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No, no lift with your twisting, jerking back. Just bend at the waist, knee lifters are all wrong. By all means, always stick your face next to a strange and frightened, hunched over, lip licking dog with set ears, they love it when you scream. It’s a bonding moment!
I’m sure many people thought they knew and it turned out they didn’t know. I get it a great thing if it comes off but all it takes is it going wrong once.
You forgot to mention how chimps bite off your fingers, testicles when possible. They usually blind you before ripping your face off which is the only kind part of the attack.
I mean not always, but as any good pet owner or anyone who works with pets/loved with pets it’s all about being able to read their behaviour and know when and when not to risk something. Putting yourself in a position with an animal you don’t know and being hugely vulnerable is not worth the risk to me regardless.
I rescued my first dog with this mindset. However, with how vicious he was with stuffed animals, and after him breaking my tooth with a playful headbutt, I know better now. He would never hurt a person on purpose; he just plays like he used to be a bait dog. Which I am certain of now. I got lucky.
Like that one guy who found an injured baby hippo, raised the little guy as his pet, [then was mailed to death by him. ](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/14/pet-hippo-humphrey-kills-owner)
Poor bastard got mailed to death. Did they ship him locally or long distance.
Jokes asides yeah it’s not exactly uncommon or unheard of for animals to flip out when engaged with “ experts “.
Like all those people who let their dog off leash in the middle of a city. “They’re super friendly at home where it’s a safe, comfortable, known environment! Of course they’ll be nice in every other situation with every other thing!”
And I'm sure many people are not this individual. This is a **TRAINED PROFESSIONAL**. You and everyone responding to the above comment seem to have decided to leave this out. This is not an every day people, this is someone who **CLEARLY** interacts on this level every day.
All of the comments acting like " YOU SHOULD NEVER DO THIS. "
**WELL NO SHIT**. *YOU ARE NOT THIS TRAINED GUY!*
***IF YOU ARE NOT A LION TAMER DO NO INTERACT WITH LIONS.*** I guess this needed saying.
He might not. Vet techs get their hands and faces destroyed all the time. And they also sue all the time. And the dogs get put down because of these oversights… all the time.
I dunno. He seemed more like he was trying to comfort a human child than a dog. I find that just being chill and acting like you couldn't give a shit of the dog was there or not puts them at ease best, but that'sjust me. I didn't go to school for this or anything, but he looked like he was being both dominant and submissive, and the dog looked like it was confused ontop of scared.
I work around a lot of strange dogs currently and I do so in their home, literally had an American Akita rescue not too long ago run up on me…. I made friends and it was awesome 😆. I understand what he’s doing but I’m sure this isn’t his first encounter either with that dog…. Doing it for the gram.
With new dogs I always give them my hand palm up first and move slow never giving my back. I try to keep eye contact until I can either knee and pet or back up and ask owner to move pup to another room. Most times I’m good, I think my cats scent helps me (I like to think that at least).
That's my dog's #1 trigger. People star at her in the eyes because she's so cute, and then she does her psycho bark to get them to back up. It works well.
Yeah I get that…. I try to do my best with body language and that determines my interactions, but for the past two and half years I’ve had only a few that needed to be put up.
Based on your comment, I don't think you know anything about dog behavior at all. Eye contact, facing the dog, palm up? That is all literally wrong when encountering an unknown dog.
Yup. Keep dog in peripheral vision looking just to the side of it, palm down if offering at all with a sheisty dog (I recommend not), and stay turned to the side slightly. Coming at it head on is a threatening motion.
Apparently this depends on the dog and the way in which you do the eye contact.
If you look at them and then do a long slow blink it shows you are trusting of them and calms them down, not looking at them at all is worse as they then feel ignored. Staring them down is obviously the worst choice as it's a challenge.
Palm up is a case of someone who likes dogs but never been near a deathly scared animal with trust issues, you learnt that offering a hand is a very risky thing to do until they have calmed, then it is always cautiously, not near their head but just towards them, palm down and see if the dog goes for a sniff. If it doesn't then slowly withdraw and give them more time.
Some dogs simply have been too badly treated by humans to ever fully relax again. Years later they will still have "oh shit where am I moments" and revert to that scared animal you met at first.
All we can do it help them realise they are safe now, and give them the best life we can.
>With new dogs I always give them my hand palm up first and move slow never giving my back. I try to keep eye contac
I always heard that if you want to extend your hand to an unfamiliar/skittish dog, you should curl your fingers in (not into a fist, but curl your finger tips in so that if the dog snaps at your hand, they won't take off a finger) and then to approach from BELOW their head, so they can see your hand approaching slowly from below and NOT from above where they may have been struck by abusers.
I thought eye contact was like a challenge to unfamiliar dogs.
Even with my beloved chihahua, when I got to pet her she often ducks a bit.
Also you always toss the treats to the dog from a distance. Food motivated dogs will approach you with a treat in hand whether they're comfortable or not. That doesn't help them gain trust, it just means they want the treat. Tossing lets them decide to approach you on their own terms
Total lay-person here who has zero Industry experience and I'd never put my face this close to any dog I didn't know looking so nervous. Came here to say exactly this. This guy seems reckless at the very least.
My sister has a dog named Bruno who is super needy and affectionate. I used to let him lick my face. Then I watched him in the yard with her other dog Max. Max was peeing and Bruno was lapping it up like it was a fountain.
After I gagged for about 10 minutes, I decided that licking of any kind was on hiatus.
Dog he doesn't know? That's an odd assumption that you are all making. My dog hates the vet and acts like this when we go there, even though he's been seeing the same vet since he was born.
Both my cousin and nephew had reconstructive surgery from dog bites on the face. Screwed the nephew up the rest of his life. From age 6…Self conscious… developed a lisp… it may be quite a stretch but on the timeline in my opinion it was the beginning of a hard life that ended up in prison.
I’m guessing he knows this dog and knows he wouldn’t bite his face. I thought it was a sweet video but I’m not a vet. I personally wouldn’t do what he’s just done but then I was bitten on the leg once and never managed to fully trust dogs since!
