Re: [PyrNet-L] Girl that was bit

[Ann Wetherilt <wetheri@emmanuel.edu>]

I'm interested in Adrienne's (I think!) comment about "bite inhibition."
We have noticed Paddington occasionally doing something that I wonder if
is a result of this. Sometimes it's because he smells something really
good on our hands and would maybe like to take a bite! He comes close and
sniffs, and his teeth are literally chattering! In terms of male dogs with
children, I wish those who say you can't trust one could see him with the
children at the day school we visit. On one of our early visits, he
approached a little boy who is deaf, blind, has no control over his limbs
and/or muscles, and so has no way of communicating. Paddington sniffed him
a little, then ever-so-gently licked his forehead, and the little boy got
the biggest smile on his face. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. But oh,
he knows the difference between the trustworthy kids in the neighborhood
and those who tease him--I would not let him approach the latter too
closely when I had him out on a leash. We had Paddington and Shelley with
us at a B & B once, and they were socializing nicely with everyone there
until a couple came in with their teenage son. Both dogs had been fine
with the parents the night before, but it was the only time we ever had
concerns over our dogs. Paddington was literally doing little bites in the
air right behind the kid's butt until we got him away and into our room.
We later found out that the boy was in some kind of detention facility,
and that
one of his patterns of behavior was abuse of animals. 
Do I trust my boy? Absolutely. But I won't put him in situations where his
probably all-too-reliable assessment of the situation might get him into
trouble!
Ann W