Rescued Dog Bites NBC Anchor

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

Anyone else read this article today?  Thoughts?  I read this article and I really felt for the rescued dog.  This is a dog that had experienced a traumatic event the day before and was immediately thrown into another unfamiliar situation.  Now the dog is being held in quarantine for 10 days.  Obviously noone deserves to be bitten but I think so many things were done wrong.  http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-fa...

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Yes, and I'll bet there's plenty more to this story.  I'm guessing this dog is not known for his calm, friendly, happy-go-lucky temperament.  I can say for certain If I put Murphy in that exact same situation I would not trust how he would react to the unknown woman getting "in his face" and trying to hug him....especially a TV studio situation.  So, I would NEVER put him in that position.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

So, I would NEVER put him in that position.   Exactly.  I blame the humans on this one.

Now, this dog has bitten, it is basically screwed.  For one, it now knows, if it bites, it worked  :(

Never let a dog get in this position to learn this behavior.  This is really sad.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Why is it that it's always the world's most ignorant, (ok I'll say it STUPID) irresponsible humans, that own or seek to own potentially dangerous, powerful breed dogs? The anchor woman obviously broke the most important rule of dog introduction etiquette. She got right in this unknown dog's face and space which in doggie language translates to a "challenge".......Stupid, stupid people.........And who suffers the most? The dog.....Please don't get me started......: (

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Here's the clip of the actual incident...

[Adina P]

Maybe someone else can chip in, but it was hard for me, based only on the head shot, to notice any signals of 'discomfort' on the part of the dog.  I thought maybe I saw some lip licking (the dog licking its own lips) but I wasn't sure if that was it.  He didn't SEEM horribly stressed or tense.  Not that I would EVER get in a strange dog's face like that.  I'm far too weary of dogs I don't know.  Yikes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think he was okay up until she moved her face in closer to his. And if she was smiling, that would have been htreatening to him as well.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think it depends on the dog.  When Murphy starts licking his lips it's definitely a sign of stress....a huge tip off for me.  With Murph it clearly doesn't mean he's "happy" and wants to give somebody a kiss...he's uncomfortable.  That was the first thing I noticed because I've seen it from Murph.

[Adina P]

That's supposed to be a universal stress signal...or at least a signal of a dog having JUST felt some stress.  Dogs don't lick their lips from joy ever, I don't think.  They might lick YOU, but not their own lips.  Or so I understand.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

and yawning

[L.M.]

I'm glad you said this, Adina.  I watched the video 3 times...and while I'd like to defend the dog here, I too didn't think there was ANY warning until seconds before the dog bit the woman.  I'd like to think I wouldn't put my face near a strange dog or pet him over his head like she was doing, but I think back to all the times I've met new dogs and have probably been too trusting of them too.  I don't know.... but I'm having a hard time defending the dog.......which really isn't typical of me.  

[Adina P]

Well I don't think I would defend the dog, but I do think the person was stupid to get close.  So because it should be a well known fact you don't get that close to a dog's face ... a big, powerful dog you haven't known for more than a few minutes, she kind of brought it upon herself.  NOT okay for a dog to do that...but she shouldn't have done what she did.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I don't think the guy holding his collar tightly helped anything - basically the dog couldn't move much and was probably feeling a bit trapped with all the stress of the lights and cameras etc. 

Bad move on the part of the lady to get her face close!