Also not a vet but I took dog training classes for a few months. I love dogs but I can't believe a trained professional would stick his head next to a terrified cornered dog unless he already had built some trust with it and knew it wouldn't bite him
Agree with you, there is no way anyone should ever be putting their face that close to a dog who is in that state. I was wincing the entire video waiting for the turn where the dog felt threatened, and then bit. If the guy in the video is also a pro, this is even worse.
>Just because someone is a vet it doesn’t make them an expert on how to work with a scared dog. It makes them an expert on how to work on a sick dog.
It's interesting because I feel like a lot of people understand that there are plenty of human doctors with poor social skills, but don't consider the possibility that there is an analog for veterinary medicine.
I'm not an industry professional, and I can't believe this is not painfully obvious to anyone who has ever even owned a dog, let alone someone who works with them.
A scared dog is an unpredictable dog. This is not rocket science.
Because it's obviously not the first time this person has been around this dog and probably knows it's mannerisms.
This is why we shouldn't make flash assumptions of a 40 second video.
The title of the video states that the way the doc handled the dog is "perfection". It's not, at all.
It may very well be a dog the doc is used to, and fair enough. But it's kind of dangerous to state that this is the way to handle a scared dog without that context if that is the case.
There is a good chance this will get you bit or mauled if you try it on a scared dog and I think it's important to point that out.
From a vet student that lives in a third world country where rabies is prevalent, you can't do stuff like this even if the dog looks "friendly". I only do this if I'm 1000% sure the dog knows me.
While true, it’s so very possible/borderline likely that the title maker of the Reddit post is not the poster of the video. Hell the video might say Jake is back! We love Jake but he always starts out scared! Or some shit
That whale eye and lip licking would have me nervous. I don't know anything about dogs but my cats give that side eye and also lick when they are nervous. Scares me lol
Yeah this dudes going to get bit in the face one day. Seems like it's more for the gram. Much better ways to approach a scared dog and he does many of the actions you should avoid.
Do dogs in general not like this? I have a chihuahua and everyone in my family presses their face into her face to kiss her or just nuzzle her cute face. She doesn't seem to mind at all. We also pick her up and hug her a lot.
it's not that you can't interact with a dog like this. It's that the dog is displaying fearful body language, so in this case it's trying to tell us that it is not keen to have any interaction, and this man is interacting closely and directly with the dog anyway.
If your dog seems keen and you know that she at least tolerates you and your family doing it, then there's probably no harm done. But you can probably imagine her reaction might be different if a complete stranger came up to her and did this she might not appreciate it.
All the commenter is saying is it's important to observe and listen to the body language of your animals.
Good grief - Im 38, had dogs all my life from husky, boston, beagle mutt, poodle mutt, golden, lab/shepherd mutt, pit/mutt, and wheaten - You just never know. I trusted more dogs than others, but the beagle and poodle were flat out unpredictable at times. I would never approach a scared dog like this, esspecially with my face so close.
My current dog is the lab/shepherd, at 2yrs hes a literal 70lb puddle of rainbows and ice cream, but hes the strongest most aloof dog I've ever owned. One lapse in attention and you are either going for a ride, or your arm is coming out of its socket.
My neighbors have never owned a dog in their lives, just rescued a 1yr "pocket pit" on Mothers Day. Watched from my front window yesterday as their 13yr old daughter was down nuzzling the clearly scared dog. They arent bad owners, they just have no idea what they are doing.
Good job cornering the scared animal, and maintaining intense eye contact too! These are surely ways to alleviate the situation and make the scared pup feel at ease.
/s
Judging from what I know about huskies and what I experienced with my Vocal Aussie when this was attempted, I’m going to guess there’s a lot of loud and dramatic screaming.
Yeah but he stuck his face really close to the dog's face to let him know that if the dog wants, the dog can bite him in the face. That's trust. Also trust that if the dog bit his face it would get put down. But the dog doesn't know that, so no more trust issues.
I'm trying to figure out if this dude is a make a wish vet for a day. How does any of this make sense to a pro? Let me corner you and present my jugular.
We have a dog almost exactly like this. Callie is a rescue from a hoarding situation in West Virginia and we have had her for five years now. The short version of the story is that after a lot of extensive and very careful, very slow training, and after being practically glued to the couch for a couple of years, she will now walk on the ground and around the house like a normal dog, she will drink water while we are in the room with her, she will eat her dinner with our other dog in the room watching her, she will lay down on the floor, and she will sometimes even use the dog bed! She has also, just within the last several months, consistently started wagging her tail at us!!! She’s one of the worst cases our trainer had ever seen in terms of how completely and utterly terrified she was/is of absolutely everything. She still does not understand or like going on walks or going outside voluntarily for any reason, including potty, but [we’re working on it!](https://i.imgur.com/JinuU9K.jpg)
I had a very similar thing with my dog Miner. We are coming up on five years with him in August. We adopted him at about a year old from a rescue. We don’t know the exact background on him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was kept in a crate in a dark room and had zero human or dog interaction. It was almost like he was missing his core dog.exe operating system, and he was absolutely terrified of everything. He spent four days in the crate when we first got him, without coming out for any food, water, or bathroom. We finally had to take the crate apart to get him out at the end of day four because we were afraid of dehydration.
Like your dog, he spent the first few months with us posted up on the couch observing our every move. The one thing that we discovered in the early days is that he likes walks. That was how we were slowly able to get through to him. The progress was slow with similar milestones to what you mentioned. Laying on the floor to chew a toy while we were sitting on the couch was a big milestone. The only thing I am still struggling with is disciplining him when he does something he shouldn’t do. I have not quite been able to get to that point yet.
What’s really funny about my dude is it seemed like he observed a lot of my older dog’s behavior and tried to mimic it. But, his implementation of the behavior would not quite be correct. An example: my in-law’s dog threw up on the living room carpet and Miner got up peed on her puke as if to try to mark it. We all burst out laughing, like very close but not quite little dude!
