Lately I've been seeing a lot of things about dog training and dogs that are frustrating me. I think the biggest of those has to do with safety. I'm seeing stories of people getting bitten and injured and so many of them could have been prevented or minimized. My friends with service dogs are telling me stories of how people are interacting with their working service dogs in entitled and dangerous and stupid ways. So I'm going to write some things here that I personally think should just be common sense. Hopefully people will start understanding and incidents can be minimized and eliminated.
First, you absolutely DO NOT have to interact with strange dogs!!!!! Just because you see a dog DOES NOT mean you are entitled to interact with that dog. I hate to break it to you, but not all dogs like strangers and not all dogs like children and not all dogs like other dogs, period. And it doesn't matter if your dog is friendly or you like dogs or you're good with dogs. You saying these things after we tell you to leave our dogs alone is code to responsible owners that means the person saying them is going to ignore our requests for you to stay away and truly doesn't understand dogs. Before you interact with a dog you don't know, ASK!!! Ask if you can greet or pet a strange dog or if your dog can interact with them. Secondly and MOST importantly, RESPECT what that owner has to say. If the answer is no, there's likely a very good reason for it. The dog may be reactive, aggressive, sick, or even working (in the case of service dogs). You are NOT entitled to interact with another dog simply because you see it!!!
Second, and I never thought I'd have to say this, but DO NOT reach through, under, around, over, etc a barrier (fence, car, window, etc) to pet a dog, especially a strange dog!!!! Reaching into where a strange dog is at is an excellent way to get BIT!!!! I am continually stunned to hear stories of not only children but ADULTS reaching through or over fences, even reaching into cars to try to pet strange dogs. Quite simply, DON'T, ever!!!!
Third, if you love dogs, learn about dog body language and communication. I can't tell you how many times I've been told a dog is friendly when the dog is actively performing reactive/aggressive behavior (barking, growling, snarling, stressed/reactive body language). Dogs communicate through body language. It can be quite subtle, but often it's quite obvious once you know what to look for. Learn some basics of what happy, scared, and aggressive dogs look like. If you're unsure, ask an experienced dog trainer (like me)! Learn some of the common stress signals that dogs show when they are getting stressed or anxious about a situation. Learning this essential communication will help you more safely interact with dogs. If a dog is growling, snarling, snapping, biting, etc DO NOT interact with it!!!! A dog exhibiting those behaviors is beyond stressed and you stand a very good chance of getting hurt if you force an interaction. I can't even believe I have to tell people to not interact with growling, snarling, snapping, biting, etc dogs. It boggles my mind that people ignore such obvious signs of stress... If your dog is exhibiting any of these behaviors (growling, snapping, snarling, barking, etc) please contact an experienced dog trainer without delay. These behaviors don't just get better on their own. Ignoring them can lead to serious consequences.
http://barkpost.com/dog-body-language-charts/
Fourth, as an add on to number 3, learn how to safely monitor interactions between dogs and children. Simply watching them isn't enough. You MUST learn about stress signals and dog body language so you can know what a dog is "saying" during these interactions. Many children are bitten by dogs they know. Sometimes it's a lack of appropriate and adequate supervision. Far too often, it is that the supervising adults don't know what signals to look for that indicate a dog is getting stressed. When in doubt, keep dogs and children separate. Better to be safe than sorry...
Fifth, STOP anthropomorphizing dogs!! What does that mean? It means putting human motivations and interpretations on dog behavior that are completely wrong and are not at all accurate interpretations of what the behavior actually means. Misinterpretation of behavior can lead to issues and even bites/injuries. This is also related to learning about dog body language and communication. Learn what dogs are REALLY trying to communicate.
Sixth, TRAIN your dogs!! Training your dog can help eliminate and prevent many problem behaviors and makes them safer and more enjoyable to live with. If you're unsure how best to train your dog, please contact an experienced dog trainer (like me).
If you'd like more information about any of these topics or other dog stuff, please contact me at fcdogtraining@gmail.com
