How can it be that we humans have lived with dogs for thousands of years, and yet remain not-so-blissfully ignorant of canine behavior and manners? We pat them on their heads without 
giving it a thought. Many dogs HATE that and most, at least of those I know, don’t like it. They duck and pull back much like we would if someone rudely moved their hand toward our heads. We invade our dog’s personal space, as well as that of dogs we don’t know, and expect them to welcome our intrusions with enthusiasm.
Enter Smooch Your Pooch, a well-intentioned if hugely misguided children’s book released for this holiday shopping season. It invites children to kiss and hug dogs to show they care “anytime, anywhere.” The book might be better named: How to Provoke Your Dog To Bite You? Let Me Count the Ways. Okay. It’s not a catchy rhyme, but you get the point.
And, so did Dr. Sophia Yin. Pronto. Her excellent critique, “Avoid This Christmas Gift: This Children’s Book Can Cause Your Dog to Bite Your Kid” was published at the Huffington Post. Here’s an excerpt:
While this adorably illustrated book, with its sweet, catchy rhymes, is meant to foster affection for pets, the contents as well as the cover illustration teach kids to hug and kiss dogs; this can cause dogs to react aggressively. No one knows that better than Dr. Ilana Reisner, a veterinary behaviorist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Reisner and her colleagues published a study examining why children get bitten by dogs. Says Reisner, “The recommendations in this children’s book — and even the title of the book — are potentially dangerous.”
And, if that weren’t enough, Smooch Your Pooch encourages children to do dangerous things that could get their dogs killed. “Save him a seat when you pedal your bike” is the caption for a drawing of a child racing her bicycle down hill with her little dog in the basket attached to the handlebars. “Let him sit by your side when you go for a ride. And, make sure that the window is opened up wide.” This little rhyme underscores another whimsical sketch of a dog hanging most of her body out of a car window with a child barely holding on to the dog’s hind end. Not good.
Dr. Yin was spot-on in her review of the book on Amazon.com where she points out how the book could have been equally charming and whimsical and instructive in how to love and respect our dogs by keeping them safe and happy. She says, “A more appropriate but fun recommendation would be to ‘Let him sit by your side wearing a seatbelt when you go for a ride. And make sure the window is open, but not too wide.'” Read the full review here.
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) was also on top of it. They issued a press release on December 14 urging parents not to buy the book:
“[AVSAB] strongly advises that parents avoid purchasing the recently released children’s book Smooch Your Pooch for their kids. The book recommends that children ‘Smooch your pooch to show that you care. Give him a hug anytime, anywhere.’ This information can cause children to be bitten.”
You can download the entire press release here.
Just a few days ago there was an article in the New York Times that said the “number of Americans hospitalized for dog bites almost doubled over a 15-year-period, increasing to 9,500 in 2008 from 5,100 in 1993” according to a new government study. Who were those people? Children under 5 and people over 65. The article went on to say that researchers are at a loss to explain such data.
The AVSAB press release also addressed research on dog bites to children, and it did include an explanation of the data provided by Dr. Reisner mentioned above by Dr. Sophia Yin.
… records of bites to 111 children were examined. Says Reisner, “We looked at dogs that had bitten children and found that most children had been bitten by dogs that had no history of biting. Most important here,” says Reisner, “familiar children were bitten most often in the contexts of “nice” interactions—such as kissing and hugging —with their own dogs or dogs that they knew.”
We make the same mistake with dogs as we do with people. Many of us are under the misguided impression that if we think our motives are good, or at least benign, then the dog, or person, on the receiving end of our well-intentioned behavior will welcome our overtures, or at least not complain about them. We are insulted if they do. “What’s the matter with you? I was only trying to be nice!”
People and dogs are entitled to their personal space, to their preferences for interpersonal or interspecies contact. I had an aunt who loved me and expressed it by grabbing me and hugging me close and rubbing her sandpaper cheek against mine. I hated it. I pulled away and grimaced. If I were a dog I probably would have growled. I might have bitten.
We have a responsibility to dogs, to children, and to ourselves to learn what dogs are telling us with their behavior. We need to learn how to appreciate and respect dogs as dogs and as unique individuals. I feel strongly about this because I believe dogs’ welfare and lives lie in the balance.
Here are two of my contributions to learning how to interact with dogs lovingly and respectfully: “How Do You Greet a Strange Dog” and “Thank You for Ignoring My Dog.”
I know many of you know of more posts and articles that help us to interact with dogs respectfully and safely. I know some of you have written them. Please leave a comment with a link!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rod Burkert, Lilly + Roxanne Hawn, Practical Text, steve diller, Kim Clune and others. Kim Clune said: Checking out: Do NOT “Smooch Your Pooch” http://bit.ly/i4q2Ja (via @boulderdog1) […]
Great post! I’m so glad that people are weighing in about the dangers of this book.