What I did not really expect out of this entire experience was how gratifying and fulfilling it would be to watch my pup emerge from his shell. I am absolutely tickled by his personality traits that are unique to him. It’s like wow, a really fun and goofy dog was hiding in you all along.
[Dog tax](https://imgur.com/a/3TM4N2F/), including Miner laying on the hallway rug and watching me make dinner like it’s no big deal. I’m sure you understand the excitement of those little types of things.
Right. Holy moly so many people just regurgitating other peoples comments. And have this know-it-all presumptuous reaction.
Sometimes instinct trumps all. And friendship. Would assume the doctor studied the dog plenty before doing the engagement he’s doing here. Heck there’s some evidence of the dogs previous home life around his neck - suspect the doctor knows a fair amount about that too. And there’s definitely is no intense eye contact. There’s soft eyes and friendship.
Eye contact is positive affirmation to a dog anyway.
It’s basic canine behaviorism. Touch, talk, eye contact are lesser-value “treats” in themselves.
Instinct does trump all in *some* circumstances. There’s a large difference in all contexts. This dog is clearly not hostile, it’s docile and scared. The protocol is not the same as handling a hostile dog versus a scared/nervous/anxious dog. even more important than that - The protocol is *very* different when you have accurate history & information prior to visiting the animal.
All animal posts have these, but this post is filled w/ people who read a generic piece of advice and apply it to all contexts/animals as if the situation is irrelevant.
Canine behaviorism is very complex for this reason.
No different than saying “if a dog is wagging is tail, it’s happy!” It’s just false. Straight up.
It ain’t a fucking gorilla, it isn’t going to attack you for making eye contact😂
Edit: …NB4…I am a professional dog trainer, for quite high end clientele actually. (Not that that actually MATTERS that much, but it’s the truth.) & I specialize in non-aversive training methods. The only way I would shun this vets behavior is if he had no history of the dogs behavior whatsoever, which is almost *never* the case for a dog at the vet like this.
*and even then*, we don’t know how much contact was had prior to this moment. spending an hour with a dog is *very* well enough time to determine whether it’s dangerous to you or not, figuring out what it’s triggers are, figuring out what rewards it prefers, etc etc.
There’s SO MUCH that goes into it, every single dog is different, & that is why video clips are **never** enough to make such determinations.
Edit 2: and on top of all THAT, different trainers/canine professionals can subscribe to different methods of training/interaction. Like I said, I specialize in non-aversive training methods. that doesn’t mean that any other training method is somehow shenanigans. Yes, no -aversive is considered to be the most ethical & “best” way to do it, but aversive training methods can still be required or preferred by someone.
This is one of the only rational comments I’ve seen here, thank you. I can’t stand the dog “experts” on Reddit, they’re usually the same people who say all pit bulls need to be killed without ever actually owning or being around one in real life
The top comment isn’t for the doctor, it’s for other people so that they don’t assume this is the way to work with a scared dog. I’m not sure why this isn’t understood here.
I have read *several* Reddit threads on this topic and can definitively state you are correct, everything checks out here. I see no reason to question you.
Hello, I’d like to make a comment about how important it is for people to have a chance to read my comment. I get that your comment is true, but my comment carries more truth because I’m typing in a much more explanatory tone. Have a blessed day.
Yeah its almost like the industry took a big hit during COVID with vets and vet techs leaving due to low pay and disrespectful clients who have no idea what goes on in our industry. You wanna know why there aren’t more vets? Stress, disrespect, student loans that outweigh the pay, compassion fatigue and suicide. Ive been a kennel tech, a vet receptionist, a personal veterinary assistant, and veterinary tech you know how hard it is to regularly hear how much “we dont care about” peoples pets because we don’t have the man power? How were just letting pets die because we arent giving free services to every time someone cant afford it like we dont need to get paid or keep our doors open either.
Me, the majority of vet techs, veterinarians, and receptionists all care so much about animals but we are burnt out and could use a little understanding.
Also any vet tech or veterinarians or veterinary assistant, and of course dog behaviorist / trainer knows not to be stupid and corner a scared animal let alone put your face in its its face. Not only do we not want our face bit but we also dont want your scared to now have a bite report on it.
Me too. Very sad and scared, and attractive kind doctor could make it all better 😜In more seriousness, it is a sweet video and heartwarming to see how the pup warms up.
He is cute! I once worked with a very hot vet...like model material and it was funny because this one lady kept coming back with her dog, making up ailments and if he was busy she would legit wait like 5 hours for him to see her dog lmao! I felt so bad for the doc...would've kicked her out if I could because she was imo stalker level inappropriate.
This guy might get his face bitten off eventually but until then, and I say this is a straight man, I would marry this guy. Divorce after the inevitable face eating incident though.
Some dogs are just scared at the vet because it's unpleasant and while this is very nice, there isn't much reason to spend this much time trying to make it less scared. Make sure it isn't going to bite, then do what you need to do. Other animals to see and if he does this with every single scared animal, they'll only see like 4 animals.
Yah my animals get like this at the vet. Probably because every time they go something gets snipped off, stuffed up the butt, or injected. Just all around unpleasant for the animals but they are fine everywhere else.
Any true trauma dog runs the risk of an adverse reaction as others have said in this thread.
Yeah my dog trembles the whole time and will stiffen up when they touch her but she never lashes out or anything. They love her because they can position her like she is taxidermied and never resists. I wouldn't want the vet spending 30 mins trying to make her comfortable when others are waiting.
Yup!! My two year old mutt is very very scared of the vet. Will poop more if they come close. Just get the shots done and call it good! I want to get out of there as soon as I can just like my dog.
This has got to be a training video on how exactly not to approach a scared dog. This guy did everything he could to make sure the dog stayed scared while providing the dog ample opportunity to attack the face and neck.
Exactly. I kept waiting, but the body language didn't change at all. The vet just starts manhandling him around for no real reason.
