Dog Bites and the Myth of Touch
Dog bites are increasing exponentially, and many of those bites are occurring because people tend to think dogs like to be physically touched. I suspect that dogs don’t really like it all that much, especially by individuals outside their circle of acquaintances.
Sort of like we humans.
Do Dogs Enjoy it?
It begs the question regarding whether dogs really do like to be touched; how, where, and when.
As humans, we are very specific about these things. We are averse to being touched by strangers, dislike it when we are touched in certain ways, and are very vocal about who is or is not allowed to touch us, but we make no concessions when it comes to our dogs.
Individual Preferences
I have owned many dogs. Most of them are very specific about how they like to be touched. Some are overjoyed at the prospect of physical contact, and work to prolong it as much as possible. Others prefer that you touch them in specific ways, and only for brief periods. They enjoy humans, they enjoy interactions with humans, but express a form of doggy body autonomy.
Teaching Tolerance Through Training
I still require that every dog in my care learns to tolerate touch, even if that touch signals varying forms of discomfort, regardless of whether it is emotional, physical, or mentally stressful. I believe that inoculating a dog to tolerate physical restraint and manipulation prepares them for life, and many years of working with young puppies all the way to senior dogs proves this to be true.
Many dogs grow old resenting being touched by humans. They are problematic for groomers, veterinarians, family members and every extended contact they may encounter.
The Importance of Early Conditioning
I am not waiting for a dog to ‘consent’ to physical handling, however. I encourage owners to start their dogs immediately on physical handling, and suggest that they do ‘something’ with the dog, physically, every day, until the dog accepts being touched without struggle.
When you wait too long, it is a long and difficult uphill battle to get the dog to cooperate, and the fact remains that defensive aggression as a potential response will continue to exist as an option. It really is better to address being physically restrained and handled when the dog is young, small, and easily discouraged from using its teeth when you touch it.
Dogs need to tolerate being touched, even in ways they may not choose for themselves.
Misconceptions About Appropriate Touch and Fostering Resentment
For the folks that want to suggest that forcibly touching a dog makes them resentful, no, it doesn’t. The idea is ludicrous. I guess if your intention is to make a dog wary of humans, touching them harshly, or not preparing them adequately could do that. Providing steady, practical contact should be seen as reassuring, not something to avoid. If the dog becomes avoidant, the handler is doing something wrong.
Purposeful Handling and Conditioning
By the same token, I am not even remotely suggesting that dogs should be forcibly touched in ways that they find frightening or painful. The process of acclimating a dog to restraint and handling is a carefully thought out and executed method of teaching the dog how not to worry or protest when being restrained by a human.
There is nothing worse than having to arm-wrestle a dog that is panicking. The dog is panicking because it has never learned or experienced any of the active or passive restraints employed by groomers, veterinarians and their techs, and even owners when they are wiping off feet, bathing, or brushing their dog.
Many of the reasons dogs remain ungroomed with long nails is because they can’t be touched.
Training for Tolerance
The moderate middle suggests adequate preparation through training, in a clinical and straightforward way, and being able to read the dog accurately to determine what the dog enjoys recreationally, and what it avoids.
Astute observationalists should be able to do this. Dogs aren’t that difficult to read.
Your Dog. Your Problem.
When your dog is almost 10 years old and you complain about how difficult and expensive it is to take the dog to a vet or have it groomed, there’s only one reason for that; the dog doesn’t like to be touched, and has bever been expected to tolerate it, even for simple things.
I can hear the voice in my head, “(S)he doesn’t like it when we [insert action here].”
Yeah, because you never told him he had to.
Prepare Your Dog For LIFE
I specialize in puppies, and how to prepare them for lives with humans. I have been invited to speak at seminars all over the place because of the practical knowledge I have learned and the methods I have developed over the course of a 50 + year career in dogs as an owner, breeder, groomer, vet tech and trainer. I laugh out loud when people tell me they think dogs should ‘like’ being touched, and I ask them if they are overjoyed at the prospect of a mammogram, or proctologist exam. Did they enjoy getting the booster shots as a child? How excited were they to have to go to the dentist?
The Problem with Sedation
And yet, veterinarians and groomers are expected to ‘wait’ for the dog to ‘permit’ handling. Yeah, nah. Nobody has that kind of time. Vets are just sedating dogs these days, because 1) veterinarians and tech staff are never taught physical restraints in vet school any more, and 2) ownership is never held accountable for their dogs’ behavior. There are other reasons, but personally, I would rather help my dog adapt to physical touch than have his internal organs quit working because of chronic sedation for minor procedures like nail trims and booster shots.
It’s absolutely nuts to assume that doing that (sedation) is sustainable. It is also incredibly entitled to think that care providers should tolerate that behavior. It is unfair to them, and it is unfair to the dog.
Tolerance is Important
I am not anticipating the dog to like being physically restrained, but I am expecting them to tolerate it. There’s the difference. I don’t like going to the doctor. I go anyway. I know I am going to be poked and prodded and questioned about my lifestyle, but I endure it anyway. I am most certainly uncomfortable throughout parts of the exam, but I am not combative, and I patiently wait until the exam is over.
Nobody is scritching me behind the ear and offering me peanut butter or liver treats and telling me I’m a good girl either.
What Dogs Must Know vs. What They Enjoy
I think creating separation between what dogs must know and what dogs enjoy needs to occur. There are way too many instances of dogs savagely attacking humans in situations where more attention should have been paid to helping the dog to tolerate being touched.
Become A Student Of Your Dogs’ Behavior
People get so caught up in what they think the dog should enjoy, without ever really observing them. When you do to pet that dog and he dips his head away from you, he is telling you he doesn’t want you to touch him. That is not a license to stick your hand out closer to the dog, it’s a signal that you should withdraw your hand and leave the dog alone. Find another way to enjoy the dog. Maybe just sit there together in quietude and enjoy each other’s company.
Creating And Respecting Boundaries
Women and dogs have a lot in common. Neither of us like space invaders. There are social signals that the human species miss all the time when it comes to interactions between themselves, members of the opposite sex, or dogs. Touch is a sacred thing. We only permit folks well within our social circle to engage in it with us, why is is so hard to understand that dogs adhere to a similar social construct?
What is so hard about that?
I offer a variety of options for training, both online and in person. Feel free to reach out and contact me with questions.
You can schedule a virtual behavior consult at your convenience.
