Last month we talked about dog-to-children greetings and how to keep everyone safe. Pat, Pet, Pause is a great game to teach your kids to facilitate a positive greeting with a dog! (We’ve covered this game before in one of our first Brewery Dog Pro Tip blogs, but it’s worth a repeat and an expansion!).
A pre-step is to make sure to always ask the owner first if you can pet their dog. Once you have the owner’s permission, now it is time to ask the dog!
Step 1: Pat! Patting your legs is a common way our dogs learn to come over to a person. By patting your legs you are asking the dog if they would like to come over to be pet. If they decide to come over you can move on to Step 2! However, remember the dog has a choice! If they don’t want to come over, never force a dog to approach a stranger.
Step 2: Pet! Your first interaction with the dog should be short; about 3-5 seconds. Go ahead and give the dog a quick pet. Remember those body language tips from last week? Make sure to observe the dog’s behavior to see if they are comfortable with you petting them.
Step 3: Pause! After your very brief interaction, take a moment to pause. Return your hands back to neutral, either on your lap or at your side, then wait to see what the dog does. The purpose of this pause is to give the dog a chance to continue with the interaction if they are comfortable or give them the chance to walk away if they are not. If the dog comes back over for more pets then you can assume they are enjoying the experience and you can proceed with some more petting. Pausing periodically to give the dog another chance to end the interaction is always a good idea.
At any point during this process if the dog chooses to walk away, we should respect that decision. An interaction should never be forced onto a dog as this could lead to a serious situation very quickly! By using this Pat, Pet, Pause process we give the dog a choice. Just like we want our choices to be respected, so should the dog’s.
Teaching your kids this quick game is the best way to ensure a safe and comfortable dog-to-human interaction. This game isn’t just for kids though! It is best practice for everyone greeting a dog to go through this process.
