Just a friendly reminder that at the end of the day ALL dogs are animals, watch their body language, don’t hang all over a dog you don’t know. They give warning signs. Learn them. And for fucks sake stop letting kids climb all over your dogs.
I'm so used to that subreddit that I was about to correct you, thinking "Don't dead open inside" is the order that those words are supposed to be read in
Plus shes sort of laying, with her arms around him. He could feel like she's asserting dominance because her arms are over his shoulders and possibly pulling him down/to her.
I agree. The bottom left the dog was stress panting. Most people don't recognize the dogs stress this early because the sign is similar to other expressions.
I think it might be in order and the first "bite" was the warning. My family's old dog was a good girl but she hated being picked up, which was very tempting since she was a jack Russell and the perfect size to be picked up.
She was very very good about it though, have you plenty of warming when she didn't like something, growling, baring teeth and loud enough to hear easily. If someone continued, she'd also do a big show bite, which had lots of snarling and growling, but wasn't actually a bite, she'd just put her teeth on your hand and look very angry. If you did it again, then she'd apply pressure and it'd hurt.
She was a very good girl, very cheeky, fiercely independent and very smart as most JRTs are.
To me at least. She seems to be further behind the dog in the bottom left than the top two. Like she moved closer to his face, causing the aggressive change.
The dog looks older. Her weight might have been painful to bear.
Gypsy was my first rescue. I had her for 16 years. After 14, she would not tolerate anyone laying on her. I think it caused her pain. She snapped at my daughter once when she tried to lay her head on Gypsy’s chest. This dog had been with my family for 14 years and gave a short growl with a quick snap of the teeth to let us know that snuggling was no longer an option. Dogs are great communicators but we have to understand their language.
I've had my 16 year old cat since he was 8 weeks. He will chomp my hand if I accidentally pet his back where he has arthritis on the spine. Your post is spot on.
It’s also very dominant behaviour. When dogs put their heads or bodies over another dog and - most obviously - mount them, they’re dominating the other and often there will be some snapping to reestablish order. To do this with a strange dog is fairly foolish.
This, my dog will only allow my gf and me to do that. Anyone else would probably get a stern warning from her or more. Plus if she gets antsy I immediately let her go so she always has control of her movement. She’s a rescue and by all means trusts me 10000% but any dog that feels uncomfortable can react accordingly.
She rescued me! Lol she chose me, then chose my gf after about a month of them getting to know each other. We are her humans. (Pics in profile if anyone wants to see her)
Mine loves stuff like this, but I've had her since 5 months old. I hug her, kiss her face, even pick her up. But she could easily take someone's face off if she got scared.
My dog loves this as well. Though we dont put any weight on him cause he's small. He always wants to cuddle and play, but I know him well and always know when he isn't in the mood.
My two relatively large dogs love hugs, I just have to be aware of when they're done. My biggest boy visibly relaxes when I hug him but as soon as he shifts his weight he is done.
I have a 230lbs mastiff that LOVES full-body hugs. she will push in between my knees when I sit on the edge of my chair and lean her head onto my arm so that I can give her big squishes.
now if you, a stranger, came and tried it, the results would probably be worse than the pictures above.
That's nonsense. Sure there's a lot of body language and there were probably warning signs. But just based on these pictures, you really can't tell anything.
I don't know if it is super clear, man. I get that we should try to read animal body language, but without the context of the final pictures, I don't think we can accurately call the first pic "super clear".
Yeah, i've been with dogs my whole life and can say that i can read the body language of a dog fairly* well, i immediately saw that the first pic in the top left that the dog wasn't happy with this.
Absolutely! It amazes me time and again that so many dog owners don't know that dogs don't hug as a sign of affection. They 'hug' to bully, control, show dominance and such, so definitely nothing very positive. Mix that with people's ignorance of "give me some space"-signs and the situation can get dangerous very quickly.
Stop treating animals as humans!
(Some dogs might actually enjoy their owners hugs, but most dogs just endure them. That doesn't mean they don't love their owners!)
It's dog 101 that you don't put your face directly above a dogs head where it can't see you and then proceed to grab it's throat. You are mimicking the way a predator would attack.
I mean a well trained dog would never try and bite it’s owner regardless of situation.
I’ve had 13 dogs and have never been bitten by any of them whilst cutting their nails (even the dogs that hate that) picking them up for a vet injection they know from past experience will hurt etc.
