• accideath@feddit.org
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    4 days ago

    I never had anyone with a dog in my family and surroundings, when I was growing up, so I never learned how to communicate with them. This and that I got bitten, without warning or reason, three times already, once when I was like 8 or 9 y/o, makes me a bit uncomfortable and cautious around most dogs, especially if I don’t know them well.

    I can deal very well with cats though. Family and friends had/have a few and I just get them. I know when I can scritch the belly and when not. Never got bitten or scratched (unless you count on accident by a kitten, that couldn’t control it’s claws yet).

    • 14th_cylon@lemmy.zip
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      4 days ago

      This and that I got bitten, without warning or reason

      oh there was a reason and most likely there was a warning, it is just that no one taught you to read the dog’s body language and be aware of the warning.

      • accideath@feddit.org
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        4 days ago

        When I was 8/9, I was walking to school on the sidewalk and a dog ran out of a front yard, barking and bit me in the leg from behind before I could even react.

        Granted, most of the blame goes to the owner, who didn’t lock their gate properly, but still. I was just walking to school.

        And the other two times, I also got attacked from behind without warning. In these cases, inside though. To be fair, the dog is a traumatised rescue who doesn’t like anyone besides a very select few with an asshole-to-humans owner who doesn’t care that their dog already bit me and multiple collegues. But then again, it still just bit me because I dared walking by the room it was in. Twice. Without warning.

        Cannot read body language, if I can’t see the dog

        • 14th_cylon@lemmy.zip
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          3 days ago

          i didn’t mean to move the responsibility of dog ownership onto the potential victim.

          i was simply reacting to the “no reason” part of the statement. dogs, same as humans, are pretty simple creatures. we operate on a trigger > reaction basis.

          we may not know what the trigger for the dog is (hell, we often don’t know what the trigger is for us), but that doesn’t mean there is none. and unfortunately, parents often don’t teach kids correct approach to stranger’s dog (probably because they themselves don’t know it), but that does not seem to be your case.

          Cannot read body language, if I can’t see the dog

          yeah, that’s fair, seems like the owner’s fault.

      • anyhow2503@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        There are plenty of dog attacks that happen through no fault of the victim. It’s also completely unreasonable to expect every single person that might interact with your dog, by choice or not, to have experience in how to not appear threatening to it. For some dogs it really doesn’t take much and children are naturally adept at miscommunicating with animals. The solution is to train your dog and keep it on a leash in public. Be a responsible owner and accept that strangers don’t have to like your dog, no matter how cute or well-behaved you think it is. It’s not that hard.

        • 14th_cylon@lemmy.zip
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          3 days ago

          The solution is to train your dog and keep it on a leash in public. Be a responsible owner and accept that strangers don’t have to like your dog, no matter how cute or well-behaved you think it is. It’s not that hard.

          part of the solution is also to train your kids not to approach unfamiliar dog without a permission. not every stranger or their dog has to like your kid, no matter how cute you think it is, it is really not that hard 😂