You may not realize it, but we are all protective of our personal space to some degree. Depending on our cultural norms and our personal history, these boundaries are a bit different for everyone, but they do exist and apply more strictly with people we dont know. As a dog trainer, Im here to say, the same goes for dogs.
Here is a photo where Im allowing Jackson to sniff my hand and giving him time and room to come to me. As you can see, he has a much more pleasant disposition. This technique may take longer, but you can see it is clearly a more pleasant exchange.
Here is a photo of me and my dog, Jackson, using the “incorrect” hand-in-the-face approach. As you can see, my own dog looks to be a little uncomfortable with this posture. He is leaning back, turning his head and not relaxed. And this is my own dog. From this vantage point, the gesture almost looks rude.
So the moral of the story is this. When meeting a dog youve never engaged with before, show him the same courtesy you would expect from a stranger approaching you on the street. Politely share and respect personal space until youve built a relationship and then take it from there. Sniffing each other out is an important exercise for you and the dog. And, as with any relationship, its better to let it progress naturally than to force it right out the gate.
Imagine a complete stranger coming up to you and giving you a hug and then asking for directions. Unless youre at a party with many margaritas in your system, this “I love you man” moment wont be well received. But if a stranger comes up to you,asks for directions and then you find your conversation leads you down a path of similar interests, friends in common and then into a unexpected heart-to-heart discussion, then a hug at the end wouldnt seem odd. Youve built a rapport and it feels natural.
I work with many clients whose dogs have bitten someone, and as I hear the stories of what happened, the same human behaviors are mentioned over and over. Iâm not saying this to blame the people, but rather to help us all learn how to lower our risk of being bitten. Dog bites are a serious problem that should be avoided at all costs. Among the most distressing are bites to the face. In a study, scientists examined 132 incidents of bites to human faces that did not involve bites to any other parts of the body. The goal of the study was to determine the human behavior that preceded the bites.
One disadvantage of being a canine behaviorist is that many human behaviors scare me. My heart leaps into my throat when I see people performing risky behaviors like hugging and picking up dogs, sticking their faces right by a dogâs face, or bending over a dog. When I see people doing things like this, I want to shout out a warning. (I feel the same way when Iâm watching a horror movie and want to yell, âDonât go in the house!â)
If you have ever been bitten in the face or seen it happen to someone else, what do you remember about the human behavior right before the bite? As this study shows, human behavior matters!
More than 75% of the bites to the face happened to people who knew the dog. Over two-thirds of the bites were to children, and of those, 84% were to children under the age of 12. Children who were bitten were with their parents in 43% of the cases and with the dog guardian in 62% of the incidents. Sixty percent of the bites were to females, and no adults were bitten by their own dogs. More than half of the bites were to the nose and lips of the person, as opposed to the chin, cheek, forehead or eye area.
In 76% of the bites, people bent over the dog just before the bite. In 19% of cases, a bite was preceded by people putting their faces close to the dogâs face, and in 5% of cases, gazing between dog and person at close range occurred before a bite. In no incidents was a bite to the face preceded by trimming the dogâs nails, falling on the dog, hitting the dog as punishment, stepping on the dog, pulling the dogâs hair, tugging the dogâs body, or scolding the dog.Related article
Is it bad to look your dog in the eyes?
It can be bad to stare a dog in the eyes as it can scare them and be perceived as a threat. However, scientists have discovered that making eye contact with your own dog can strengthen the bond between owner and canine.