WHILE shopping at a local outdoor market I witnessed an incident that made me stop in my tracks.
A dog owner had tied her Belgian shepherd up to a tree while she went shopping.
Not a big deal right? Well, this dog had a cone on his head, meaning it had obviously just had an injury and needed the cone to prevent it from licking its wounds.
Again, not a big deal right? Well, it became a big deal when three young, and I might add unruly, children ran towards the dog screaming, "Look at the cute dog with the plastic hat!"
The dog's first response was to pull away from the oncoming assault. But being tied, it couldn't. The dog's second response was to bark wildly to get the children to go away and possibly alert its owner to come help. When that didn't work the dog lunged and snapped at the children as they quickly closed in on the dog's personal space.
The end result was not good. There was a mother who was angry at the dog owner for having an "aggressive" dog. Which it wasn't, by the way. The dog did everything perfectly normally and as expected. It first tried to escape, then tried to alert, then, when there was no other choice, it had to defend itself.
There was a dog owner who (first off should not have tied and left an injured dog unattended) was angry at a mother for allowing her children to run amok and frighten her pet.
There were children who did everything wrong. They ran in a pack towards a tethered, injured dog, screaming with arms reaching and grabbing. They had absolutely no clue how to approach, let alone interact with, a dog.
As I said, the only creature that did anything right was the dog and it ended up taking all the blame.
This incident is a perfect example of how children get bitten by dogs every day.
Fortunately the dog in this scenario did not bite the children, but it certainly put on a display to frighten them and thus protect itself.
We can point fingers at the children, the dog, the parent, etc. But what we have to consider foremost is that dogs are part of our society, just as children are. Dogs are everywhere and that is not going to change, no matter how many rules are placed on dogs and owners. Dogs are here to stay, mainly because for many people, including myself, dogs are like children. I know many people who have opted for barking quadrupeds over talking bipeds.
Given this change in family dynamics, parents of human children need to make an effort to teach their children how to approach and interact with dogs, not only to keep them safe, but to foster a healthy, friendly respect for dogs.
Unfortunately not all dogs make proper choices as the dog in my story did. And I want to be clear: this dog did nothing wrong. The problem was a judgment-challenged dog owner, a careless parent and unmanaged children.
On the flip side, dog owners must be aware that their "friendly" dog saying hello to some children may not be welcomed. Unlike what TV commercials would like you to believe, not all children naturally gravitate towards dogs in a friendly open manner. Some children may be shy or insecure and having a "friendly" dog bound towards them can seem like a grizzly bear bouncing over to see us! Give a fearful child space. Please don't allow your dog to try to become friends with a child when it is clear that neither the child nor the parent want the interaction.
Sometimes a friendly dog can help a child overcome a fear and sometimes it doesn't.
Please don't make the choice for the parent and assume you are helping by insisting your friendly Fido say hello.
Common sense and common courtesy can go a long way in keeping both dogs and children safe.
Contact Joan at k9kinship.com
