Canines have evolved to be the best aunts and uncles ever.
You’re not kidding!
Bear with me because I go on to prove my point (or skip my comment because no1curr) but:
A lot of that is really not as “adorable” as people think it is. In that first video clip with the child slamming into the Labrador the dog is stressed and trying to avoid the kid. The face licking isn’t “I love you”, it’s avoidance licking – the dog’s saying “Please stop that!”. 0:26 with the baby offering the dog food and yanking their hand back? Will the parents think it’s cute at the point where the dog bites the kid trying to get the food they’re being teased with? 1:11 with the toddler slapping the glass door the dog is visibly stressed. He wants to come in but is made very uncomfortable by the child’s activity. That bark at the end is a clear warning that could turn into more if the child doesn’t learn to treat the dog with respect. 1:35 Why do the parents think it’s O.K. for their children to snatch at the dog? Again, the licking isn’t really friendly, it’s an attempt to fend the children off. That fur yanking could easily result in a bite. 2:02 The kid being dragged by the sleeper could easily be dragged by a limb next time. None of this is cute, it’s dangerous, and the adults involved should know better than to be allowing it, much less standing by filming it.
It’s not that I’m a worry wort about this – I do positively focused competitive obedience and ring sport with my dogs. That means I get bitten on purpose in the name of sport and dog training. (I serve as a helper.) I would never dream of allowing the sort of interaction that some people think is O.K. between their children and their dogs. This is also why most dog bites in North America are to children. It’s mostly not the dogs, it’s the people who don’t know how to read them or behave appropriately around them. Yes, they’re mostly very tolerant and friendly, but they still deserve to be treated with care and respect.
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