Meet & Greet of a Dog Unfamiliar to Yourself

Before you reach out to stroke a dog unfamiliar to your self, you may mean fear in the dogs mind resulting in getting nipped or even worse receiving a dog bite. Below are some considerations and dog communication to look out for when approaching a dog unfamiliar to your self.

When we meet and greet a dog that is unfamiliar to us, we should take some aspects into consideration. These considerations are vitally important because you don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on the dog, as you won’t know, its past history etc. There could be a lot of conflict going on in the dogs mind around strange people like your self.  Dog’s have an incredible sense of smell, so you definitely don’t need to put your hand out in front of the dog for it to smell you. This is because a dog has around 220 million scent receptors in its nose; we have around 5 million, so they have already smelt you from a distance away. However dogs that are vocal tend to use their nose second, I know that these dogs tend to be fearful and anxious.  Actually not looking at the dog, not talking to the dog and forcing the situation to stroke the dog, takes pressure of dogs which are fearful towards people. This is because every dog has a critical zone and when we enter their zone that of a dog that is withdrawn and fearful whilst on a lead, can set the dog into a  fight state of mind. This is because they cannot run away from the stimulus that could be causing the fear, which is yourself walking towards them for example. Allow the dog to come to you, but have a distance between your self and the dog. Allow the dog to sniff you, this doesn't necessarily mean that you should always go for the stroke once the dog has is performing this. Ask the dog owner if the dog is OK with people and stroking before you interact with the dog. If a dog is fearful of people then you could get nipped or bitten because of fear to you raising your hand. Dogs like this are known as fear biters. And of course if the dog exhibits quick movements away from you when you go to stroke then def don’t force the situation, just continue to talk to the owner and not the dog by ignoring it completely. By doing the above you will help dog owners who are experiencing fear issues in their dog.

Signs to take into consideration when meeting an unfamiliar dog who may not want attention:     

• Is the dog displaying a withdrawn posture (head held low)
• Is the dog licking his or her lips a lot (this indicates stress)
• Are the hackles up
• Is the tail being held high with ears in the alert position
• Is the dog displaying avoidance when movements of hands or other are being performed
• Are the pupils dilated (this also indicates a high stress state)

If any of the above, are being displayed as you approach the dog, take extra care and help build the confidence of the dog for the owner, by not putting pressure on the dog. Instead just stand and talk to the owner and then walk away from the dog and let the owner praise for the wanted behaviours in their dog.