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My point was not to make dogs stay off of people, but when a dog jumps up at an unsuspecting visiting toddler, and goes for the face, even if it is a lick, it usually is not welcome thing by the child when they start to cry. We have many, little children in this neighborhood that love to visit Cody, so in my view, I do not want him jumping up at them because many of these kids are not much taller than Cody when he is on his back legs; Cody is taught not to jump - the kids may sit on the ground and he can crawl in their laps, as long as they are okay with that. They can pet him all they want, as long as he is on all fours, sitting of lying down.
We have to remember, that sometimes we see our dogs quite differently than others and jumping or "nibbling" dogs may be very unwelcome by others and there is nothing better than a well behaved dog that can be enjoyed by everyone.
As for being able to take away their bones, etc. I do believe that a dog should be taught that it is "okay" for us to remove their bones and food because once again, we may be put in the position where we have company around etc, with small "forgetful" children who attempt to go near the food, etc and the dog, in my opinion, should not be growling or snarling at anyone in regards to their food. In fact, that is one of the tests performed by our Humane Society and probably many others, that when the dog is eating, an artificial hand is put near their face to see how they react and whether or not they are food aggressive. Our Humane society will not adopt out Food Aggressive dogs to families with small children.
I do not think that a dog who snarls or growls at an owner who comes near their food or tries to take their food away is a good thing; and only gives the dog the message that "they are in charge"
linda
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