At a dog park today, a pitbull stopped about 20 feet away from me and it was easy to see he wasn’t too sure. I stopped and squat down, went calm, now the choice is on him. He moved forward about 10 feet, his owner watching and unsure but she didn’t say anything. I offered my hands in a welcoming position and waited. He came forward and checked me out – and went nose to nose with me. He’s making sure I’m not a threat, reading me like a book. Then he started licking my face. The owner was taken aback and said other people are afraid of him – because of the pit and he is a bit hard to read.
All I did was show him respect and I have never been bitten by a dog through showing respect. I’m completely calm, not scared, not a threat and I gave him the choice to come to me and say hi. Sometimes the answer is no, accept it and move on – it’s all communication. Choice is important for dogs, they need to make choices to overcome fears. I told the owner just that, if people want to say hi – ask them to show some respect to the dog.
Here’s the secret to it – treat every dog as if it may be blind. You wouldn’t walk up to a blind dog and start petting it – it likely would freak out.
Some dogs don’t care about respect, they run up to people and they just want affection if the human is willing to give it.