I just need to vent about my dogs

[Chickerdoodle13]

I have to say this. I read all this, I have had dogs my whole life. I also have a four year old and a home daycare. A dog who will attack a puppy WILL attack a child. A crawling baby especially. If you think puppy's annoy a dog, a baby is up in the dogs buisness like no other. We are very lucky to have the best dog ever. She loves our car, son and when the daycare kids get all over her she doesn't even car, she loves it! I make them back off for her safety. She's getting older. I have been around dogs who nip at puppies, and while it might be normal, these are always the dogs I hear about having to be re homed because of aggression when babies are brought into the picture. So if you have small children around I would make sure these dogs aren't around. I agree that putting a dog on a chain is very wrong and makes the problems worse and would never do that, but I would never have these dogs around small children.

Children, in my opinion, should never be left alone with dogs until they are old enough to know how to respect the animal's space. This is why many dogs attack children, not because they are innately aggressive in the first place. I can't tell you how often I hear owners complain of aggressive dogs. They tell me "he/she bit/attacked without warning" when in reality that dog gave every sign it possibly could to tell the owners it was unhappy with the situation. Dogs have pretty limited ways of telling us they are uncomfortable, so we have to learn to be more aware of these signs before fear or anxiety reaches the level of physical aggression.

 

[Sonya9]

op says they live off chain anyway. that means they are not chained.

Quote:
I have seen adult male dogs go into a near panic when a group of small pups approached them. If the dog was chained and couldn't even get away from the pups I could absolutely see a bite happening PLUS it likely causes even more resentment towards the puppies.

Most of the adult male dogs I have had over the years did NOT like small puppies, when I had pups in the house (rescue litters) the puppies were kept in pens both inside and out and the adults had their usual freedom to do as they pleased. They were here first and it is the least I can do to show respect for them. They didn't have a reason to resent the pups.

When the pups got older and learned canine manners the males would start to accept them and interact with them and only then would the pups be allowed loose with the adults. By that time the pups also understood when they were being told to back off and they were respectful of the older dogs' space.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i guess i mis-read, thank you for the correction.

 

[dainerra]

Quote:
they aren't attacking, though, because they are aggressive to humans. They would be reacting to the fact that babies,toddlers, and small children act more like prey than adults. My comment was that dog/dog aggression doesn't mean that the dog isn't safe around people. The two things are completely unrelated.

 

[Sonya9]

Quote:
Most kids get bit because they have NO respect for personal boundaries and people/parents actually ENJOY seeing their children violate on a dog's personal space.

Putting your face into a dog's face is the #1 way to get bit and children are frequently bit in the face! That is a VERY RUDE thing to do in the canine world. Kids are the worst about putting their face in a dogs face OR messing with a dog's food, laying on dogs, generally not understanding signals from the dog (and parents are just as bad, they take pride in the fact that their dog will tolerate boundary violations). Of course if it is your OWN dog and they also initiate face kisses then it is fine, but if the dog is NOT initiating do not do it! If you let your kids do it to the family dog and the dog never gives kisses back the canine is not comfortable and not enjoying it.

Here is an example of an adult reporter sticking her face into a strange dogs face. Yes the reporter got her lip torn badly and required plastic surgery.

Here is another video of a police dog biting the face of a reporter that got in his face:

 

[Peaches Lee]

Ugh! Hard to watch those dog bite videos!

 

[Sonya9]

Ugh! Hard to watch those dog bite videos!

If you watch it is obvious the dogs are getting stressed and not comfortable. Licking their lips and glancing sideways is canine body language for "I don't want conflict, please back off, I don't want any problems and this is getting uncomfortable".

Both of those dogs were doing that a LOT before the face bites, they were trying to tell the other "Please back off, I am not comfortable and I don't want trouble" yet the other didn't understand and made even more "aggressive" moves by sticking their face in the dog's face.

 

[Peaches Lee]

If you watch it is obvious the dogs are getting stressed and not comfortable. Licking their lips and glancing sideways is canine body language for "I don't want conflict, please back off, I don't want any problems and this is getting uncomfortable".

Both of those dogs were doing that a LOT before the face bites, they were trying to tell the other "Please back off, I am not comfortable and I don't want trouble" yet the other didn't understand and made even more "aggressive" moves by sticking their face in the dog's face.

I have to wonder if the handlers recognize their dogs are uncomfortable and if they do, to not appear rude, don't say anything. I feel bad for the reporters because they are trying to be enthusiastic and nice but really have no clue about animal behavior.

 

[GAchickennewbie]

I have to wonder if the handlers recognize their dogs are uncomfortable and if they do, to not appear rude, don't say anything. I feel bad for the reporters because they are trying to be enthusiastic and nice but really have no clue about animal behavior.

IMO-a handler should ALWAYS watch to see how their dog feels about a situation. That's just being responsible.

A handler's main priority should be protecting their dog. That's part of being an alpha. in order to do that, reading the language our dogs are giving us is how we protect them and those around them.

 

[Sonya9]

I have to wonder if the handlers recognize their dogs are uncomfortable and if they do, to not appear rude, don't say anything. I feel bad for the reporters because they are trying to be enthusiastic and nice but really have no clue about animal behavior.

I think that is exactly what was happening. People are so brainwashed that "dogs should appear nice and not have feelings/thoughts of their own" they are embarrassed to tell another that the dog is uncomfortable and please back off.