More news on the White House dog front
By Gina Spadafori
November 6, 2008
First, it seems Barney isn’t very happy about being asked how he feels about leaving:
And then, “The Daily Show” helps to “vet” the candidates for first dog:
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Miss Beazley is equally sweet natured:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps.....ERTAINMENT
Comment by ChicagoBullies — November 6, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
Soooooooo, how long before the Dog Whisperer shows up at the WH?!
Good reminder that all dogs can be snarky and it’s generally a good idea to check with the other end of the leash ;)
Comment by straybaby — November 6, 2008 @ 3:20 pm
Now there is a perfect example of human stupidity around dogs! That video should be used as an example of What Not To Do and made available to all training centers.
If Barney belonged to any of us mere citizens, the AC would be there in a heartbeat to incarcerate him for 2 weeks, closely followed by the bitten individual’s attorney.
But then, if Barney belonged to Gina or Christie, or any of us who frequent this blog, the incident wouldn’t have happened, as we would have taken steps by training the dog to accept a friendly stranger, and by informing the stranger what behaviors are required on his part to greet the dog.
Comment by Anne T — November 6, 2008 @ 4:04 pm
That was my reaction when I saw the clip. How not to reach toward a dog you don’t know and doesn’t know you. And afterwards the guy holds up his finger and talks about how his mom has or had Scotties. Sheesh.
Comment by Susan Fox — November 6, 2008 @ 8:50 pm
I saw another version of this incident. It was raw footage and didn’t show the actual bite as clearly, but it did show what happened leading up to the bite in more detail. There were other reporters saying “oh, barney doesn’t seem to want to talk to us today. Must be sad that he’s leaving. He’s not usually this unfriendly.”
There were an additional 30 seconds that the dog was clearly giving off a billion signals (and one of the reporters was commenting on them and giving human voice to them. clearly a regular who knew the dog and was surprised at the degree of aggravation the dog was exhibiting) and yet one guy still went in for the unwanted reach.
Now, there’s a part of me that says….”well, I’m not a fan of the way things are and the way this administration has handled this and I kinda wanna go with the whole ‘the dog is upset because he doesn’t want to leave the white house’ thing the media is going with.”
And then there’s the dog-experienced side of me that sees all the signs the dog gave out and were recognized by others (I wish the handler had taken a bit more care) and given the circumstances (how stressful would it be for a dog to deal with the media!? I know dogs who freak when you put a tv camera on your shoulder or a mike or even digital camera in front of your face obscuring your eyes or mouth) and I have to say… “dude! what were you thinking!? Your excuse may be that you know scotties and your mom had one and you just wanted to connect with the dog, but it was clear that wasn’t what the dog wanted, so bugger off!”
Seriously, people need to learn how to greet dogs. I have a rescue dog that I ask people not to reach toward because she feels threatened by it. It’s everybody’s instinct, and I recognize that, but when she’s on the leash it’s the one thing that scares her. I have asked people not to reach toward her and they ignore me. Which is always why I am right there to intercept and put my hand in front of theirs and block their approach. After I ask them not to do that should I need to be right there waiting to block? No. But it’s happened 5 times, so apparently I do. We’re working on her getting used to this, but it’s her one issue out of others we’ve worked on and she’s still holding on to it. We’ll get it, but in the meantime, I am there to block. And tell people three times to not do it and then block when they do it anyway. UGH.
I guess part of it is that she’s so darn cute. And she looks so friendly and puppy like (she’s 6 years but looks 1) that people underestimate my words. But why wouldn’t you trust the handler?!
sorry. end rant.
Comment by Amy — November 7, 2008 @ 2:28 am
The reporter was a dunce. You don’t loom over a little dog and reach for it. And from the link, it sounds like the incident with Miss Beazley was the same. An idiot “loves dogs” reaching for the dog that “looks friendly” because it’s small and fluffy, and scaring the poor thing.
Comment by Lis — November 7, 2008 @ 6:15 am
Amy —
Pepper is 6 years old and I’ve had her from rescue since she was 5 months old and I STILL have to block strangers (especially children) from touching her.
She’s 37 pounds and a Border Collie with a perfect Shiba Inu tail — that tail is the biggest kid magnet there is — every little kid (and many well-meaning adults) just have to reach out for it — and there’s nothing Pepperj hates more than to have strangers (and to her, a stranger is someone she hasn’t had time to observe for 6 weeks [yes, it really is 6 weeks — no snap decisions for this dog!]) touch her.
So, I have to be there with the block and tell folks that she’s from rescue (true) and that she is scared of strangers (false — the trainer told me she isn’t shy or scared, she’s actively making her her mind about people and she won’t be rushed) because in a quick interaction, it gets people to BACK OFF with sympathy.
I had to give up training Pepper to sit/stay/whatever away from me in public situations, not because she couldn’t do it, but because I can’t trust PEOPLE not to walk over to her and try to grab her tail — and I just didn’t think it was fair to ask Pepper to put up with that.
I so feel your rant!
Comment by Dorene — November 7, 2008 @ 8:01 am
That dog is giving every sign that he wants to be left alone and “Mr. Experienced Dog Person” doesn’t seem to be getting it. He got what he deserved.
Comment by C.L.H. — November 7, 2008 @ 10:12 am