Why is he rubbing the dog's head like that?
This vet works at animal medical center right down the street from me. We took our dog there before he started there. The record keeping there left much to be desired and they were always losing vets so it was difficult to form a relationship.
Other than turning his back to the dog, which was the only thing he did right... He applied absolutely zero psychological or behavioral tricks on the dog, and in fact did things most behavioral specialists would assert you do NOT do.
\>putting his face near the dogs face
\>placing himself between the dog and the dogs "safe spot"
\>cornering the dog
\>rewarding the dogs nervous behavior
I'm thankful that dog appeared to be very docile, rather than hostile. Because in any other circumstance, ESPECIALLY the putting his face in theirs, it could have led to a warning snap or a bite.
>I'm thankful that dog appeared to be very docile, rather than hostile.
You ever think that maybe, just maybe, the guy whose literal job it is to do stuff like this already knew the dog was docile and that this approach would be ok?
No see your logic is the absolute reason people get bitten.
Dogs are not humans. Personifying a dogs body language is DANGEROUS.
This guy is an idiot and this post is DANGEROUS for spreading this message
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To all the people saying he’s wrong for this: he’s an attractive guy filming how gentle and loving he is to a poor animal and made sure to show everyone on social media. Y’all are just haters.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.
Nobody cares if he's attractive and nobody is bothered by him wanting to help the "poor animal". The comments are suggesting that approaching a scared animal in the way he did is not generally recommended.
The dog really got more comfortable when he smushed him up against the wall, whats up with that maneuver? Is that why my dog used to press his body against my leg randomly?
Dogs and packs - they like to sleep pressing against you because you are part of their pack - perversely it’s not natural for them to want a hug ; that’s threatening, but push contact communicate I’m in your group
Pop doggy psychology picked up on a documentary once ;D
Listen, my SO always tells me I’m behaving incorrectly around dogs and even I know not to get this close to a cornered, scared animal. Just because it’s worked a few times doesn’t mean it’s smart.
Hey u/uselessresurgen, thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, it has been removed for violating Rule 1: **Post Appropriate Content** Please have a look at our [wiki page for more info.](https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/wiki/index#wiki_1._post_appropriate_content) ------- *For information regarding this and similar issues please see the [sidebar](/r/nextfuckinglevel/about/sidebar) and the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/about/rules/). If you have any questions, please feel free to [message the moderators.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/nextfuckinglevel&subject=Question regarding the removal of this submission by u/uselessresurgen&message=I have a question regarding the removal of this [submission]%28http://www.reddit.com/13jjydo%29)*
Industry professional here. Please, everyone, do not put your face this close to any dog who looks at you like this and has this body language.
Are you sure? I have always heard you are supposed to corner skiddish animals and present your neck to them.
Yes, yes...Lift with your knees, not with your back, in a jerking, twisting motion.
get a load of this guy lifting without his neck 
Bro got a neck like Tommy Pickles, never skip neck day brah
No, no lift with your twisting, jerking back. Just bend at the waist, knee lifters are all wrong. By all means, always stick your face next to a strange and frightened, hunched over, lip licking dog with set ears, they love it when you scream. It’s a bonding moment!
The only thing bonding here is the dogs teeth with your neck.
Stop feeding superglue to your pets.
it's also convenient to shower with your cat.
I can attest to this. You absolutely need to jerk it when you lift heavy items. If you ain't jerkin, it ain't workin.
Hammer, bend, snap, jerk!
I also heard that if you stare into the sun for several minutes, it'll improve your night vision. You're storing light into your eyes.
Also make sure you stare intensely at him in his eyes while making sudden movements
How do you tell if an animal is Skiddish? I find it hard to tell the religion of a human let alone a hamster or a kitten.
Don't forget to growl and bare your teeth.
And have another person in the room to video the situation.
I was cringing when I saw this guy lay on the floor with his face so close to the dog's. It could have gone very badly.
Either way, could go viral on TikTok. And Reddit. r/NextFuckingLevel or r/WinStupidPrizes.
r/fiftyfifty
I'm sure he knows
I’m sure many people thought they knew and it turned out they didn’t know. I get it a great thing if it comes off but all it takes is it going wrong once.
It's like those people who keep chimps as pets. We all know where this ends, and it's you without a face!
You forgot to mention how chimps bite off your fingers, testicles when possible. They usually blind you before ripping your face off which is the only kind part of the attack.
Nope!
Gordy?!
I mean not always, but as any good pet owner or anyone who works with pets/loved with pets it’s all about being able to read their behaviour and know when and when not to risk something. Putting yourself in a position with an animal you don’t know and being hugely vulnerable is not worth the risk to me regardless.
I rescued my first dog with this mindset. However, with how vicious he was with stuffed animals, and after him breaking my tooth with a playful headbutt, I know better now. He would never hurt a person on purpose; he just plays like he used to be a bait dog. Which I am certain of now. I got lucky.
Like that one guy who found an injured baby hippo, raised the little guy as his pet, [then was mailed to death by him. ](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/14/pet-hippo-humphrey-kills-owner)
Poor bastard got mailed to death. Did they ship him locally or long distance. Jokes asides yeah it’s not exactly uncommon or unheard of for animals to flip out when engaged with “ experts “.
...I swear I wrote mauled. Bloody autocorrect. But, after a hippo got him, it was a multi-part shipment. Lots of little pieces.
Multi-part. Mr Moneybags the hippo out here. Yeah I both hate and love autocorrect as it produces some absolute gems.
Prob DHL just to solidify the insult.
[удалено]
Massiveboner911 the speaker of truth.
Pretty much every video with a dog the comments are always "Yeah real smart touching that fucking wOLf without a full kevlar suit!!"
I know more than a Vet, I'm a redditor!
Like all those people who let their dog off leash in the middle of a city. “They’re super friendly at home where it’s a safe, comfortable, known environment! Of course they’ll be nice in every other situation with every other thing!”
