Sunny Obama Bites A Family Friend! Dogs Don't Like Hugs!

Sunny Obama. Photo Courtesy of Google.

I just found out that Sunny Obama bit a family friend in the face. The news outlet stated that the friend tried to hug and kiss the dog. An article I read about the incident even went as far to say that Sunny is a bad dog and that she was even hard to potty train. Potty training has absolutely nothing to do with the bite and if she is having trouble being potty trained that is a human problem as most dog problems tend to be.

I feel bad that the girl was bitten but I don't believe Sunny is a bad dog. Dogs do not like hugs and it is so important for us to teach our children this! Any animal with teeth can and will bite. It happens over and over again. A kid or an adult attempt to hug a dog = dog bites person. Why do dogs do this and more importantly why do we keep ignoring all the research that tells us that dogs do not like hugs? Why do people stick their faces in a dog's face that they do not know very well or at all?

I believe that many people don't recognize the signs that a dog is uncomfortable. I also think that so many people feel compelled to pet every dog they see and some of them don't really care how the dog feels about it. A lot of people out there are all about meeting their own needs and for some reason there is just this obsession with dogs. People are not seeing the signs that dogs are not comfortable with this and the dog will learn that humans don't listen so they have to escalate to get their point across. Depending on the level of discomfort that escalation can happen in seconds.

In a perfect world all dogs would be socialized, taught to be comfortable with handling and come from good genes but unfortunately we don't live in perfect world. Dogs are animals who have minds of their own and they don't always act how we think they will. I feel like it's best to err on the side of caution when dealing with a dog you do not know well.

Any dog can become uncomfortable with being handled at any given time. Even those happy-go-lucky social butterflies who have all the good genes and socialization in their favor. All dogs have good and bad days, just like we do, even dogs who are socialized and handled from a young age. Sometimes they just don't feel like being messed with or they don't feel good. Or maybe something stressful just happened to them and they are trigger stacked. It's very important to learn dog body language and always be cautious with dogs you do not know. 

If you google "dogs" and  'hugs" you will find a hundred or more pictures of kids and adults hugging dogs and although I don't have time to look through every single picture, most of these dogs look uncomfortable. You can see it in their eyes, they are either very wide or the white in their eyes will show. A few of them are giving a hard stare. A lot of them are looking away from the person doing the hugging and are tense. Some are panting heavily with their lips pulled all the way back. I even saw a photo that looked like the dog was struggling to get away. None of the photos I saw were happy, comfortable dogs. Yet, we keep hugging them! Are we hugging the dogs for them or us? I would say for the most part that we are hugging the dogs for us because it makes us feel good. Can dogs be trained to like hugs? Sure, they can but we are not going to get into that here and just because your dog will let you do it doesn't mean they want every Joe they meet on the street to hug them, too.

Dogs don't like hugs but why doesn't anyone believe this? All the research points to dogs considering hugs as rude. You don't see dogs going around hugging each other. Hugs and grabbing is a primate behavior. We humans are primates and we like to grab stuff and hold onto it. Dogs are not primates and do not enjoy this. I think because dogs will tolerate a hug from trusted family members, people think that all dogs like hugs but that doesn't mean they actually do. They are just putting up with it because it makes us happy. The next time you go to hug your own dog, pay attention to their body language. Maybe even set up a camera so you can see what they are doing when you hug them. I bet your dog might surprise you.

It is so important for us to teach our kids and educate ourselves on how to properly interact with dogs. There are so many educational videos and infographics out there. There are so many amazing dog trainers available to learn from. We are bringing these animals into our homes and most people don't even understand what they are trying to tell us. It's important that in addition to teaching dogs our language that we also learn theirs.

Photo Credit: http://www.4pawsuniversity.com/

Always listen to the owner of the dog and respect them if they say you may not pet. Even better, "listen" to what the dog is saying. The owner may say yes but the dog might say no! Watch their body language, remember that a wagging tail does not necessarily mean that the dog is happy and friendly. Phoenix often wags her tail when she's anxious! If the dog looks relaxed and wants to come up to you then that's a good sign. If they don't want to come up or look nervous, leave them be.

