When a dog sniffs your hand for the 1st time before letting you pet him...

randycat99 · May 22, 2004 2:04PM

...what scent is he sniffing that tells him you are friend or foe? I mean, is there a "friendly" smell and an "enemy" smell? ...or is it more of a formality like a handshake? (You are shaking my hand, so you must be friendly) ...or is it just a kinder way of ID'ing you than simply going right to your "backdoor" to see what's really doin'?

spcms · May 22, 2004 2:13PM

I think it's more a kind of handshake. It's like saying you have no hostile intentions and in stead of xchanging business cards you xchange smells.

spotcatbug · May 22, 2004 6:56PM

A dog only really wants to be aggressive to defend himself or his turf/pack/family/whatever (domestic dogs don't hunt). So, as long as the dog knows it doesn't need to defend anything due to your presence, you should be good.

When you present your hand like that, your saying, "I'm no threat. In fact, here's part of my body. You could easily bite it if you wanted to." This makes the dog think, "Okey doke. This person appears to be no threat. In fact, he just put part of his body right by my mouth. I could easily have bit him pretty badly. No need to be aggressive here."

jimmac · May 22, 2004 7:28PM

Well I've been around and owned dogs all my life ( 51 years ) and the right way to approach a dog is to let him sniff your hand palm up. This leaves your hand easily in sight and the dog won't feel threatened. If you aren't afraid he won't smell your fear. If dogs bother you don't attempt this as they can smell when you're afraid. This could cause them to mistakenly act in a defense mode.

Most dogs will act friendly toward this gesture however.

randycat99 · May 22, 2004 7:48PM

Now I have no idea which is really the right way, but I heard somewhere that the "palm up" orientation is actually incorrect, though well established it is. I was told the real proper way is to approach with your palm down and let the dog sniff the top of your hand.

I haven't observed one way working much better than the other, but I imagine the palm down is incrementally less threatening, fwiw.

fireball1244 · May 24, 2004 10:51AM

A lot of it is the posture of your hand relative to the dog's nose. Don't put your hand over a dog's nose the first time you meet it, because that seems to signal an aggressive sort of dominance that the dog will react badly to. By offering the top of your hand for sniffing below the eyelevel of the dog, you're also saying "I could grab the top of you nose just as easily from this posture, but I'm not." Silly as it sounds, it's what in human terms we would call a sign of respect.

buonrotto · May 24, 2004 12:19PM

I don't know if he's looking for friend or foe smell, s just that it's his terms for greeting by using his sense of smell. A person he or she hasn't smelled, he or she hasn't met.

The one thing a lot of dogs don't like when they first meet you and don't trust you yet is when people bring their hand directly over the dog's head, as fireball said. I see kids go straight for the top of the dog's head right off the bat and it kind of spooks the dog. I usually let them smell my hand then turn it over and start rubbing them on their cheek and behind their ear, but never brining my hand or my forearm over their nose, nor do I try to get behind him. A dog will turns it back to be pet when it decides to trust you, and it doesn't like it until then.

moogs · May 24, 2004 7:51PM

I think the key is the position relative to the dogs head / nose. I always give myself a few inches of space so the dog can approach of its own accord. Otherwise, it's palm down and I try to keep my hand below the dog's snout (unless it's a runt dog, in which case I don't care because they usually just yap and run away anyhow).

naplesx · May 24, 2004 8:23PM

I have heard many times, as Jimmac stated, that palm out and from below is the best way to approach a dog. I was told that a motion from above can be mistaken for aggression.

Not that you get on your knees or anything but a natural slight extension of the hand. I have also found that looking the dog in the eyes helps. I love animals so I rarely have a problem.

wrong robot · May 24, 2004 8:28PM

It's funny how a little thing like that can make a world of difference in your relationship with a dog. When I was little I didn't know to do this, and dogs, while never hostile towards me, they never seemed to be totally chill. But once I would greet the dog with my hand like that, they'd be a lot cooler.

of course, some dogs are just weird.

