Dog rescued from icy lake bites Denver anchor woman in face

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Augusta,- CGC, RN

Such a Good Dog!

Barked: Sun Feb 12, '12 10:00am PST


	I don't know how many of you saw this story, but a Denver anchor woman was bitten in the face during what was supposed to be a feel good interview with the owner and fire fighter who rescued him from falling through an icy lake the day before. She's down on the floor, holding the dog's chin and petting him, which he looks uncomfortable with and then finally puts her face right in his as if she's going to kiss him and he bites her in the face. The dog was quarantined for a few days and returned to his owner, it sounds like the woman is going to be o.k. but had reconstructive surgery to her face. While I wouldn't expect everyone to see the clear warning signs that this dog was nervous, it seems common sense NOT to put your face up in a strange dog's face! I wonder what will be considered the liability here? Can she sue the owner? Should he have told her not to get down on the floor with his dog? Or will it just be considered her error? Here's the video: http://youtu.be/Dur-WcVFcVQ

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Tanuk, CGC

Sherpa Tanuk of- Everest

Barked: Sun Feb 12, '12 10:53am PST


	Anchors are stupid from what I've observed, they seriously have a mental block against "smart decisions."

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Shiloh ITD

GIMME BACON!

Barked: Sun Feb 12, '12 1:59pm PST


	Uh, that was awful to watch. Poor dog. He was showing signs of stress… You should NEVER put your face into a dog's face! > I hope people now will think first before trying to kiss a strange dog!

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Sanka

The ground is my- newspaper.

Barked: Sun Feb 12, '12 2:52pm PST


	In addition to the obvious, the thing that worried me was the dog's "pit bull" looks to the general public. A lot of news blurps are leaving the part out where he says what breed of dog it is. But, as usual, the stories say "dog attack" since it was confirmed to not be a pit bull in the first place. Were that dog a stray or of unknown background, you know darn well it'd get more attention and be labeled pit bull attack. Yet again, another example of media bias. Hopefully the anchor heals well and comes back to share what she did wrong. It could be a great lesson learned for a lot of people.

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Sonja

It's all about- me.

Barked: Sun Feb 12, '12 5:18pm PST


	Uncomfortable dog...who is recovering from a traumatic event...definately a dumb anchor. I hope she's fine...but I also hope they don't "punish" the dog for communicating the only way he knows how...and her not understanding.

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Snickers

Momma is the- center of the- universe...

Barked: Sun Feb 12, '12 6:17pm PST


	I'm equally irritated with the dog's owner. He agreed to the interview dispite his dog not being up to date on his rabies vaccine, and obviously nervous about all the attention. The owner really should have heeded the dogs signals and moved the dog to a safe distance. It's too much to hope that the news anchor will take responsibility for her intrusion on the dogs person space. I wish they still ran the commercial with this man acting really over familiar with the wife at a party. Touchy-feely kid of familiar. It looks creapy when he does it to a human. The commercial ends when they announce that this is how a dog feels. Then they show the clip again, but with a dog in place of the woman. I thought it was a great campaign. I wonder if the point was lost on most people?

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Augusta,- CGC, RN

Such a Good Dog!

Barked: Sun Feb 12, '12 7:32pm PST


	Here's a good article about the incident by a vet who's made a lot of TV appearances with dogs. Dr. Marty Becker article on the Denver dog bite

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Sandy Baby- ♥

I may look- little, but I'm- ALL dog!

Barked: Mon Feb 13, '12 12:42am PST


	I haven't seen the dog labelled as a pit bull not once. In fact, most of the people I saw commenting on the article I had read agreed that the dog was not at fault. Of course, I know it would have been different if it had been a pit bull, but nevertheless... What makes this whole situation sad is that it could have been entirely avoided. I kept thinking about my dogs and what I would have done. If it had been any of my dogs, they wouldn't have been there in the first place. They would have been at home, sleeping comfortably in their crates for at least a week. Poor dog had just been though a traumatic experience. As if that wasn't stressful enough, here comes an anchor shoving her face in his face after he'd already been oh'd and aw'd over by many other strangers. ETA: Oops, misread your post, Sanka! Rereading it, I agree. If the dog had been a stray or if the owner hadn't known his breed, he most likely would have been labelled "pit bull". Likely just to get media attention, as well. Edited by author Mon Feb 13, '12 12:44am PST

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Member Since
09/29/2011

Barked: Mon Feb 13, '12 5:45am PST


	Nope, sorry. The anchor wasn't provoking the dog - there's no excuse for the dog to have bitten her like THAT. This wasn't a nip. She wasn't hurting the dog. If she had slapped him or something and then he had bitten her then that would be a different story. How can you blame HER for the accumulation of stress on this dog by OTHER people before her? The owner should not have agreed to the interview in the first place. I'm not exactly blaming the dog, but I'm also NOT blaming the anchor. Not everyone on this planet knows dog behavior or understands it.

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Member Since
05/21/2010

Barked: Mon Feb 13, '12 6:02am PST


	Hi other guest. It sounds you do not know basic doggie lingo. Doggie 101: Don't get in the face of dogs you do not know, it is a threatening gesture to them. Like others said already, the dog had already gone through a traumatic experience, and she pushed him to the brink. I do not blame the dog. I would agree with the poster who pointed out that the owner was to blame, not just the reporter. The owner should have known the dog's warning signs. I am getting kind of tired of seeing these stories where news people think they can handle animals however they want just to get a story. There have been others, thinking they can snuggle with a stray cat and it should calmly accept it (lol), and so on. Don't do a story on animals unless you know how to treat them, and you just might not get hurt!