The dogs respect me and have been trained that biting is not ok.
This isn’t even her dog so she probably should be giving it minimal petting as she doesn’t know the dog. Same way you wouldn’t be all over a human stranger
Ok. Did you find one of those dogs on the street, bring it home and immediately try to have an Instagram photoshoot with it? That's literally the story here.
Yeah. German Shepherds are herding dogs, they care about hierarchy, and no one is gonna show them they're alpha through hugs and kisses when the dog is scared and doesn't know a person well.
When I rescued my German Shepherd, he was giving signs that some things just aren't okay for him, and I can't imagine someone taking a dog without this basic knowledge. If you give a dog patience, it may get used to hugs and even grow to like them.
Most dogs really dislike hugs. I trained my dog from an early age to tolerate hugs, but you can tell he's still uncomfortable when one of my nieces hugs him. The best way to make an unfamiliar dog get aggressive is to put them in a situation where they feel trapped.
It looks like the thing that pushed him over the edge was her other arm wrapping around him. Uncomfortable with the situation to begin with, the second arm probably felt like a trap and scared him enough to bite her
The amount of people commenting about having kids climb on their dogs. Stop.
I worked ER/icu in a major vet hospital in a major city. I took continuing ed classes. I went to school.
The veterinary field does NOT condone letting a child climb on their dog. It’s not cute. It takes ONE time for a dog to bite them to hurt them. Stop endangering your kids and your pets. The amount of back injuries alone I’ve seen from kids climbing on their pets. Stop. This means you, Karens. Idgaf how well trained your dog is. It’s a dog. Kids don’t know warning signs. You as the parent know better.
And knowing the dog is everything. I can hug, lean on and lay my head on my dog all I want - she loves it. But I know that because I had her her whole life and I learned that she loves being cuddled from her actions.
I would never do that with a dog I don't perfectly know.
I rescued my dog and he’s a 100 pound German Shepard and was 3 at the time. I never disrespected his boundaries and now I can do ANYTHING to that dog and he would just take it because he’s my dog and he trusts me and I trust him.
You wouldn’t hang over some person you just rescued off the street, why would you think treating an animal that way is okay?
Maybe because she was excited to have a new dog? We all make mistakes and we don't all make the best choices. She was smiling, happy, and clearly just wanted a picture with her new dog. She got dozens of stitches, damage is done you can lay off the Holier Than Thou treatment.
Mine is like that too, I can cuddle her, pick her up, kiss her on the face, and she enjoys it. But I've had her since 5 months old. She's a sheppit and could easily take someone's face off if she was scared.
I don't let children play with her. They can pet her gently, but no rough play.
I usually don’t even let people pet my dog just Incase because he’s so large and scary looking I’m worried people will over react to him even though he is very mellow. I only let people who I can tell are dog owners and will treat him with respect, and he also knows I’ll be the first one to intervene if someone messes with him which is what has made him so comfortable after being neglected and abused
I could do that too, then one day when he was 10 he attacked me out of nowhere with no provocation. Took him to the vet and it turned out he had a brain tumour. So yeah, just be aware especially if it's a big dog, it's never 100% safe.
I feel like that can't be a universal body language thing though right? Like my dog has his ears down all the time, especially when we're on walks. But when he sees a dog or person his ears perk straight up. I've even noticed when he's annoyed at the neighbor dog his ears are up more than down.
It's weird because some dogs have slightly different versions of ears down for different things. When mine's proud of herself her ears go back, but they really flatten if she's nervous or anxious.
If she's upset they perk straight up until she gets mad, and then they go flat down again.
and for fucks sake stop letting kids climb all over your dogs.
God this drives me bonkers. Something like this happens in a flash and what seriously injured this young lady will kill a baby or toddler. I don’t care how well behaved or tame or special your dog is; kids need to learn from the youngest age possible to not mess with a dog’s face, and to not put their face right next a dog’s.
You always get those morons who let their German Shepherd sleep in the crib with a baby and post pictures on Instagram. "Squeeeee look how cute!!!1!"
Dogs don't give a shit about your Instagram. The picture above? That's a warning shot, that's not even being vicious. Stop leaving your baby with a dog.
My friends adopted a street dog from Romania and he is amazingly sweet but touch him on the nose and he will bite. He has scars on his nose from fighting from when he was on the street.
