It is with a depressing frequency that I see in the news stories of dog attacks on people and children, the most recent and currently famous video about being of a dog attacking a boy on a bike outside of his home in California, who was then chased off by a rather heroic cat.
The dog either has been or will soon be put to sleep. I agree with this course of action, a dog who attacks a human should be destroyed.
BUT
What I want to know is exactly WHY this dog attacked this boy. Did the boy accidentally frighten the dog? Not likely, as the dog is seen trotting calmly up and then going for his leg. So why was he bitten? Did the dog have a mental issue (Yes, retards of the internet, animals can get those too)? Or was it a simple matter or poor training and discipline?
You see, with animals, especially man’s best friend, they have to be trained. A dog who is not trained does not know his or her place in the family, or to him, the “pack”. A dog’s natural instinct is to attempt to move up the pack and become alpha, a position that should be held by a human in the family. With correct training, the dog learns his place at the bottom of the “pack” and accepts this and becomes a wonderful, loyal, loving pet.
What is apparent in the majority of dog attacks is that the animal is not properly trained. They do not know their place and as such, may become aggressive towards a human they see as the weakest, in an attempt to move upwards. Also, with poor training, and no control over the animal, the dog learns he or she can get away with all sorts, without too strict of a “punishment”. Often, with poor training, the dog does not know why they are being punished. During training, you have a second’s window to administer praise or *punishment.
Another big issue is abuse.
A dog who is hit, kicked, smacked and all sorts of other horrible things like that is given the notion that humans are mean and nasty, and will attack you without provocation. Even if you think your pooch deserves a smack for widdling in the hall, he probably doesn’t know that. He just thinks you’ve lashed out at him. As such, the dog becomes defensive and frightened all the time, because he doesn’t know when he’s going to be hit next.
When you are afraid, your natural response is to fight or flee. What happens when flight is not an option? You fight. And what happens if something, say, a wasp, comes near you? You want to run away or whap it. Wasps sting and are nasty. Kill the bugger before it hurts you. So, an abused dog who thinks a human is going to hurt it will lash out if he can’t run away.
The majority of stories concerning dog attacks generally come from a dog who is either not trained, or abused. You know those moronic chavvy cunts who get a pitbull, staffie or rottie to look “cool” or “hard”? The dog is often untrained, and because it doesn’t do what it’s told (because it doesn’t know what the words mean) it is hit or kicked out of frustration. Hence a frightened, defensive woofer. Also, this is part of the reason why lovely, loyal, gentle dogs like the aforementioned three get bad reputations.
Even the gentlest of dogs can attack if they’re frightened enough. There’s a video floating around on the internet of a news reporter interviewing a police guy with his police dog. The news reporter ignored all the signals that the dog was not enjoying being touched and was getting defensive. The reporter then leaned over the dog, and the dog bit him. The police guy was also at fault for not indicating to the reporter that the dog was not enjoying the fuss.
Stories in the news where an unfortunate child has been bitten and the owners claim “he’s never done this before, he was so gentle” are sadly frequent. The problem here lies with people not watching their kids around a strange, or even a familiar dog.
Because let’s face it. Kids are a bit daft sometimes. You can’t be expected to know something you’ve not been told, but the responsibility lies with the owners and the parents to educate the child on how to approach and fuss a dog. It’s not difficult.
Here, if you don’t know how, follow these steps.
1: If the dog is calm, ears and tail relaxed or tail wagging, you can approach (ask owner’s permission first!)
2: Hold out your hand for the dog to sniff or lick
3: Stroke the dog on the side of his neck or shoulder, moving to rub his ears and the top of his head
4: NEVER lean over the dog or bring your hand straight down to pat his head, this may frighten them, and don’t put your face too close to theirs
5: Don’t let the child hug the dog; as much as this is a sign of affection for us, dogs see it as a means of asserting dominance and don’t like it very much
6: Don’t stare the dog in the eyes, this is seen as a challenge in the dog world and it may unnerve them
7: Always watch the child with the dog. If the dog puts his ears back, widens his eyes and glares or curls his lip, or leans away, move the child away. That’s a scared dog who doesn’t want to be touched.
So many dog attacks could be avoided if people are able to properly train their dogs and not abuse them. Indeed, many, many attacks could be avoided if parents and owners took a bit more responsibility. The way I see it, if your child is so precious to you that you would see a neighbour’s dog destroyed because your child frightened it and was bitten, then you can take the time to educate them and yourself and avoid your child being hurt, and a dog losing its life due to the stupidity of humans.
My strongest sympathies go out to people who have been attacked by dogs or even killed, but it can be avoided.
*When I say punishment, I mean a way of telling the dog that what he was doing is not allowed. I do not condone the hitting of animals at all; this should be avoided at all costs. A simple short, sharp “Aa-ah!” should be sufficient to let them know they’ve done wrong. Then as soon as they have ceased with the behaviour, praise.
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