German Shepherd Bites Face

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Two questions:

1. What was the reporter thinking?!
2. Who was the officer yelling at - reporter or dog?

[abndogos]

Most people r clueless....i cant tell you how many times I have to tell people to not squat down to pet Toro....I would not have allowed the report to be kneeling down next to my dog, no matter how much he/she insisted.

[ddpowell]

Based on the body language of the officer i'd say he was yelling at the reporter!! but it's hard to say, you wouldn't think so though would you? I saw this video 2 weeks before we got our GSD and it made me wonder if even with socialisation is there still some very innapropriate ways to approach a dog? or is that really just due to the training of dogs in law enforcement?

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Even with all the socialization in the world some dogs will do this - especially if it is with a dog that was not bred to automatically trust everyone. I teach "no kissing" dogs right from puppy class because of this. I even encourage children not to do this with their own dogs, because even if their dogs are fine - they are then more likely to "get in face" of a friends dog and get bit.

It is OK to turn your head to the side and allow the dog to come to you and lick the side of the face - this is not threatening and caters to the dogs comfort level.