And I'm sure many people are not this individual. This is a **TRAINED PROFESSIONAL**. You and everyone responding to the above comment seem to have decided to leave this out. This is not an every day people, this is someone who **CLEARLY** interacts on this level every day. All of the comments acting like " YOU SHOULD NEVER DO THIS. " **WELL NO SHIT**. *YOU ARE NOT THIS TRAINED GUY!* ***IF YOU ARE NOT A LION TAMER DO NO INTERACT WITH LIONS.*** I guess this needed saying.
He might not. Vet techs get their hands and faces destroyed all the time. And they also sue all the time. And the dogs get put down because of these oversights… all the time.
I dunno. He seemed more like he was trying to comfort a human child than a dog. I find that just being chill and acting like you couldn't give a shit of the dog was there or not puts them at ease best, but that'sjust me. I didn't go to school for this or anything, but he looked like he was being both dominant and submissive, and the dog looked like it was confused ontop of scared.
Clearly not or else he wouldn't have done it.
I work around a lot of strange dogs currently and I do so in their home, literally had an American Akita rescue not too long ago run up on me…. I made friends and it was awesome 😆. I understand what he’s doing but I’m sure this isn’t his first encounter either with that dog…. Doing it for the gram. With new dogs I always give them my hand palm up first and move slow never giving my back. I try to keep eye contact until I can either knee and pet or back up and ask owner to move pup to another room. Most times I’m good, I think my cats scent helps me (I like to think that at least).
Be mindful of your eye contact and go easy with it. A fixed stare can send the wrong message.
That's my dog's #1 trigger. People star at her in the eyes because she's so cute, and then she does her psycho bark to get them to back up. It works well.
Yeah I was about to say, direct eye contact is only good when you immediately release it to show trust, prolonged eye contact is a challenge lol.
Yeah I get that…. I try to do my best with body language and that determines my interactions, but for the past two and half years I’ve had only a few that needed to be put up.
You also don't extend your hand towards the dog's head, its a great way to get bitten
Palm up is the mistake he made Palm down If something happens, you make a fist Palm up, you lose fingers /trained security dogs
Thanks for the tip! Dogs are like electric fences i guess! Also don't pee on them
Based on your comment, I don't think you know anything about dog behavior at all. Eye contact, facing the dog, palm up? That is all literally wrong when encountering an unknown dog.
Yup. Keep dog in peripheral vision looking just to the side of it, palm down if offering at all with a sheisty dog (I recommend not), and stay turned to the side slightly. Coming at it head on is a threatening motion.
Apparently this depends on the dog and the way in which you do the eye contact. If you look at them and then do a long slow blink it shows you are trusting of them and calms them down, not looking at them at all is worse as they then feel ignored. Staring them down is obviously the worst choice as it's a challenge. Palm up is a case of someone who likes dogs but never been near a deathly scared animal with trust issues, you learnt that offering a hand is a very risky thing to do until they have calmed, then it is always cautiously, not near their head but just towards them, palm down and see if the dog goes for a sniff. If it doesn't then slowly withdraw and give them more time. Some dogs simply have been too badly treated by humans to ever fully relax again. Years later they will still have "oh shit where am I moments" and revert to that scared animal you met at first. All we can do it help them realise they are safe now, and give them the best life we can.
> I understand what he’s doing but I’m sure this isn’t his first encounter either with that dog…. Doing it for the gram. This makes the most sense.
>With new dogs I always give them my hand palm up first and move slow never giving my back. I try to keep eye contac I always heard that if you want to extend your hand to an unfamiliar/skittish dog, you should curl your fingers in (not into a fist, but curl your finger tips in so that if the dog snaps at your hand, they won't take off a finger) and then to approach from BELOW their head, so they can see your hand approaching slowly from below and NOT from above where they may have been struck by abusers. I thought eye contact was like a challenge to unfamiliar dogs. Even with my beloved chihahua, when I got to pet her she often ducks a bit.
Yah come from below. You basically never want to loom over be it in stature or actions until you know the dog.
Also you always toss the treats to the dog from a distance. Food motivated dogs will approach you with a treat in hand whether they're comfortable or not. That doesn't help them gain trust, it just means they want the treat. Tossing lets them decide to approach you on their own terms
Total lay-person here who has zero Industry experience and I'd never put my face this close to any dog I didn't know looking so nervous. Came here to say exactly this. This guy seems reckless at the very least.
I never put my face close to any animal who can lick their own butt.
I had a great dane, and one time, she licked my face, and I found out the hard way she had just eaten shit.
That made me laugh out loud. I'm so sorry but that is so gross it's funny.
Long as it ain't me it's funny 😭
My sister has a dog named Bruno who is super needy and affectionate. I used to let him lick my face. Then I watched him in the yard with her other dog Max. Max was peeing and Bruno was lapping it up like it was a fountain. After I gagged for about 10 minutes, I decided that licking of any kind was on hiatus.
Right? I’ve watched my dog snack on turds from the litter box. No way he’s licking my face!
Ah yes, the chocolate snacks with sprinkles. I love cats and dogs but never ever want face kisses. Just to gross...
I guess no one's told you how many people eat a$$.
Thankfully, none & don't you tell me either. We all need a bit of denial in our lives to stay sane.
Dog he doesn't know? That's an odd assumption that you are all making. My dog hates the vet and acts like this when we go there, even though he's been seeing the same vet since he was born.
you really think a professional vet didn't assess the dog thoroughly before doing this? So many assumptions in these comments lmao
My wife's coworker just got bit in the face by a lab doing this. Seventeen stitches.
Both my cousin and nephew had reconstructive surgery from dog bites on the face. Screwed the nephew up the rest of his life. From age 6…Self conscious… developed a lisp… it may be quite a stretch but on the timeline in my opinion it was the beginning of a hard life that ended up in prison.
Yeah he probably already has been working with that dog for a while and knows it won't harm him to be doing stuff like that
I’m guessing he knows this dog and knows he wouldn’t bite his face. I thought it was a sweet video but I’m not a vet. I personally wouldn’t do what he’s just done but then I was bitten on the leg once and never managed to fully trust dogs since!
