Dog Bite Prevention: Dogs Bite When Humans Greet Inappropriately

http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/do...nappropriately

Looking forward to seeing her this year in the UK

Good article.

Shame one of the people commenting sounds like a CM guru though!

I had a coat made for Izzy with "DON'T TOUCH" on in large letters as I was outside a shop once and an adult approached her very fast and towered over her and went to stroke her and she lunged and snapped at him He did this so quickly I never had time to stop it.
Fortunately he wasn't bitten but after apologising I did point out that he should always ask the owner before touching their dog and I would have said it was a big no-no as Izzy was nervous of strange men as she was previously ill-treated.
Also leaning over a strange dog like this is not a good idea anyway.

However, some "doggy" people get it wrong too. When I went to that awful agility club once Parker was working with me and he just approached the lady helper nearby to "say hello" as he was interested in meeting a new person I guess. She flapped her arms at him to shoo him away and he almost flattened himself to the ground in fear/surprise and he is a very confident friendly dog.

Our agility instructor just folds her arms & turns away from the dog if they run up to her in our classes. Not necessary to behave like this in my opinion.

I muzzled Polly in public and at HTM shows, the two people who approached her wrongly and got her stressed and would have been bitten were both dog trainers!
Both seemed to have the idea that because they were trainers (both using positive methods) they would be OK. Both eyed her up and gave her no chance to think about anything before trying to touch her.

rune

I often wonder about the obsession in people, particularly in this country, to touch dogs; especially when the British are notorious for not welcoming intrusive body touching for them selves in general.............

Very odd

Ive noticed it varies a lot with breed of dog too with mine. Noone when out really approaches my staffie or my crossbreed but poor Ishka gets mobbed. Hands reaching all over the place and bending ober her to touch her and stroke her if they get half a chance. Good job shes been in ringcraft since 11 weeks old and allows it

I am sick to death of the people who persist in walking around me to try to stroke Guinness when I've already asked them NOT to do it.

As soon as I spot someone making any kind of move towards him, I tell him he is very fearful of strangers and ask them not to attempt to interact with him unless they are willing to do it on his terms. The vast majority of people totally ignore this and move straight in on him, even though he is hiding behind me and I am clearly trying to block them from getting at him.

It is my absolute nightmare that one day he may bite one of these idiots out of sheer terror, and they will then report a "dangerous dog" when the bite is entirely their own fault. I thought about getting him a coat with something like "Do not approach" on it, but if these people ignore what I say, they will likely ignore a coat too.

I agree it seems to vary with breed as when we had Bear (Rottie) staying with us, not a single person approached us on walks, and Bear is a great softy who loves people and would have enjoyed all the fuss.

My two generate different approaches.

The women generally go ga ga over the Weimaraner as she is fluffy and knows how to turn on the charm (it is all cupboard love she is always looking for food).

The men have a testosterone overload and want to see how "macho" the GSD is.

People who are wary of GSD stay away and those who are undecided tend to have their minds made up when he looks at them (he has light eyes and can look right through you)

That's me then. Obsessed and obviously very odd

I always approach dog owners that I see when I'm out. I don't make eye contact with the dog and always ask the owner if I may "say hello". If permission is granted, I get as low as possible and hold out a flat palm for the dog to sniff - or not.

To me, this is the only way to deal with my "obsession"

George (a bitch) used to use eye contact on any available men and draw them to her. We did several experiments to see if it really was happening and every time the men would say that the dog had looked at them. Most then asked if they could pet her.

She got numerous food items from them when going round boot sales. If I was selling she would draw them in!

She was very clever but I have no idea how it started as it must have been before we had her. Women she never bothered with.


rune

So I left the lodger with a friend (and her dog) while I went for a leak with the reminder "Just remember he can be handshy with strange adults if anyone insists in trying to touch him - especially men"

Get back and get.

"He did have a growl at a man but I told him off and said "no" then the man put his hand out and he licked it"

Sigh.

Ended up probably as a good thing - he does like blokes - friendly ones - but why?

Other than that and a randy Lab that didn't know the meaning of "Leave me alone" it was a perfect walk