I've read that some dogs like getting their snouts lightly tugged on, as a sort of friendly gesture, but I'm not sure if that's true, as my dog doesn't like that, we use it as a method to get her to stop barking.

billybobsky · May 24, 2004 9:08PM

hyperactive dogs have almost all been extremely fearful of me if i looked them in the eyes... They growl, they bark, they run back and forth from their owners to me and growl some more... Maybe its the way I look at them...

giaguara · May 24, 2004 9:08PM

My uncle always advices me for what to do and what not to do. He has always had a bunch of dogs, the 3 or 4 actual ones once adults will weight around 220 lb, so no way I could take one and dictate which way to go. His advices include "don't stare". So I pretty much ignore dogs, like the cat haters ignore cats, so thatswhy the dogs feel like they have to sniff me around.

jimmac · May 25, 2004 11:50AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randycat99

Now I have no idea which is really the right way, but I heard somewhere that the "palm up" orientation is actually incorrect, though well established it is. I was told the real proper way is to approach with your palm down and let the dog sniff the top of your hand.

I haven't observed one way working much better than the other, but I imagine the palm down is incrementally less threatening, fwiw.

Acctually I don't think it matters palm up or down ( I was always taught up as this might seen as less threatening ). However here's a pamplet I found on the web :

http://www.horowhenua.govt.nz/Commun...20Pamphlet.htm

From the pamplet :

APPROACH THE DOG CORRECTLY.

DON?T stand or lean over the dog. This is seen as a THREAT.

DON?T touch the dog on the back of the neck. This is a THREAT.

WITHOUT leaning over, present your fist for the dog to sniff. Bring your fist up from below. This is seen as NEUTRAL.

WITHOUT leaning over, stroke the dog on the chin then chest. This is seen as NEUTRAL.

ALLOW the dog to come to you rather than go into its space.

SQUAT down with small dogs to avoid leaning over them.

kickaha · May 25, 2004 12:52PM

Locking eyes with a dog is an aggression move.

So is baring the teeth.

So looking them in the eyes and smiling is *really* not a good thing to do with a dog that may be aggressive.

If you find yourself smiling and the dog acting strangely, open your mouth and let your lips fall naturally back over them, like you were panting - that's a playful gesture.

Tilting the head is also a good move in such cases. Lowering it is not.

Basically, watch two dogs squaring off for a fight, and try not to do anything they're doing.

wrong robot · May 25, 2004 1:37PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kickaha

Locking eyes with a dog is an aggression move.

Funny you should write this, my dog was just sitting on the carpet looked over at me, and I looked back and started staring at her, straight in the eyes. Now, she's not an aggressive dog at all(Keeshond) But after about 30 seconds of staring into her eyes she began to get noticeably uncomfortable, then she started to growl a little bit, then she barked, then ran away

kickaha · May 25, 2004 2:48PM

Ayup.

An ex-roommate of mine's dog was a horrendous beast - would pee on my bed, chew everything in sight, bark at all hours for no reason - it was basically a spoiled brat.

So one day I'd had enough, and when it peed on my stuff for the umpteenth time, I took drastic measures.

I stared at it.

For 45 minutes.

The roommate came home, and the dog was lying on its back, showing its belly in a sign of submission *WHINING*... but its instincts said that if it turned and ran, I'd come after it. The poor thing was a puddle of goo, like I'd been beating it. "What the hell did you do to Sam?!?" "I've been staring at him." "Stop it! He doesn't like it!" "I don't like him peeing on my things, and this needs to end."

Surprisingly, the roommate let it continue, and Sam just ignored that he was home - he was so concerned about making sure that everything was okay with me that everything else was tuned out.

Anytime after that, all I had to do was stare him down for a second, lower my voice and say "No." and he'd *freeze*. Otherwise, we got along fine.

The owner never did get that level of control over the dog.

We've got cognition, they've got instincts. Once you figure out how the instincts work, they're a lot easier to train.

crazychester · May 25, 2004 5:42PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kickaha

I stared at it.

For 45 minutes.

The roommate came home, and the dog was lying on its back, showing its belly in a sign of submission *WHINING*...

Well jeez, I'd lie on my back, show my belly in a sign of submission and whine if you stared at me for 45 minutes too, Kickaha.

mars · May 26, 2004 2:37PM

My cockatoo wants you to let her put her beak around your finger before she will let you pet her.

She knows good and well that she can lop your finger off effortlessly.

When a dog sniffs your hand for the 1st time before letting you pet him...

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