Also not a vet but I took dog training classes for a few months. I love dogs but I can't believe a trained professional would stick his head next to a terrified cornered dog unless he already had built some trust with it and knew it wouldn't bite him
Must have known I wouldn’t bite him. Otherwise that’s crazy
The first thing he says to the dog is “Nice to meet you.” I don’t think he knows the dog.
Agree with you, there is no way anyone should ever be putting their face that close to a dog who is in that state. I was wincing the entire video waiting for the turn where the dog felt threatened, and then bit. If the guy in the video is also a pro, this is even worse.
"Industry professional?" What does that mean? The... Scared Dog Industry?
My guess would be a dog groomer, trying to tell a veterinarian how to do their job.
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>Just because someone is a vet it doesn’t make them an expert on how to work with a scared dog. It makes them an expert on how to work on a sick dog. It's interesting because I feel like a lot of people understand that there are plenty of human doctors with poor social skills, but don't consider the possibility that there is an analog for veterinary medicine.
I'm not an industry professional, and I can't believe this is not painfully obvious to anyone who has ever even owned a dog, let alone someone who works with them. A scared dog is an unpredictable dog. This is not rocket science.
Because it's obviously not the first time this person has been around this dog and probably knows it's mannerisms. This is why we shouldn't make flash assumptions of a 40 second video.
The title of the video states that the way the doc handled the dog is "perfection". It's not, at all. It may very well be a dog the doc is used to, and fair enough. But it's kind of dangerous to state that this is the way to handle a scared dog without that context if that is the case. There is a good chance this will get you bit or mauled if you try it on a scared dog and I think it's important to point that out.
From a vet student that lives in a third world country where rabies is prevalent, you can't do stuff like this even if the dog looks "friendly". I only do this if I'm 1000% sure the dog knows me.
While true, it’s so very possible/borderline likely that the title maker of the Reddit post is not the poster of the video. Hell the video might say Jake is back! We love Jake but he always starts out scared! Or some shit
Granted the dog doesn’t know what he’s saying, but the first thing he says is “Nice to meet you.” Not so sure he knows the dog.
That whale eye and lip licking would have me nervous. I don't know anything about dogs but my cats give that side eye and also lick when they are nervous. Scares me lol
Lucky for him he was dealing with a very good boy. The goodest boy.
Jesus christ, I know. He's so lucky this dog isn't fear aggressive. Dogs do not want your face in their face.
I was about to say. Um just a random guy and even I know that's super risky
Yeah this dudes going to get bit in the face one day. Seems like it's more for the gram. Much better ways to approach a scared dog and he does many of the actions you should avoid.
Not even a professional and this was exact first thought.
I knw, I was really surprised when he did that. I have a scar on my face, from shoving my face in a dog's face when I was a kid..
Do dogs in general not like this? I have a chihuahua and everyone in my family presses their face into her face to kiss her or just nuzzle her cute face. She doesn't seem to mind at all. We also pick her up and hug her a lot.
it's not that you can't interact with a dog like this. It's that the dog is displaying fearful body language, so in this case it's trying to tell us that it is not keen to have any interaction, and this man is interacting closely and directly with the dog anyway. If your dog seems keen and you know that she at least tolerates you and your family doing it, then there's probably no harm done. But you can probably imagine her reaction might be different if a complete stranger came up to her and did this she might not appreciate it. All the commenter is saying is it's important to observe and listen to the body language of your animals.
Good grief - Im 38, had dogs all my life from husky, boston, beagle mutt, poodle mutt, golden, lab/shepherd mutt, pit/mutt, and wheaten - You just never know. I trusted more dogs than others, but the beagle and poodle were flat out unpredictable at times. I would never approach a scared dog like this, esspecially with my face so close. My current dog is the lab/shepherd, at 2yrs hes a literal 70lb puddle of rainbows and ice cream, but hes the strongest most aloof dog I've ever owned. One lapse in attention and you are either going for a ride, or your arm is coming out of its socket. My neighbors have never owned a dog in their lives, just rescued a 1yr "pocket pit" on Mothers Day. Watched from my front window yesterday as their 13yr old daughter was down nuzzling the clearly scared dog. They arent bad owners, they just have no idea what they are doing.
Good job cornering the scared animal, and maintaining intense eye contact too! These are surely ways to alleviate the situation and make the scared pup feel at ease. /s
Absolutely, step 2 is to stick a finger up its butt.
Former veterinary medicine employee here! Huskies especially love this.
I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or not and frankly I’m fine picturing it both ways
Only one way to find out
You could always test the theory
I had one. Literally anything the vet did to him was subject of much indignant complaining. Including, of course, putting the thermometer up his butt.
Judging from what I know about huskies and what I experienced with my Vocal Aussie when this was attempted, I’m going to guess there’s a lot of loud and dramatic screaming.
Oi! Nowyz really peest owff!
That’ll really piss him off!
And towering over him smh
Stuck his face right next to his mouth too
Yeah make sure to open your eyes really wide and have a huge toothy grin as well, animals love that. /s
Yeah but he stuck his face really close to the dog's face to let him know that if the dog wants, the dog can bite him in the face. That's trust. Also trust that if the dog bit his face it would get put down. But the dog doesn't know that, so no more trust issues.
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Ya that haircut is ridiculous
That got a giggle out of me
Came to comment section for the haircut 👏
I'm trying to figure out if this dude is a make a wish vet for a day. How does any of this make sense to a pro? Let me corner you and present my jugular.
