Aspen is not a fan of strangers and does not like hands reaching out for him. I feel he is a fairly low bit risk but it's always a possibility. As a dog owner I always try to keep that in the back of my mind. I don't care how friendly or nice or mellow your dog is there is always a chance that your dog under the right conditions could bit someone. I know my dog pretty well and can gage the risk of allowing people to interact with him. I live with him and interact with him every day. I am the best source of knowledge to know if it's okay for someone he doesn't know to interact with him. I believe this is true for "most" dog owners. It is also important to keep in mind that dog owners bear the liability if someone grabs our dogs and they do bite. It's disrespectful to us and maybe your bite is deserved because you didn't ask.
Because of Aspen's reaction to strangers I have chosen to not allow people to pet him. I don't want to be at the point of him biting someone. It is rough because EVERYONE wants to pet him. (If you get a Berner you will see what a big time attention attractors they are.) We have people stop us all the time to learn about him. It amazes me how many people don't even know what breed he is. So in place of being pet we have Aspen interact with them by giving a hand shake. He feels much less threatened by this form of interaction and he knows what to expect out of strangers. He is a working dog and this gives him a job to do... But to know this you would have to ASK!! Sadly the only person we had ask to pet him was a young child. We as adults also need to mind our manners as well and set a good example for the kids. This behavior reduces the risk of bites which is better for people and for dogs. So the take home point is STOP & ASK. Thank you!!
Because of Aspen's reaction to strangers I have chosen to not allow people to pet him. I don't want to be at the point of him biting someone. It is rough because EVERYONE wants to pet him. (If you get a Berner you will see what a big time attention attractors they are.) We have people stop us all the time to learn about him. It amazes me how many people don't even know what breed he is. So in place of being pet we have Aspen interact with them by giving a hand shake. He feels much less threatened by this form of interaction and he knows what to expect out of strangers. He is a working dog and this gives him a job to do... But to know this you would have to ASK!! Sadly the only person we had ask to pet him was a young child. We as adults also need to mind our manners as well and set a good example for the kids. This behavior reduces the risk of bites which is better for people and for dogs. So the take home point is STOP & ASK. Thank you!!
No comments:
Post a Comment