Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail

I was asked to comment on a recent event where a child was nipped by a dog, as the child was happily playing in the park with her mother and siblings.

Two dogs, unknown to the family, raced over to where all the activity was and one of the dogs began to chase one of the children and the encounter happened.

Naturally the children and their mother were extremely distressed and when, after a few minutes, the owner of the dogs appeared, he admonished the mother for not having taught her children how to behave around dogs and that it was completely natural for a dog to 'interact' in this way (his words not mine). He was totally incorrect in his assertion that a dog uses a nip in any circumstances other than to drive away what worries or scares it, in this case the child.

The saddest thing is that this was and always should be, totally avoidable and only occurs through ignorance of how a dog functions, lack of respect for the right of everyone to enjoy our world and lack of awareness that the dog also suffers, because nipping through fear makes an undesirable association with, in this case, a child. An association which if left unresolved, will probably lead to further incidents and an owner who will try to overcome their deserved shame by continuing to blame everyone else for their failure.

If all dog owners/carers practise their recall, then nothing will take them by surprise, this practise will also keep the owners pulse rate down which will enable them to take control of the situation, which is their job.

If we repeatedly fail to learn and fail to prepare, you must prepare to fail and know that it is you alone are responsible for the sad outcome that you inflict on others.

Jan

16 Sept 11