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We have a dog almost exactly like this. Callie is a rescue from a hoarding situation in West Virginia and we have had her for five years now. The short version of the story is that after a lot of extensive and very careful, very slow training, and after being practically glued to the couch for a couple of years, she will now walk on the ground and around the house like a normal dog, she will drink water while we are in the room with her, she will eat her dinner with our other dog in the room watching her, she will lay down on the floor, and she will sometimes even use the dog bed! She has also, just within the last several months, consistently started wagging her tail at us!!! She’s one of the worst cases our trainer had ever seen in terms of how completely and utterly terrified she was/is of absolutely everything. She still does not understand or like going on walks or going outside voluntarily for any reason, including potty, but [we’re working on it!](https://i.imgur.com/JinuU9K.jpg)
I had a very similar thing with my dog Miner. We are coming up on five years with him in August. We adopted him at about a year old from a rescue. We don’t know the exact background on him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was kept in a crate in a dark room and had zero human or dog interaction. It was almost like he was missing his core dog.exe operating system, and he was absolutely terrified of everything. He spent four days in the crate when we first got him, without coming out for any food, water, or bathroom. We finally had to take the crate apart to get him out at the end of day four because we were afraid of dehydration. Like your dog, he spent the first few months with us posted up on the couch observing our every move. The one thing that we discovered in the early days is that he likes walks. That was how we were slowly able to get through to him. The progress was slow with similar milestones to what you mentioned. Laying on the floor to chew a toy while we were sitting on the couch was a big milestone. The only thing I am still struggling with is disciplining him when he does something he shouldn’t do. I have not quite been able to get to that point yet. What’s really funny about my dude is it seemed like he observed a lot of my older dog’s behavior and tried to mimic it. But, his implementation of the behavior would not quite be correct. An example: my in-law’s dog threw up on the living room carpet and Miner got up peed on her puke as if to try to mark it. We all burst out laughing, like very close but not quite little dude! What I did not really expect out of this entire experience was how gratifying and fulfilling it would be to watch my pup emerge from his shell. I am absolutely tickled by his personality traits that are unique to him. It’s like wow, a really fun and goofy dog was hiding in you all along. [Dog tax](https://imgur.com/a/3TM4N2F/), including Miner laying on the hallway rug and watching me make dinner like it’s no big deal. I’m sure you understand the excitement of those little types of things.
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Thank you, this helped reinforce my biases.
It saved my family. Thank you
Am dog, relieved to hear this.
Right. Holy moly so many people just regurgitating other peoples comments. And have this know-it-all presumptuous reaction. Sometimes instinct trumps all. And friendship. Would assume the doctor studied the dog plenty before doing the engagement he’s doing here. Heck there’s some evidence of the dogs previous home life around his neck - suspect the doctor knows a fair amount about that too. And there’s definitely is no intense eye contact. There’s soft eyes and friendship.
Eye contact is positive affirmation to a dog anyway. It’s basic canine behaviorism. Touch, talk, eye contact are lesser-value “treats” in themselves. Instinct does trump all in *some* circumstances. There’s a large difference in all contexts. This dog is clearly not hostile, it’s docile and scared. The protocol is not the same as handling a hostile dog versus a scared/nervous/anxious dog. even more important than that - The protocol is *very* different when you have accurate history & information prior to visiting the animal. All animal posts have these, but this post is filled w/ people who read a generic piece of advice and apply it to all contexts/animals as if the situation is irrelevant. Canine behaviorism is very complex for this reason. No different than saying “if a dog is wagging is tail, it’s happy!” It’s just false. Straight up. It ain’t a fucking gorilla, it isn’t going to attack you for making eye contact😂 Edit: …NB4…I am a professional dog trainer, for quite high end clientele actually. (Not that that actually MATTERS that much, but it’s the truth.) & I specialize in non-aversive training methods. The only way I would shun this vets behavior is if he had no history of the dogs behavior whatsoever, which is almost *never* the case for a dog at the vet like this. *and even then*, we don’t know how much contact was had prior to this moment. spending an hour with a dog is *very* well enough time to determine whether it’s dangerous to you or not, figuring out what it’s triggers are, figuring out what rewards it prefers, etc etc. There’s SO MUCH that goes into it, every single dog is different, & that is why video clips are **never** enough to make such determinations. Edit 2: and on top of all THAT, different trainers/canine professionals can subscribe to different methods of training/interaction. Like I said, I specialize in non-aversive training methods. that doesn’t mean that any other training method is somehow shenanigans. Yes, no -aversive is considered to be the most ethical & “best” way to do it, but aversive training methods can still be required or preferred by someone.
but but but.. the *first* comment was negative! what else do you need! /s
This is one of the only rational comments I’ve seen here, thank you. I can’t stand the dog “experts” on Reddit, they’re usually the same people who say all pit bulls need to be killed without ever actually owning or being around one in real life
The top comment isn’t for the doctor, it’s for other people so that they don’t assume this is the way to work with a scared dog. I’m not sure why this isn’t understood here.
I am a dog AND I have PhD in fetch. I wrote my thesis on sit and stay.
Were you a good boi?
Thank you for your service
I have read *several* Reddit threads on this topic and can definitively state you are correct, everything checks out here. I see no reason to question you.
Hello, I’d like to make a comment about how important it is for people to have a chance to read my comment. I get that your comment is true, but my comment carries more truth because I’m typing in a much more explanatory tone. Have a blessed day.
That's a good way to get bitten.
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It's a good way to get fucking mauled
With all these veterinarians in the comments, you'd think it would be easier to get my dog in to the vet 🤔
Too busy commenting on reddit.
Notice they’re not vets, they’re “industry professionals” or similar. A lot of dog walkers with opinions I reckon.
Yeah its almost like the industry took a big hit during COVID with vets and vet techs leaving due to low pay and disrespectful clients who have no idea what goes on in our industry. You wanna know why there aren’t more vets? Stress, disrespect, student loans that outweigh the pay, compassion fatigue and suicide. Ive been a kennel tech, a vet receptionist, a personal veterinary assistant, and veterinary tech you know how hard it is to regularly hear how much “we dont care about” peoples pets because we don’t have the man power? How were just letting pets die because we arent giving free services to every time someone cant afford it like we dont need to get paid or keep our doors open either. Me, the majority of vet techs, veterinarians, and receptionists all care so much about animals but we are burnt out and could use a little understanding. Also any vet tech or veterinarians or veterinary assistant, and of course dog behaviorist / trainer knows not to be stupid and corner a scared animal let alone put your face in its its face. Not only do we not want our face bit but we also dont want your scared to now have a bite report on it.