You’ve really got to wonder about the authors and publishers and editors and anyone else involved in bringing this book to print. Wasn’t there *anyone* who questioned whether or not this was good advice??
Thanks Edie.
Yes. My thoughts exactly. The scary part about no one saying anything (presumably) is that it indicates to me just how widespread ignorance about dogs is. Either that or the people involved just didn’t think that kids would use this book as a “how to” guide. But, of course they will.
Erin over at Pompei’s Progress posted a really great poster showing how not to greet a dog with some cute illustrations. http://puppiesintraining.blogspot.com/2010/12/weekend-adventures.html
It appears the poster originally came from dogdrawings.net but I wasn’t able to reach the site–it appears the server is down.
This poster would be a great addition to every animal shelter lobby.
That’s great! Thank you Pamela.
hi there,
i’m not sure if i’ve ever posted a comment on your blog before though i’ve learnt lots of good things for my dog, georgia, here!
[i believe the fearful dogs blog pointed you out to me.]
Thank you for your thoughts on this book. i think you’re absolutely right to warn people about randomly patting, cuddling and kissing dogs. especially ones they don’t know. this very often happens to my other dog, rufus, who’s big, fluffy and a child magnet. i always have to intervene and feel like grinch for doing so. it’s tough facing perplexed parents and disappointed children when i have to say, “no, please don’t.”
in fact, neither georgia nor rufus particularly likes being patted and cuddled. they have their weak moments when they grudgingly say “okay, you can touch me now.” but just as often, they do exactly as you’ve mentioned – duck and pull back. of course, i interpret this in a very human way and get insulted! but i get it now.
have a good weekend!
p.s. 2 horror stories about dogs that got patted:
1. my petshop in bondi told me this one – a dog they knew was tied to a post while the owner was in a shop. it got patted by a stranger/passerby. it nipped the passerby who complained to the authorities and had the dog put down.
2. i was in the emergency room in a hospital when i heard someone being brought into the next cubicle, obviously in pain. he’d been in a pub, came out, saw a dog tied to a post, bent down to pat it and the dog tore off his nose. i heard him say …”but it was wagging its tail!”
Thank you for your comment.
Your two horror stories remind me AGAIN that we need general education in how to interact with dogs! Where or how that could happen I’m not sure, but I do think it needs to be part of some curriculum that everyone has to take.
Full disclosure: Not so many years ago, pre-Sadie, I would have made the stupid mistakes the people did in your two horror stories. I was lucky. I was never bitten. But, if I had been, it would have been MY FAULT, just like it was the fault of the people in both of your stories. While there is no question that it is irresponsible for people to tie their dogs outside of busy shops (or any shop, for that matter), the people who were stupid enough to “be nice” to strange dogs who are tied up with no way to escape also need to take their share of responsibility. The passerby in your first story gets very bad marks in my book. Her/his bad behavior caused a dog to be killed as did the unspoken assumption that ALL dogs must, or should, put up with ANY behavior with equanimity, no matter how intrusive, that humans dish out. That is so not right. This is especially true if, as I mentioned in the post, the person is “just trying to be nice!” Just because one’s intentions are “good” doesn’t mean that the being, in this case a dog, but it’s equally true for people, on the receiving end of the behavior will experience the behavior as welcome or pleasant. It could be, as it was for the dogs in your stories, frightening.
BTW-I love Debbie’s Fearfuldogs blog too.
I don’t have much to add to this other than: “What were they thinking?”
Indeed!
So books are being published willy-nilly – fact-checking? Nevermind, we don’t need no stinking fact-checking. Is no one minding the store? (Dave? Dave’s not here!) What’s next, or perhaps I’d better not ask – how standards were dismissed and the incompetents rose to the top ought to rate a book sometime soon, ah, one with facts in it!
Excellent post, Deborah – as always. Thanks for compiling various resources about the ill teachings of this book in a single handy place, and for spreading the word about how to avoid dog bites for the safety of humans AND the dog.
Thanks Kim. “AND the dog.” Indeed!
It absolutely amazes me that this books was published. We constantly have people trying to pet Ty – who is afraid of strangers, and will only rarely allow us to snuggle him. I too have felt like a “Grinch” trying to protect my dog from uninvited advances – and then we got a “Please don’t pet me, I’m working” vest for him. It’s made a HUGE difference in the number of people that attempt to approach him and is giving Ty some confidence because he doesn’t always have to wonder if people are going to be reaching for him or not. You can read more here: http://www.gopetfriendlyblog.com/2010/05/tys-too-sexy/
HI Amy. I love your vest idea and I’m glad it’s working for Ty not only in keeping people out of his face, but in building his confidence.