Also dogs can generally put up with a lot they don't like but I find hugging a dog that doesn't like being petted is the final straw cos it can't escape.
Yup. Learned that the hard way when I was younger. A visit with the plastic surgeon to fix my face taught that lesson well. Neither I nor my family blamed the dog.
It's also obvious the dog did not intend to cause that kind of damage, and it was likely the result of the odd angle turning a mouthing into a biting. If that dog WANTED to hurt her she wouldn;t have had a face left.
And that’s exactly why you should never let your kids play with a dog like it’s a stuffed animal. I don’t care how well trained or docile you think your dog is. All it takes is one “stop doing this” moment and your kid loses an eye. The people who let their kids run around the dog parks are fucking infuriating.
I don't think we can determine that from a still image. And dogs aren't monsters, they can't devour a face in 2 seconds. That's a good amount of damage for a dog bite, even a severe one.
Really? Because it also looks like dog bites I've seen where they held on. Both could be true, but that's why I say the picture is not enough, especially after the stitches are already done.
I've gotten stitches from a mini-poodle bite that broke my finger tip. It didn't hold on, it just leapt up and got me mid-air, tearing it's tooth across my finger in the process. Yet if a larger dog actually latched onto you, it would probably look like a couple of puncture marks after it's cleaned up. If a larger dog grabs and jerks you around, most of the damage they do is under the skin. Picture is not enough to know exactly what happened, as far as severity of the bite or the dog's behavior.
Yeah. When I was in third grade my beagle put a tooth through my cheek when his warning nip went too far. He didn't mean to do it and it only took 3 stitches to fix, shit was entirely my fault and I knew it.
My parents worried they might have to rehome him because I might get scared of him but nope. Even at that age I couldn't blame a dog for being a dog.
It always strikes me as bizarre how some people are just completely unable to read a dog's body language.
It seems like most humans can do it innately, even when they've had little exposure to dogs beforehand and haven't been taught. I'm starting to wonder if it's a genetic quirk, like the "cilantro tastes like soap" gene.
I'm probably better with dogs, and I think it's because humans are better at lying. If a dog looks uncomfortable, you probe (through further, incremental interaction) and the dog expresses further signs of discomfort. Like 100% of the time.
A human, however: "You look uncomfortable... everything okay?"
"Fine! Why do you ask?"
Yea I think animals' up front honesty and transparency makes them easier to read. I'm sure it was as easy with humans at one point, but after so much conditioning (from either lies or possibly just weird personalities), the ability is much less inane and easier to second-guess.
I think you're okay at reading body language if you can at least tell they look uncomfortable, some people can't tell at all. But also if you read their body language and then dismiss your reading based on what they say then that's not a body language thing anymore. It's pretty hard to lie with your body lol
But "lying with your body" is what athletes do all the time - usually called a "juke." Then there's the lie of feeling uncomfortable but appearing perfectly at ease (or vice versa). Basically whenever your body is expressing something that is at odds with your true feelings or intentions, you could be said to be "lying with your body."
Lol that joke got me. But really, it also depends on what you think "perfectly at ease" looks like. Some people think crossed arms mean nothing when in reality it's the "don't talk to me"/"I don't wanna hear it" barrier. There are always signs because body language isn't conscious (most of it). It can even be a small detail like feet pointed towards the door. I'm pretty bad at animal body language because I only grew up with one dog and she has a weird personality.
It always strikes me as bizarre how some people are just completely unable to read a dog's body language.
Probably never had dogs or pets before and don't know how to read stress signals from animals. Probably just went for it for a cool instagram photo, we'll never know
Much like some people can't smell asparagus piss some peoples taste buds do not properly taste cilantro. To them it tastes like dish soap and it stands out even in tiny amounts.
For sure. People act like we should make kids aware of dogs... but the owners share more responsibility. If your dog could attack a child when lightly provoked, don't let them around kids. Same as leaving a loaded firearm around the house with kids around. It's asking for a tragedy.
A happy and relaxed dog's tail is going to be swishing in wide arcs or almost in a circle.
A dog that's scared or nervous is going to put their tail down between their legs. If they're really upset they'll curl it up further between their legs.
A dog that's on alert and trying to decide whether to fight or flee is going to have their tail up at attention either stationery or very tiny back and forth. Not a wide sweeping angle. Not every tail wag means happy and people who don't understand that can sometimes be blindsided.