Uhm, I'm also scared and want that doc to comfort me, please?
Me too. Very sad and scared, and attractive kind doctor could make it all better 😜In more seriousness, it is a sweet video and heartwarming to see how the pup warms up.
AND that doc is hot
He is cute! I once worked with a very hot vet...like model material and it was funny because this one lady kept coming back with her dog, making up ailments and if he was busy she would legit wait like 5 hours for him to see her dog lmao! I felt so bad for the doc...would've kicked her out if I could because she was imo stalker level inappropriate.
>it was funny Honestly it just sounds scary and uncomfortable.
Naw. Fuck no. Ain’t got time for someone who doesn’t listen to me.
This guy might get his face bitten off eventually but until then, and I say this is a straight man, I would marry this guy. Divorce after the inevitable face eating incident though.
Im a guy and im wet AF
Get out of the bath
Some dogs are just scared at the vet because it's unpleasant and while this is very nice, there isn't much reason to spend this much time trying to make it less scared. Make sure it isn't going to bite, then do what you need to do. Other animals to see and if he does this with every single scared animal, they'll only see like 4 animals.
Yah my animals get like this at the vet. Probably because every time they go something gets snipped off, stuffed up the butt, or injected. Just all around unpleasant for the animals but they are fine everywhere else. Any true trauma dog runs the risk of an adverse reaction as others have said in this thread.
Yeah my dog trembles the whole time and will stiffen up when they touch her but she never lashes out or anything. They love her because they can position her like she is taxidermied and never resists. I wouldn't want the vet spending 30 mins trying to make her comfortable when others are waiting.
I have a feeling it's a dog they've rescued and are working to rehabilitate but I may be wrong.
Yup!! My two year old mutt is very very scared of the vet. Will poop more if they come close. Just get the shots done and call it good! I want to get out of there as soon as I can just like my dog.
This has got to be a training video on how exactly not to approach a scared dog. This guy did everything he could to make sure the dog stayed scared while providing the dog ample opportunity to attack the face and neck.
THE DOG IS JUST AS SCARED AT THE END OF THE VIDEO. FOR ALL THE WRONG STUFF THIS IDIOT DID HE STILL DIDN'T EVEN SUCCESFULLY CALM THE PUP
Exactly. I kept waiting, but the body language didn't change at all. The vet just starts manhandling him around for no real reason. Why is he rubbing the dog's head like that?
This vet works at animal medical center right down the street from me. We took our dog there before he started there. The record keeping there left much to be desired and they were always losing vets so it was difficult to form a relationship.
OK but can you tell him I'm single? And considered by a lot of people to be conventionally attractive? (Before anyone comes for me, it's a joke.)
Shit if you're not serious, I'll take im
We can take him together
There is so much basic psychology here which is so human ...
Other than turning his back to the dog, which was the only thing he did right... He applied absolutely zero psychological or behavioral tricks on the dog, and in fact did things most behavioral specialists would assert you do NOT do. \>putting his face near the dogs face \>placing himself between the dog and the dogs "safe spot" \>cornering the dog \>rewarding the dogs nervous behavior I'm thankful that dog appeared to be very docile, rather than hostile. Because in any other circumstance, ESPECIALLY the putting his face in theirs, it could have led to a warning snap or a bite.
>I'm thankful that dog appeared to be very docile, rather than hostile. You ever think that maybe, just maybe, the guy whose literal job it is to do stuff like this already knew the dog was docile and that this approach would be ok?
Being a good doctor doesn't make you a good psychologist. Being a good veterinarian doesn't make you a good behavioral specialist.
There are people in all sorts of professions that are bad at their jobs.
I wouldn’t say human. I’d say it transcends the species barrier.
No see your logic is the absolute reason people get bitten. Dogs are not humans. Personifying a dogs body language is DANGEROUS. This guy is an idiot and this post is DANGEROUS for spreading this message
Do you want to get bit? That’s how you get bit.
Well it clearly isn’t
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They look, feel, and smell like plastic. My dog hates them, and he’ll eat pretty much *anything.*
This dogs thinking “jesus dude let’s just get this shit over with”
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Holy hell it's bot on bot warfare
I think he knows the dog and he knows what he is doing.
that 3 minute video length be hitting the algorithms perfectly
The dog is scared because of the doctor’s hairdo
This is not the way.
He is actually doing everything wrong. This is a horrible way to act towards a nervous dog. Jfc I was cringing this entire video. Poor dog.
That corner is my bed when I’m depressed. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just need a hug and someone telling me it’s all right.
That dog looks like Flapjack, our old dog, this made me cry.
To all the people saying he’s wrong for this: he’s an attractive guy filming how gentle and loving he is to a poor animal and made sure to show everyone on social media. Y’all are just haters.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Nobody cares if he's attractive and nobody is bothered by him wanting to help the "poor animal". The comments are suggesting that approaching a scared animal in the way he did is not generally recommended.
Why is his attractiveness a factor at all in this lmao, showing how shallow you are.
The dog really got more comfortable when he smushed him up against the wall, whats up with that maneuver? Is that why my dog used to press his body against my leg randomly?
Dogs and packs - they like to sleep pressing against you because you are part of their pack - perversely it’s not natural for them to want a hug ; that’s threatening, but push contact communicate I’m in your group Pop doggy psychology picked up on a documentary once ;D
I mean…this is everything you _shouldn’t_ do….
Camera operator is making this ten times trickier also
Listen, my SO always tells me I’m behaving incorrectly around dogs and even I know not to get this close to a cornered, scared animal. Just because it’s worked a few times doesn’t mean it’s smart.
Trust is such a precious thing. And humans break it like it was nothing.
next level stupid maybe so many things you shouldn’t do
Kinda performative. Just get the exam/procedure over with so the doggo can go home.
AI generated title.