like object over your head or swiftly moved it past your face, as a HUMAN BEING you would still flinch, move away, even warn the person not to do that again.
A dog biting someone for raising a stick or swinging it near its head is a VERY fair reason to bite. Had the dog MAULED the person and tried to maim and kill, yes that is TOO much and the dog is probably unstable. But the ORIGINAL reason for biting is STILL a very legitimate reason.
THINK about it people!
Now I don't intend to offend anyone but if the dog already had fear of men, or any specific type of person, and then the dog was subjected to not only one stimulus that causes stress, but now two with a threatening action, the dog is again even more within its rights to bite out of fear.
It is the owners fault for allowing this circumstance to take place, and its the other persons fault for waving a stick around an unfamiliar dog.
What does this dog need? I would work on some desensitizing and increasing the dogs thresholds. Let the dog observe the type of people that make it uncomfortable in a purely positive and rewarding manner. Should you desensitize the dogs to sticks? I don't think so.
That's like trying to say we should desensitize our children to strangers talking to them on the street and handing them candy.
If this is a German Shepherd dog that did this bite, then its even more ridiculous that the dog was put into this situation. These dogs are not for the faint of heart, are not golden retrievers who love everybody, and they have a very real aggression behind them.
This is why this breed is not for everyone.
This circumstance is something that I consider to be a daily part of being a good dog owner. Don't subject your dog to absolutely ridiculous situations and expect them to handle it better than a human.
They are animals, they have teeth, and they bite. We are a very aggressive species ourselves, and we all know most of us would react in a relatively similar manner.
Be realistic.
Had the dog bitten the person completely unprovoked and out of the blue, then YES there would be a huge issue.
It all depends on the situation.