When in doubt keep your hands off the dogs and definitely keep your face out of theirs! Don't bend over and get in their space, don't try and reach for the top of their head. Let the dog come to you if they want to and if they allow it, pet them around their chest area or along their back. Never push yourself onto a dog who is acting fearful. It's important to remember that a dog out and about with it's owner is NOT public property and you're not in a petting zoo. If you really love dogs, admire and respect them from a distance. Always exercise caution when interacting with a dog who does not belong to you and always teach your children to respect dogs and to not put their faces into a dog's face. Dogs are not stuffed toys, they are thinking, feeling beings with a lot of sharp teeth. They give us so much and they deserve to be respected and protected from unwanted handling from strangers.

Sunny Obama is not a bad dog and I really hope that the family takes time to understand her. Hopefully everyone learned their lesson and they will take steps to help her become more comfortable around strangers. 

How do you help your dog stay safe and comfortable around strangers?

Zoe Hates Puppies! A Photograhic Lesson In Canine Body Language

Double Trouble!

Today I have some photographs of canine body language to share with everyone! Zoe has always sort of disliked puppies, they are just not her thing. She thinks they are really annoying and after dealing with too many adolescent dogs who do not listen and are rude, she doesn't like putting up with them. We had a young puppy run up on us when we were hiking and these are some of the photos I got of them communicating with each other.

NOTE: This puppy ran up to us when his owner was all the way across the park and he was not under any sort of control. This is considered an off leash trail/park but dogs are supposed to be under voice control. The greeting between the dogs only lasted 5-10 seconds before my husband called our dogs away. I try to never put my dogs in situations where they will fail and because we know Zoe isn't thrilled with puppies we kept their interaction very brief. Luckily the puppy got the memo immediately and wanted to be my friend instead. 

You can totally see how clear Zoe is with the photo above. She was not thrilled with this stranger running up on us. Her eyes are kind of intense, she's got "whale eye" (the white part of her eye showing), she's got a bit of a mohawk on her butt and her tail is really high. She's clearly saying "you better not mess with me, kid!"

Phoenix is also pretty worried about the greeting, in the first photo she's pretty much "who the hell are you and what do you want" but she is a lot more tolerant of puppy shenanigans and calms down quickly. If you notice in the second photo, Phoenix has one paw raised and that is often a sign of anxiety and/or being unsure.

The puppy has great body language, too. He's telling both of my dogs that he is not a threat. His ears are back, he has whale eye and is body is a nice curve. His tail is also loose. 

In this shot you can see both Zoe and Phoenix's faces. They are clearly unimpressed with him. Phoenix has a bit of a whale eye, too! You can see the total change in the puppy when he spotted me! He's not showing any aggression with baring his teeth he's giving me what's called a "submissive grin". He really wanted to be my friend! His ears are back, he has whale eye and he's screaming "I'm not a threat, I'm friendly but a little nervous, will you be my friend?"

I'm so sad that I didn't get these photos completely in focus but I think you can see the differences in the puppy's body language pretty well! After dealing with those grumpy females, he spots me and he's completely relaxes, his eyes are soft and he's smiling at me.

Here's another adorable shot of this guy. I loved him and wanted to steal him! It's not very often that I find a dog who is good at communicating with my dogs and listening to what they are "saying" too. He was perfect!

My husband calls our dogs away and the puppy's owner makes an attempt at getting him back.

After the owner of the puppy finally collected him, you can see that Zoe was still listening for him. The owner was directly behind Zoe and sort of to the left. Her ear is back and she's paying attention to what is going on behind her. She also still has a butt mohawk but her tail has gone back to being more loose. You can also tell by looking at her face that she is still unimpressed. 

Once the puppy was gone and the doggie Dad broke out some treats, the girls were much happier! 

I think dog body language is fascinating and it's so important for us as owners to be able to tell what our dogs are saying! If you would like to learn more about dog body language, Modern Canine Training made a great video on the subject: Understanding Dog Body Language (Zoe and Phoenix make a cameo at the end). I would recommend checking it out!

Stress Signals and Photography

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Have you ever posted what you thought was a cute picture on a facebook group (or any sort of internet forum) and then had it torn to pieces by people or taken wildly out of context?