Id go - Bad Boy - no doggy buscuits tonight then he'll go - im sorry im sorry please i didn't mean t then ill say - give me a paw and a kiss and ill pretend you didn't bite me!!

My cats attack me on a daily basis, generally to attempt to distract my attention from a book or the computer. I either pick them up and put them some place else or accept the scratchings. I'm slowly learning (it's taken 8 years!) that it isn't worth arguing with them. They always triumph.

Its self-defense here. Cover your face and eyes. Reach for an object and launch a counter-attack. The object is to get the animal off you or at least distracted so you can retreat to safety. If all else fails, put your arm around animals neck and choke it to death. this is an unprotected area for most animals.

It would depend on the entire situation. Mostly...WHAT WAS GOING ON BEFORE TH ANIMAL ATTACKED ME? What was I doing? Was the animal in pain, frightened of me or something else going on? How old is the animal? Young, untrained animals will sometimes over-react to stimulus around them and make an aggressive move because they do not yet have enough LEARNED BEHAVIORS to draw from in a given situation. If I was "rough-housing" say with a dog (you didn't say what type of pet) and I OVER STIMULATED the dog, and the dog retaliated as it would WITH ANOTHER DOG...in play, but crossing the line...I would then back off, but not appear frightened. I would verbally make sounds that THIS WAS UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR and immediately remove myself from the dog. (this is what an alpha dog would do...a true alpha dog does not usually start fights...they rule with benevolence, and they END fights..not by appearing fearful, but by showing "you are not even worth my time right now!" Next, I would start a training program of NILIF, Nothing In Life Is Free. This means that in addition to training the dog to DO acceptable behaviors...sit, lay down, come, stay, I ask the dog to DO these learned behaviors EVERY TIME I plan to give the dog something...dinner, a toy, going out for potty or to put the lead on for a walk. The Dog must EARN everything that it wants. This doesn't mean you have to be mean, nasty, or cruel in your training or actions towards the animal...quite the contrary...EVERY REQUEST, EVERY TRAINING SESSION should be a joyful, supporting and mutually rewarding time together! You want it to be FUN for both of you. You are teaching the dog WHAT BEHAVIORS ARE CORRECT. Dinner, once the dog learns to Sit/Stay, becomes a game too. NO FOOD is served unless the dog IS in a sit/stay WAITING for you to put the food bowl down, AND call it to come eat. Also, the dog would need to learn BACK UP. Because, after you put the food down, you let him eat some, then request that he back up and sit. You take the food UP and initially you ADD something extra tasty to it. (dog still waiting politely for the OK) replace the bowl, let him eat some more. Back/sit/stay...remove it again...let him see you poking in his bowl. You do this for at least a week at every single meal time...sometimes you add a bonus treat, sometimes you REMOVE some of the food and then add it back after he has finished eating. Anytime the dog does or successfully even ATTEMPTS to do a correct, acceptable behavior..you PRAISE HIM, adding a treat of human beef jerky (cut up into tiny bits with a pair of scissors is easy to do). You are teaching the dog that #1 all GOOD THINGS come from YOU and #2 doing trained behaviors earns GOOD THINGS. I would not say JUMP to putting the dog down, but of course, I am missing much of the story here, not being able to observe the animal, or what was going on BEFORE the animal attacked.