It’s becoming far to reoccurring a theme as more and more photos are surfacing on social media of a child sitting, standing, kissing or generally making a dog uncomfortable with their behaviors. These photos are often taken as “cute” or “sweet” actions on the part of the child to the dog but all too often these types of behaviors lead to what is often classified as an unprovoked bite to the child despite the warning signs given by the dog in the form of a growl, stiffened body posture or other behaviors that humans often mistake as acceptance of the child’s behavior.
Recently, a photo was published by Coeur d’Alene Press on Facebook (click link here to view the
original) where the caption reads “Boston Wolfinger, 2, gives his dog a kiss. “I took the photo after Boston wanted to ‘share’ his bunny ears with his best buddy,” said Boston’s mom, Kelly Wolfinger.”
The dog in it has hard eyes, a stiff posture and the obvious snarl with teeth bared. In a nut shell, the dog looks very, very uncomfortable. Many of the commenters on the thread state their concern only to be rebuffed by others who state that they’re blowing it out of proportion and it’s just a cute “smile” from the dog.
Personally, that photo and many of the others I see on a day to day basis make me cringe as both a dog owner, future parent (if Mother Nature would cooperate!) and doting aunt of a bunch of rambunctious nieces and nephews who have had me repeatedly drill how to behave around a dog into their tiny, knowledge-soaking skulls. Far too many pets are put into situations that cause outcomes that end tragically for the family and the reacting pet – typically in the form of the dog being euthanized.
Dogs bite a child or adult for a plethora of reasons. These reasons vary from dog to dog and day to day because dogs are living breathing beings that do have feelings and those feelings can mean a bad day or a good day. These reasons range from protecting a possession or resting spot, being startled or spooked or to a medical condition that causes the pet to be in pain – which will often cause a bite if accidentally (or on purpose in the case of some mean-spirited children/adults) stepped on, kicked or touched in an uncomfortable manner.
To prevent incidents like this, it is important to realize and learn the signs of what will cause a dog to bite. Below are links below show a more in depth view into many of the behaviors that are often seen prior to a bite incident that may lead to a severe bite or even a dog bite-related fatality (DBRF).
- Signs of a Happy Dog
- Signs of Arousal
- Signs of Anxiety
- Signs of Aggression
- Signs of an Imminent Bite
Patricia McConnell, PhD. said it best in her book “For the Love of a Dog” with this quote:
“I don’t know how many times broken-hearted clients have told me that Barney had been doing so well; he’d handled the noise and chaos of the family picnic all day long, but just when everyone was about to leave, he fell apart and snapped, or nipped, or bit…If people could just see the signs of exhaustion or worry on their dogs’ faces, there’d be a lot fewer bites in the world, a lot fewer tears, and a lot more dogs living to old age.”
active young dog until that moment when it actually happens because they do something totally unexpected or a horrendous accident occurs. This was the case last Thursday for us when our darling milk chocolate darling Mika decided that part of a Wubba’s tail, fleece tug and half of one of my bras (the side with the eye hooks) were perfectly edible and polished them off in the wee hours of the morning and I would have found out too late if I hadn’t stepped on a soggy bra (because I was lazy and left it on the floor the night previously) and realized something did NOT look right on it.
expected at a tune of $830 dollars with all the necessary things for surgery plus the bill of $125 she had already racked up with x-rays, etc. It didn’t stop me from cringing at the bill but it was a little easier pill to swallow since I knew she could be gotten in that day without paying emergency room costs or allowing for 24-hours to pass into a more complicated extraction area like her intestines.
Mika went into surgery at round 12pm. The surgery took around a half an hour from start to finish and was, in relative terms, a simple exploratory surgery because she hadn’t passed any of the items into nastier territory. My vet, Dr. Eugene over at 
Even though it’s a winter wonderland outside it’s time for another experiment in the kitchen. The last recipe, Melon Mango Pineapple Frosty Paws, was such a hit that we decided to mix it up and do a little variation on it. This time we didn’t add the mango or the yogurt so it would be a simply fruity (with a pinch of coconut and honey!) concoction.
Winter is dragging on and on…and on. It seems that our winter-predicting groundhog friend, Punxsutawney Phil, has said another six weeks of this cold, nasty weather that has held the dogs pretty much hostage in the house other than trips to indoor venues and the occasional winter event – like the snow pulls we’ve attended. The dogs are going stir crazy and all that pent up energy has expressed itself in a few inappropriate actions too since they’ve started to nitpick and nag at each other more than usual. It’s getting rather old but we thankfully have a few options to exercise not only their minds but their bodies as well – the treadmill.
their canine companions, finding these types of exercise equipment available is becoming more and more readily available. Years ago, when I first got into the APBT as a breed enthusiast, having a dog-powered treadmill and the use was often linked by everyday pet owners as a sign of dog fighting. Thankfully, this is no longer the case and much of the so-called dog fighting propaganda is being realized to be useful for all breeds and types of dogs.
In the case of electric-type treadmills, many people convert humane-designed treadmills for the use with their canine companions but there are other options available which are geared in size and type toward canine companions. They are free-spinning like the slat-type treadmill and will typically allow for a more lean muscle-type to be created. For many people, this is the easiest option because you can find inexpensive electric treadmills (often called e-mills) on places like Craigslist for next to nothing. The only down fall, in my opinion, is that you have to watch and gauge when your dog has had 
On Sunday, we went out to watch the afternoon pull for the World Wide Weight Pull Organization (W3PO). I honestly didn’t go with the intention of doing anything but watching a bunch of good pullers have fun on a really challenging surface but little did I know that I would be poked and prodded until I actually caved and agreed to let old man Ryker have some fun on the snow pad.
all day and made the track slushy until the sun started to fall – then it froze and fast. One by one, dogs bowed out – unable and unwilling to work against the fast freezing track with its ever increasing difficulty level. Ryker was one of three remaining pullers at the end with the other two being a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Royce who weighed in at 115 pounds and a Newfoundland weighing much more. It was an honor to be in the last three pulling – especially with both dogs weighing well over double the forty-six pounds that Ryker weighed in at.
the 20x range – including the relatively new pulling dog, Royce, who at only two years old shows a LOT of very good promise.