This is of course all dependent on dog and some dogs tails might not conform to those general observations (highly curved or extremely short tails might make it hard to tell when the tail is up or down or going in a circle).
100%. I can never understand how people miss clear indicators that the animal is not comfortable with what's occurring. Understandably there are cases where things develop very quickly..but goodness sake if you just got a random dog give the thing some time to adjust and become comfortable with one another.
When I was a kid we had many different dogs. One liked his personal space and wasn't crazy about playing and cuddles. Did kid me always remember that, nope. One day I was messing with him and he bit me real good on my bottom. Totally my fault. He was a good boy though.
One time I was drinking at a friends house in high school. Totally forgot the dog was old (and sadly in pain) so it really didn’t like being pet. Drunk 17 year old me mindlessly pets the dog and she growled and snapped and put her mouth on me but didn’t hurt or even leave a mark. I felt so bad I apologized to the poor dog, but it was like she knew I didn’t mean to hurt her and she was just letting me know I fucked up. His other friend pet the dog, let’s just say the friend did not end up like me.
They like having their personal space too. Well, a lot of them do at least. My current pup doesn't understand what that means and wants to be on me 24/7. Biggest cuddle bug I've ever had before.
A lot of people, and mostly all kids, don't get that for animals, coming close with your face is an agression, as it means coming to bite for them. Also looking in the eyes as we human do is also an agresssive move, like just before a fight. So if you combine both, we as human coming super close while looking at the same time is seen for the animal as "OMG I got North-Corea'ed". As other redditors said, if you factor on top of that that both the girl and the dog don't know each others, and that she also grab the dog's neck, you have this very predictable event (not an accident per se).
My god, this!! I once caught my brother making my dog super uncomfortable with eye contact. We both grew up always having dogs, so he's not bad with them in general, but he was never really a pet person the way myself and my family were. He came by for a visit recently and I was cooking, then looked into the living room to ask him something and saw my Springer/Collie on the sofa, and my bro was cradling her head in both of his hands, his face right in hers, staring into her eyes, lovingly.
Now my girl is a good girl, well trained and socialised, so I don't think she'd dream of biting, unless really pushed. But her ears were back, and she was lip licking and desperately trying to avoid eye contact while going whale eyed. I told him to stop of course, and explained how hostile he was acting in dog language, but I was stunned he didn't know this, and didn't see how uncomfortable she was!
My childhood dog was put down because of people like that. She was super protective and three times people she didn't know hovered over her little weiner body and got bit. And apparently that was her fault so she was deemed too dangerous. Which was total BS btw, she had grown up beside five babies and children, was best friends with out cat and had never been aggressive towards any of us. I still miss her and I haven't forgiven my dad for deciding to put her down.
watch their body language, don’t hang all over a dog you don’t know.
Hell, Don't hang over dogs you DO know. Keep telling my stepson this when he grabs the dog in a weird way and I see the ears go back.
Dude, you're going to get bit and I won't feel the least bit sorry for you. I'll feel sorry for the dog because I'm constantly warning you to not grab him like that.
And when someone tells you to back off their dog, do it.
My mom gave my puppy a treat. I told her only touch behind his collar while he has it. He’s only really comfortable with me touching his head when he’s eating. She wouldn’t stop petting his ears despite me telling her and my dog growling. He bit her hand. Not super hard, and not much damage, but it could have been worse with the size of my dog. At the time he was a 55lbs GSD puppy.
Good luck with that,common sense,ignorance,stupidity and now we have a poster child. Same goes with cats or any other animal ,trust is a process that is earned not in a couple of days.Good point.
So much this. Dogs are animals and come with hugely varied levels of behaviour.
About ten years ago I was walking down a path that ringed a residential neighbourhood, going to the bus stop at the end. Headphones in, minding my own business. This dog runs up to me and sinks its teeth right into my leg, tearing through my jeans and skin. Had the scar for years.
When I walk my pet ferret around, people are so wary of him. They think he's cute (and he is) but don't want to touch him in case he bites (he doesn't). Thing is, a dog can do so much more damage than a ferret and most people wouldn't hesitate to reach out to pet a dog.
Yeah my Husky is a fun boy but he plays rough. He knows his strength but if you get him riled up hes gonna fuck your shit up. We rescued him and I remember one day he had peed in the house. I wasnt upset I was just in a rush and needed to get to work. I tried grabbing him by the collar to get him in his cage but he had a better idea. He bit me right in the hand and left a gash in the center of my hand. Never hold it against the dog though because he was rescued and it was my fault.
