Dog snapped at daughters friend.

Literally this.

Your dog warned you that he was not comfortable with your daughters friend and this should have been respected.

Are you serious? Its up to adults not to put their children in a position where it could be bitten by a dog. Children should be taught not to approach strange dogs without owners permission and to look out for signs of discomfort. If they arent old enough to understand this then they probably shouldnt be physically interacting with a dog without an adult right there who can.

All dogs are capable of being pushed to the edge, and by punishing growls, snarls and air snaps you are taking away their warning/discomfort signs so there is a chance next time they will go straight to biting. And you'll have people say " but there was no warning signs".....yeh you punished the warning signs!!

I'm so sick of random children approaching my dog in the street and I look like the a**hole when I tell them to stay away. He's never bitten but he will growl or snap at strange people if they invade his space and make him feel cornered. Advocate for your dog, keep it safe and teach children that dogs are not toys and deserve a bit of space and respect!

Hi OP,

I'm sorry you found yourself in this situation but well done on seeking advice. I have to also agree with a lot of the posters here. It can be tough to see your normally loving pet get cross, but unfortunately, we are all capable of being pushed! For the future, you now know your dog's cues and you can be aware and watching when people other than family members are around her. If she is unhappy with the situation, you can remove her - for both her own comfort and to avoid a bite situation. I also agree that the child should not have pushed the situation with a dog who clearly did not feel comfortable around her .. but as she was not your child, I can see how you were unsure how to act. Best of luck to you!

Complete nonsense there Loueze from you.

“Humans” always come first, especially children. Stranger or not it is not acceptable for a dog to snap at a child. If he does it once he’ll do it again, and the next time it could be a much younger child and maybe there won’t be an adult there to take the child out of the equation. What happens then? I’ll tell you what happens, you read another story in the papers about a child being maimed by a dog.

The dog should be severely reprimanded for what he done. He should be kept away from children any more unless fully supervised and if he ever snapped again at anyone then there is only one other option.

No child should be around a dog unsupervised. Ever!

And again by reprimanding these warning signs you are taking away the dogs way to communicate and this is why you hear of dogs biting/attacking "out of the blue" with no prior warning. There is a ladder of escalation of subtle stress signals dogs show when they are uncomfortable. As a dog owner you should be familiar with these. Lip licking, yawning, whale eye, ears pinned back, fixed stare, tense body.....all of these come before growls, snarls and snaps and if a dog is uncomfortable then ensure that all people, especially children give it space.

That’s all well and good if there’s an adult there. But what happens when the dog has got out of his owners garden unknown to the owner? Or when the adult turns their back on the dog for a moment or 2 when there’s young children around that the dog is unfamiliar with?

Im sorry but like has been said here previously; people, and especially children, come before animals. If you’ve too much of a sentimental attachment to your pet to take the required steps needed when the pet steps out of line then you’re not mature enough to own a pet in the first place.

Judgemental much?

If a teenager isn't mature enough to leave a dog alone when that dog has made it 100% clear they don't want to be petted, that teenager shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a dog.

See - hyperbole can work both ways.

Or maybe instead of curbing your child's social interactions how about the dog is locked away when there's visitors coming over!

This modern generation of dog owners who treat their dogs like they're actually people is ridiculous. They're animals at the end of the day. And because of the pampering they get is probably the reason they think they can do what they want..

Like the above comment, if the animal misbehaves let's just stop our child's friends coming over instead of locking the dog in another room..... Or.... Crazy idea.... Lock the dog outside!

It sounds like you have a great dog, OP. It gave clear warning signs and had to resort to even clearer ones when the initial ones were ignored.

Btw a dog will bite if they want to or see no other option. The snapping was just another warning sign telling the girl to back off.

I agree with other posters that 13 year olds should have the cop on to know how to behave around dogs. Teach your daughter to keep friends away from her dog when he gives such clear signs.

Except none of what I said is hyperbole. It’s what’s happening all around the country on a regular basis.

The problem is immature people that have too much of an attachment to their pets and think they are people. They can’t then see when their dog has done wrong until it’s too late.