8 Ways For You Not to Use in Making Friends With Angry Dogs

I selected this one, Ken, because I had a little trouble with the title. (Perhaps I'll send you some suggestions via email at a later date.)

My favorite dog was a German shepherd. Her name was Boots and she was the farm family's pet and guard dog. Always kept outdoors, she only went to the vet a couple of times in her early days--once for spaying and again for deworming. We never bathed her, but she took her own baths in Michigan rain storms (except we had to allow her into the garage during really bad electrical storms) and the creek at the bottom of the hill. She was also well fed on the beef scraps my father discarded after butchering a young steer each fall. One summer I brought her scraps from steak dinners people had left on their plates (I was the dishwasher at a family restaurant). Yes, she put on some weight that summer!

Boots accompanied me whenever I went for a walk to the woods at the back of our farm. She loved to play-growl at our boots when sleighing down the hill in winter (hence her name "Boots").

Now I don't live with my daughter, but she still has the three Pit bull mixes (my hub on it is currently unpublished). They have never bitten me, but one put a hole in my pant leg in his enthusiasm to play (he is part German shepherd, by the way). Occasionally these dogs will get into a row with other dogs and even with each other, but it is few and far between.

One has to understand dog behavior, something at which I'm just a novice. Today, for example, as we three ladies (my daughter, my step granddaughter, and I) left to run errands; the three started howling. My daughter went back inside immediately and commanded them to stop. (She seems to know just what tone of voice to use.) Later, she explained to me that the act was one of deprivation anxiety and asked if I had petted the dogs to say "goodbye" before leaving. I had not, but I had given each of them a bath earlier and spent a considerable amount of time removing fleas from their fur coats (my daughter doesn't have time because she has a 4-month-old baby she's nursing and the step granddaughter has no interest). Perhaps with the leaving of all humans from their space, they did feel deprived for that brief moment.

I know one middle-aged man who had served in Vietnam and avoids dogs like the plague. He had been bitten three times by "good" dogs. I secretly want to help him overcome his fear of dogs--a healthy distance from an angry animal is wise, but often a dog will show no signs of aggression and then lash out for no seeming reason. I believe that the dog picks up on the negative vibrations in the person (in the case of my friend, undoubtedly there is some post-war trauma) and suddenly lash out.

I observed this "lashing out" by a "good" dog when I was living in San Francisco, too. I was trying to fix a mop handle at the open front door of a Victorian duplex. The mailman approached and asked, "Is that a friend or foe?" I replied, "He's never bitten anyone" (an answer based on my rather short acquaintance with my housemaets' animal). The mailman came closer and suddenly, without warning, came a growl and the dog bit the mailman in the leg, even though I had the dog on a leash (there must have been just enough slack)! Later, the owner(s were sued and they also found out that the dog they had rescued from the shelter had cancer. (I think the dog had also sensed a certain fear from the mailman, and perhaps was reacting to a possible scent on the mailman's clothing).

I am generally on good terms with dogs but, yes, they can sense when you are uneasy or frightened. If they themselves have been abused by a human, their own experiences will align with the negations of the human they bite.

My prescription if dogs are frightening to you: visit a pet store and ask the owner or clerk if you can pet a puppy. Find good friends who love their year-old or slightly older (still young) dog. Meet with them and let them introduce you to their dog. (Usually this entails just standing still and allowing the dog to sniff your clothing. Then, with the owner holding your hand perhaps, let the dog sniff your hand. Slowly give the dog a gentle stroke or two on the head.) Keep up the practice; eventually your fears will vanish and you'll become "dogs' best friend."

Very nice personal tone, Ken. Your writing voice exudes warmth.

Peace be with you and blessings!

Very good advice here Ken. I would figure that the lack of friendship contributes to making a dog so angry. Most owners seem to keep them isolated. I remember owners keeping a puppy to a dog away from people so that the dog can be "mean." I guess they wanted to use the dog for protection. I used to have a Siberian Husky. He was big and quite friendly. I really enjoyed him. Anyway, very good article and quite funny. God bless!

Thanks I so appreciate you ! Keep up the good work you inspire many I'm sure because I'm one !. Thanks

Hmm. My dogs never got this mad at me. There again I never try to force them to do something they do not want. I just walk them feed them and scratch them on their tummies when they present it for me to do so.

I guess my dogs were better trainers than the ones in the article!