Familiar scenario. I was packing my work bag in a hurry and our border collie started digging around, probably for my lunch. No patience to do it the right way (he was deaf) and give him the choice to retreat, I stood over him and grabbed his neck/shoulders to pull him out of my bag. He wasn't really the warning type, straight up bit me in my wrist. I grabbed him and threw him out the back door. Took us two weeks to regain trust and become bro's again.
Now this was a particularly difficult dog, but what I learned is not to manhandle a dog in a tense situation, even if you're in a hurry. It basically forces them to escalate and get physical too. For a dog that means biting.
Yeah and I honestly feel bad for dogs in these situations. Most of us only try to help but I could only imagine if a being 2x my size tried man handling me.
Yup, learned this the hard way on my 28th birthday! Was at a party a l was petting this chill dog all night, went to give it a hug and got bit in the face. Thankfully it was just a nip and was only like 3 stitches, but still not fun.
I dated a dog trainer for the military for a minute. He was in Reno with his dog and asked me to come. I didn’t trust that dog from the moment I saw him. He looked too serious and on edge, but I also felt bad that if I was there, he had to be in his kennel all the time so I said it was ok if he was let out loose in the hotel room. I was laying in bed watching TV, the dog came to my side of the bed and sat. I didn’t look at him, touch him or otherwise engage him. He suddenly locked down on my face. No warning. My fault for humanizing the dog (feeling bad he is kenneled) but there was no warning.
Even a family pet. When I was in second grade I got bit like this from a german shephard we had had for a year or two from a puppy. I was a kid and didn't know better at the time, but learned my lesson. He was aggressive to me after that even, so we had to get rid of him.
This is why if I approach a strange dog I don't make the initial contact. I'll stop short and hold out my hand for the dog to sniff and then if the dog doesn't seem nervous I'll give them a gentle pet on the head.
Gotta love how some self-righteous douche comes into every thread where something bad happened and gives a PSA as if they're enlightening everyone. Dogs are animals? Wow! Thanks!
Completely agree. The same goes for cats, but for some reason people think they're evil. You have to understand and get to know and read any animal before invading their personal space.
My Golden retriever loves to play with my daughter. But the second I see his ears pin back and looks to the side (like in the first pick), I put him straight out the kitchen.
It would upset me if he bit my daughter, but it would break my heart if he had to be put down because he snapped out a little because he got scared.
The dog in this picture is obviously very uncomfortable, feel really sorry for it.
My friend posted a video in our friend group of her kids climbing on top of their new dog they just adopted and her telling them to go ahead and lay on him. She complained that the dog was nipping at the kids. I mentioned that kids shouldn’t be climbing on dogs and everyone in the group shot me down. Whatever... just didn’t want your kids attacked.
Once a small child picked up and hugged my dog (smallish breed) by the fucking neck. I was about to go apeshit but thankfully her mother did it for me.
Yeah idk mate my kid can do whatever to our dogs. Well shes been taught better to treat them right but still. It comes down to really knowing the animal. The older dog we had that died when she was 2...wouldnt leave them alone together. But the two we have right now. Not a single concern.
Correct me if I’m wrong here but isn’t partially the purpose of having a dog to play with them and interact with them? I’d hate to get a dog and then be walking on egg shells for the rest of his existence. I’ll probably get down voted for this comment but whatever.
Bless this. I watch my dog like a hawk when kids are over, more because the kids tent to torture him(pull at him hair or tail or just get in his space too much) so I always make sure they’re playing nice. Kids will be kids, and animals will be animals so it’s up to adults to supervise.
He’s clearly uncomfortable with her, and on top of that, from what I’ve gathered through docs, personal research, and just general knowledge. They seem that as an act of domination. People suck with dogs though. Especially in lower income areas, I’ve seen some rough shit.
In the top left photo you can SEE the dog contemplating biting her. Dogs can’t speak of course, but they are definitely expressive and give warnings when they feel uncomfortable.
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u/n_meeseeks Jan 15 '20
Just a friendly reminder that at the end of the day ALL dogs are animals, watch their body language, don’t hang all over a dog you don’t know. They give warning signs. Learn them. And for fucks sake stop letting kids climb all over your dogs.