I had another blog
ready to go, but poor timing on my part – I decided to write a new one for
National Dog Bite Prevention Week.
Being that my
Facebook photo album about the same topic had over 80 shares, it prompted me to
talk about this in more detail. Dog trainers or really anybody that knows about
dog body language usually cringe at the “cute” dog/kid pictures and/or videos
on social media. Yet we get flack for it when we speak up. Why?
A friend of mine a
few days ago made a post about this exact same topic (and actually inspired my
album). Her friends posted photo comments about their dogs. “Yes, but look
here, my dog is giving kisses.” Or “My dog loves her kids.” (showing a girl
hugging a dog that is clearly uncomfortable.) – effectively proving her point,
however they didn’t see anything wrong with it, because THEIR dogs are
different. My pointing out the obvious was not well received. Why?
Maybe people feel
personally attacked when we tell them that it is not a good idea to let their
kid hug a dog and snap a picture. Maybe they think we are telling them they are
bad parents, when we tell them to put the video camera down and tell their
child not to ride the dog like a horse, instead of filming it. We hear “My dog
would never do this.”; “My dog is good with kids.”; “He loves his kids.”; “I’m
supervising them.” – And then when the unthinkable happens we hear “It was out
of the blue.”; “We never saw it coming.”, or “But he has never even growled at
anybody.”
The problem is –
we never think it could happen to us. Our dog is different, he grew up with the
kids. I get it, I’m guilty of it myself. Did you know there is a difference
between “active supervision” and “passive supervision”? Are you watching your
kids around your dog and are in the same room with them, or are you just in the
same house? A dog can bite 3-5 times in the span of a second! Let that sink in
for a moment. Do you really think you can be faster than that? Active
supervision means to watch your kids and intervene when you see inappropriate
behavior toward the dog. Teaching the kids respect for dogs (really all
animals) and being preemptive is the key – you are not going to be able to jump
in between when the dog is at the point that he needs to bite. Yes, I said
‘need’. Our dogs – our family dogs – don’t ‘want’ to bite us. They usually do
give us every sign that they are uncomfortable and would like us to back off.
Sometimes subtle and sometimes they are figuratively screaming at us. But we
can’t hear it? Why? Because we are too busy trying to defend ourselves instead
of listening to well-meaning advice.
Seriously – we are
not judging you (well … we might if you start arguing and come back at us with
the above arguments). In this business we see the tragic outcomes and because
we cannot train every single dog in the world, we are desperately trying to get
the word out and educate people on the subtle nuances of dog body language. A
couple of years ago I went to a Dog Bite Prevention Conference hosted by
Victoria Stilwell. Some of the speakers were the parents of Liam J Perk, whose
son died from a bite of their family dog of 8 years. When they finished their
story there was not a dry eye in the house. They, too, made the typical
statements “never saw it coming; wish we had known”. Imagine the crushing loss
of a child, and in addition the guilt they felt of this possibly being
preventable. And on top of it, they also had to deal with the loss of a dog, a
friend and companion they had longer than they had their child!
So, please, we are
not saying you are bad parents. We KNOW you are not bad parents. Did you know
that out of all dog bites on children 77% of them happen in their own homes and
with either their own dog or a dog they know? And where on the body do most
bites on children happen? Look at the pictures in the linked Facebook album and
draw your own conclusions! For your childrens’ and for your dogs’ sakes – and
in the end it is always the dog that pays – please keep reading and listen to
our advice. We are giving it away for free and it just could save a life.
Let’s start with
the subtle signs: Looking and/or leaning away, excessive panting when not hot,
yawning, lip licking – while a dog could be tired or hungry – consider the
context of the situation. Those can be signs of stress or appeasement signals
(meaning, they are saying “I’m not a threat, please leave me alone, back off,
you’re too close). For example, as a general rule, dogs do not enjoy being
hugged. Yes, I know … “but my dog loves to snuggle, we hug and kiss all the
time.” I’m guilty of it myself. But just because they tolerate it, doesn’t mean
they like it. Next time you hug your dog pay attention. Do they get stiff? Turn
their head away? Maybe even start lip licking? Trust me – they let you do it,
because they love you, but they are trying to tell you something. Whale eye and
a furrowed brow, licking your kid in the face when they put their face into the
dog’s face. Those are a little less subtle. Your dog is clearly worried. And
the cute kisses he is giving – an escalation of the lip licking “please get out
of my face, I mean you no harm” (again, consider the context, your kid could
have a peanut butter mustache).
Now let’s say, one
day it is just getting too much and your dog growls at you when you hug him and
don’t let go. You freak out and yell at him and go right back to hugging,
because, well, “he is not the boss of you.” If you continue to punish a growl,
you have now taken away a very effective communication tool. A growl is a clear
warning from a dog to please back off! Again – he doesn’t want to bite and a
growl is practically a scream to go away. Count your blessings that your dog
has such a clear warning and heed it. Punishing your dog does not show
leadership. He will not respect you more. But you now have effectively taken
away his tool to let you know when enough is enough. Next time he may go to a
snap directly or even to a bite. And let’s talk about that ‘snap’ for a minute.
Knowing now how fast dogs really are. Do you honestly think that your dog
‘missed’? A snap is not a missed bite. Again – count your blessings, because
your dog does not want to bite you! But he had to resort to yet another
escalated sign that he is uncomfortable. The next time he may not have any
other option left.
Whenever you pick
up the camera next to snap that cute shot or make a vine or youtube video, step
back and assess the situation. What is the dog really saying? Is a “cute”
picture worth the risk. If I have made you put your camera down and intervene I
have done my job! If I just make one person step back and think, it is all
worth it! You don’t even have to acknowledge me.
If you don’t want
to take MY word for it, please check out the references listed below. The key
is to educate ourselves on dog body language and to teach our kids respect for
animals and also get them started young on the body language. I am a “Be A
Tree” presenter and come to schools and boy/girl scout troops for free. We also
have an afterschool program as well as a Summercamp. Ultimately my passion is
dogs and I will do anything to save as many as I can and that includes
educating the next generation so that we leave behind a better world than we
have now!
References/Resources
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