LizT Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Okay so the other night Peter Overton was talking to a bloke whose beautiful GSD was standing on the back of his ute on the Bruce Highway and he asks the man "Who's this good looking bloke next to you"? "Is he friendly"? Yeah, he's friendly was the reply". "I'll take your word for it" says Overton. Way to incite breed fear. Then this morning on the TODAY Karl Stefanovic is walking along the street talking about damage and there's this lovely GSD tied by his leash to a pole patiently waiting for his "person". Dog is sitting quetly as Karl walks by, very well mannered and Karl says "Good morning young fella" as he walks by and leans forward with arm outstretched as if to pat the dog, rethinks his action and states "I'm not going to pat you"! The tone in his voice suggesting that this is a potential savage dog and he could get bitten. So much effort is spent trying to educate children not to touch ANY dog without the owners persmission and to ALWAYS ask "May I pat your dog"? It's a pre-school mantra. Karl is such a nuff-nuff around dogs. I wouldn't even pat a Cavalier tied up without permission. He made it look so breed specific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Baggins Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Absolute idiots. :) ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinonthefarm Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Okay so the other night Peter Overton was talking to a bloke whose beautiful GSD was standing on the back of his ute on the Bruce Highway and he asks the man "Who's this good looking bloke next to you"? "Is he friendly"? Yeah, he's friendly was the reply". "I'll take your word for it" says Overton.Way to incite breed fear. Then this morning on the TODAY Karl Stefanovic is walking along the street talking about damage and there's this lovely GSD tied by his leash to a pole patiently waiting for his "person". Dog is sitting quetly as Karl walks by, very well mannered and Karl says "Good morning young fella" as he walks by and leans forward with arm outstretched as if to pat the dog, rethinks his action and states "I'm not going to pat you"! The tone in his voice suggesting that this is a potential savage dog and he could get bitten. So much effort is spent trying to educate children not to touch ANY dog without the owners persmission and to ALWAYS ask "May I pat your dog"? It's a pre-school mantra. Karl is such a nuff-nuff around dogs. I wouldn't even pat a Cavalier tied up without permission. He made it look so breed specific. Agreed, I watch the today show, but Carl has zero affinity with any animals- I remember him looking worried about holding a pet rabbit when they were in Warwick! My puppy gets approached by everyone bent over (crouching) with hand out. He then barks and I explain that he is frightened by their approach and they are better to ignore him and wait for him to approach, but they by then are already backing off thinking he is aggressive. The average australians attitude to dog safety is pretty bad..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bracken Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 My puppy gets approached by everyone bent over (crouching) with hand out. He then barks and I explain that he is frightened by their approach and they are better to ignore him and wait for him to approach, but they by then are already backing off thinking he is aggressive. The average australians attitude to dog safety is pretty bad..... Sigh, people do judge dogs so very quickly. erinonthefarm, I feel you with the puppy thing! I've put alot of time into desensitising my pup from sudden people-movements (like the infamous SHP or Sudden Head Pat!) No matter how much people are told not to stick their hands onto a dogs head/face, they still do it! And often in a very unexpected manner as they walk past the dog! It can take quite a lot of time to get the dogs to the point of actually enjoying the SHP's so it's no wonder some dogs get caught off guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 My puppy gets approached by everyone bent over (crouching) with hand out. He then barks and I explain that he is frightened by their approach and they are better to ignore him and wait for him to approach, but they by then are already backing off thinking he is aggressive. The average australians attitude to dog safety is pretty bad..... Sigh, people do judge dogs so very quickly. erinonthefarm, I feel you with the puppy thing! I've put alot of time into desensitising my pup from sudden people-movements (like the infamous SHP or Sudden Head Pat!) No matter how much people are told not to stick their hands onto a dogs head/face, they still do it! And often in a very unexpected manner as they walk past the dog! It can take quite a lot of time to get the dogs to the point of actually enjoying the SHP's so it's no wonder some dogs get caught off guard. That's so true. Even though 99.9% of the kids at my youngests Primary School actually ASK "May I pat your dog"? the majority go for the top of the head and always need to be shown the correct way. I guess if you're going to run a program about not pating a dog until getting the okay from it's owner you should add some behavioural information too. An interesting note though is the adults rarely ask permission to pat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erinonthefarm Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 So frustrating, and the SHP applies to children and pregnant bellies, although that would have to be called SBR! I wanted to slap some people who touched my baby belly- would just walk up out of nowhere! Now with Sniper I have to protect him because if he reacts badly to a SHP it will be his fault. I guess he needs to become more tolerant to people approaching him, but it would be better for the general public to be more savvy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 So frustrating, and the SHP applies to children and pregnant bellies, although that would have to be called SBR! I wanted to slap some people who touched my baby belly- would just walk up out of nowhere!Now with Sniper I have to protect him because if he reacts badly to a SHP it will be his fault. I guess he needs to become more tolerant to people approaching him, but it would be better for the general public to be more savvy. What is it that makes people think a baby belly is public domain??!!! With Sniper it's a Catch 22, you feel you need to desensitise him by giving him more exposure but really, why should he have to put up with this?? Maybe you can get some help with a dog club and have random members to come up and generally just 'touch' him?? I've seen this done before? Of course it has to be gradual and done carefully over a period of time and not just on the one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bracken Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 An interesting note though is the adults rarely ask permission to pat! So true. And often they don't even look at you, the owner. Just swoop by with a quick pat on the head and then they're gone... Ninja style!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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