Being new dog owners, we of course have let certain things happen which we on hindsight should not have. Letting a strange child play with Donna outside the vet is one of them.
That was the first time we ever took Donna to the vet, just one or two weeks after we got Donna home. She had got what the doctor later diagnosed as the kennel cough.
As we did not make an appointment beforehand, we had to sit outside and wait until every animal was attended to. That of course gave us the leisure to see other animals with their owners, try to entertain a bored dog, etc etc.
Somewhere amidst all that waiting, a couple came to the vet clinic with their mongrel, a frantic pug and their little boy. We were not that clued in the signs that a dog displays at that point in time, so looking back, I can’t really say for sure if Donna was happy playing with the little boy or she was trying to pacify the little boy to leave her alone. We were also keeping Donna on a tight leash, so she wouldn’t have been able to get up to walk away from the boy even if she wanted to avoid him.
What happened was that Donna patiently sat there while the little boy invaded her space to let her lick him. He was especially amused when her tongue slipped through the gap left by his fallen front teeth into his mouth. We stopped him when he used his hands to try to keep her muzzle close, explaining to him in terms that he could understand, that he wouldn’t want some other kid to do that to him would he. The little boy didn’t mean any harm. He stopped when we told him not to. He told us how he had a fighting fish at home that got eaten by the cat. The cat sounded like a nasty piece of work that bit and scratched the little boy too. But who’s to say it may not be the little boy’s fault sometimes. He seemed to be about lower primary school age and mischievous.
We allowed him to interact with Donna (the parents ignored him the whole time), assuming that Donna was happy to have a little boy to keep her entertained, but now I really can’t say for sure what she felt then. One thing for sure, Donna patiently endured the whole encounter and we ignorantly were thankful that our dog is child-friendly.
But in an alternate reality, Donna may have snapped at the child for badgering him, for getting in her face. And we would have been at fault for not recognising her signs of unease and asking for help.
So we were lucky that night, and we were lucky that we adopted a patient not-so-little dog named Donna.
These two posts on smartdog.typepad.com are a great resource that shows you through analysis of video the minute signals of distress a dog may be sending out that new dog owners would find hard to catch:
– Dog body language: How to tell if a dog is happy, frustrated, scared, annoyed Part 1
– Dog body language: How to tell if a dog is happy, frustrated, scared, annoyed Part 2
Sonel
Naughty parents for not watching over their little boy and they can thank their stars that Donna is such a patient and sweet little darling. I am always careful with Simba around small kids and because of his underbite he does look a bit scary..hehehe..so people luckily stay out of his way. Just like me he is moody, so you never know when to pat us or not..LOL!
Beautiful post and tips for people and their little kids Mrs. P. *hugs*
weliveinaflat
LOL, I hope never to bother you when you are moody :D Simba doesn’t seem scary at all, although perhaps a little contemplative sometimes because of the way you choose t take your pictures :P
Sonel
Whahahaha! That is why I avoid people most of the times. They tend to irritate me quickly and you’ve only seen Simba’s good side…hehehehe