Unease over facebook thread .

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BBH

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On my feed this morning there was a post from a lady with a cute photo of her one yrs bullmastiff and her 2yrs daughter sharing a piece of toast mouth to mouth. She clearly thinks its cute .

I can't think this is a sensible way of bringing either up and they are both so young . If the bullmastiff starts snatching food and inadvertently bites the girl he'll lose his life.

Makes me so sad to see 67 people have liked the photo.

I have 2 BM's and would trust them implicitly but I wouldn't feed any dog from my mouth.
 
I am the only person who has commented on the thread and I have said as nice as possible it's not the way to go.

I am expecting a storm of protest but I felt I had to say something.
 
Have to agree. Its unfair on the dog to put it in a situation where because of the owner's poor judgement, it's life is put at risk, as is her small child. Perhaps she should think about the possibly of her child growing up with a facial disfigurement or worse, not growing up at all.

My dad used to breed and judge bull mastiffs. They are amazing dogs but any one who knows dogs at all, has respect for the fact that they are dogs with a different rationale to humans.
 
Threre are lots of pics like that on FB- the Golden retriever with the baby one springs to mind- kid grabbing it Goldie looking petrified. Just shows the general public a) have no common sense b) would not know uncomfortable dog body language until it jumped up and bit em
 
Well if it had popped up on my newsfeed I certainly wouldnt have liked it and I would have certainly commented on it.

I saw the Goldie post that Lexie referred to with the parents laughing,(didnt I put it on here) unfortunately there seems to be a generation of dog owners with absolutly no idea about dogs or how to read doggy body language. No wonder so many people including children are getting bitten.
 
Ridiculous people!
Yes let's teach the dog to take food from a persons mouth, so it can inadvertently snatch something when it feels like it as its 'allowed' Wouldn't be funny with a chihuahua let alone a big breed!
 
According to the hospital report I was reading, dog bites as a whole are increasing but the most common scenario was for children under the age of ten bitten on their face.
 
its stupid and dangerous. I would never encourage it. If it came up on my news feed I certainly be having my say and it won't be pussy footed either
 
You would think with the 2 high profile cases within the last 2 weeks that people would learn, but they always seem to think it'll never happen to them. I similary had a video show on my FB new page with a baby in the bath playing with toys and a dashund trying to get the toys, the baby's laughing, parents are too busy filming, and all it takes is for a wrong move and the kids missing fingers (I did comment on this thread as well).
I do remember reading somewhere that over 40% of child dog bites occur with an adult in the room, but since the 'adult' is incapable of reading the dogs body language it's not helping prevent bites.
 
NellRosk said:
That woman and the 67 others that liked the photo are idiots.
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One would have to agree with you, BUT, as a small child it was something that I did, on a regular basis, and never with any ill effect. As a child, I was never bitten by a dog. I slept in a dog's bed, regularly, and with the dog, dogs were my constant and immediate companions, and it wasn't until I decided that I was top dog, that I was at risk.

Whilst I agree with you, and without reservation, and if my children or grandchildren had ever done such a thing, I would have put a stop to it. Perhaps as a small child, I was incredibly lucky, but then it was with quite a selection of dogs, and for quite some while.

Has the 'dog' changed, over the intervening years? Do we now hear more horror stories, and are we breeding ever more potentially dangerous dogs? Genuine questions, and those to which I don't have an answer.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
Has the 'dog' changed, over the intervening years? Do we now hear more horror stories, and are we breeding ever more potentially dangerous dogs? Genuine questions, and those to which I don't have an answer.

Alec.
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The 'dog' has changed thanks to people's desire to own a status symbol and unscrupulous breeding. Yes we hear more horror stories due to global media. We appear to be breeding many more stupid people and hence stupid dog owners (anyone see the bloke cycling down the M25 yesterday who said his phone app told him to go that route when stopped?)
 
As far as I can recall, all of the dog trainers that I've met, have used the Hold a treat with your mouth-trick, to encourage dogs to seek contact with their owner's face, and not just stare on the hands from where the treats usually are given. I had not done it "for ages", but by coincidence, I did it just a few evenings ago.
Personally, I've tried my best to teach my bitches to be careful when they're near my face, and before they're allowed to take a treat that I hold with my mouth, they have to wait until I've mumbled "Varsågod" (= here you are/help yourself). They're always very careful when they take it, and I've never felt worried about that it would make my bitches more likely to accidentally bite someone in their face.

I've always heard that if a child is bit by a dog, there is a big risk for it to be in the face, but not because of that the dog was taught to take treats from the owner's mouth, without more likely due to the risk for misunderstandings because eye contact can be a threatening/challenging thing in dog's body language, and that children's faces are often at a height that is within the dog's reach.
 
People breed for profit and looks much more now, not character or functionality.

People will disagree with me but it is a fact that dog aggression and human aggression and all manner of weak character is present in some dogs and it is genetic. If those lines are not recorded and monitored in any way then those dogs find their way into family homes.
Crikey, my dad has a bad temper and so do I, why wouldn't I inherit it.

FL, do the trainers you know let the dog come up and take the food from their face, rather than spit it out?!
 
Alec Swan said:
Has the 'dog' changed, over the intervening years? Do we now hear more horror stories, and are we breeding ever more potentially dangerous dogs? Genuine questions, and those to which I don't have an answer.
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I don't think the 'dog' has changed as such, I think the amount of common sense that people have has.
 
CaveCanem said:
People breed for profit and looks much more now, not character or functionality.

People will disagree with me but it is a fact that dog aggression and human aggression and all manner of weak character is present in some dogs and it is genetic. If those lines are not recorded and monitored in any way then those dogs find their way into family homes.
Crikey, my dad has a bad temper and so do I, why wouldn't I inherit it.

FL, do the trainers you know let the dog come up and take the food from their face, rather than spit it out?!
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They've held the treat between their lips, and I've just presumed that it then has to do with how careful the dog is, but they've either just let go of the treat before there is any face to face contact, or held it until the dog takes hold of the other end of the treat. Either way, I've always seen it as that the dog should be under such control, be so calm when you do it, that they understand that they wouldn't be allowed to take the treat without the owner's permission.
 
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