Visiting a Friend? – How to meet their dog
Visiting a friend with a dog can cause a few problems, especially if the dog is anxious or excited. If you have been invited to a house with a dog you have not met before, this is what you should do.
No touch, no talk, no eye contact
From the very start, make no eye contact, do not touch the dog or make any noises directed at the dog. In other words, no talking, no touching, no looking. Staring at a strange dog could be construed by him, as a threat, especially if he is nervous or if he is a dominent character. This may appear to be rather rude to your friend, but strange dogs will assess you from the moment they see and smell you. Your best course of action is to ignore the dog completely. This indicates to the dog that you are a leader. If you fuss him, talk to him in baby tones and give him treats, he will consider you as a follower.
Jumping up
Don’t allow the dog to climb on you or jump up. Turn around for jumping up but hold your ground and don’t move away from the dog, rather move into his space than letting him take yours. Fold your arms and ignore. The trouble is, most dogs are invited to jump up by owners or friends. They reach down to touch the dog. Of course he will jump up! If the dog jumps on you when you’re seated, gently but firmly push him away and don’t look at him. Be remote and soon the dog should calm down and come to you to have a sniff. Let him sniff you.
Don’t pat his head!
Once the dog is calm and comes to you respectfully, you can give affection or even a treat. Always touch under the chin or on the side of his body or his shoulder. Patting the head can be threatening for some dogs. (I don’t think I would like to be patted on the head by a stranger!) Be calm, relaxed but not too eager. Once you have established your leadership status and get to know the dog better, you can be more enthusiastic with your attention.
When he leaves, leave him alone
When the dog moves off, leave him alone. Children often are too clingy with a strange dog and this could be interpreted as unwanted attention by the dog. Youngsters can be bitten if they exhibit advancing behaviour towards a strange dog. Teaching children how to greet a 
new dog could save them from being bitten in the future. Many kids are frightened of dogs because of a bad experience and that’s a shame. Dogs tolerate being hugged by their owners, but most do not like the feeling of being held tightly and it can be construed as a threat, especially by a strange dog. Again, this is something that kids tend to do, so warn them not to hug.
If you’re the owner…
If you are expecting a visitor who has not met your dog before, ask them to ignore him until he has settled down and got over any excitement. It seems to be very hard for some animal lovers to ignore an animal, but in this case, it is very important to give the dog the message that humans are to be treated with respect.
What do wolves do?
In a pack of wolves, the leader does not greet his followers, he leads them. Subordinates follow their leader respectfully. Climbing all over, mouthing or pawing a leader would likely lead to a growl or bite as punishment for the lack of respect.
This is a great subject for me as someone that has two dogs and lots of visitors that stop by often for business and pleasure. I can also use it because many of my friends have dogs and some of them are very big and very aggressive. It can be a little scary even for me as a dog owner frankly.
These are some great tips and I will be trying them the next time I go to see the friends that have those aggressive dogs. I think they also smell our dogs in me too, so that may be a problem as well. Any advice for that, like maybe a spray or something?
In any case, I learned from this article and I appreciate you posting it for us all. Even as a dog owner, these can be useful. My dogs are generally really good with people unless they show bad behavior and incite the dogs (that has happened). They are not overly excitable. Thanks!
Thanks for your comment Dave and I’m gratified that you found the post was useful to you. The fact that your dogs are generally well behaved says much about you as an owner. You must be a calm but assertive person which most dogs prefer, it keeps them in the same frame of mind as their owner.
I don’t think it is necessary to use anything on those dogs that are a bit ‘pushy’ or ‘disrespectful’. Just don’t look at them at all, pretend they are not there and they will leave you alone. Don’t forget to stand tall, shoulders back, looking ahead, not on the ground and take a deep breath to calm you. They can pick up your emotions, so make your emotions are benign. Imagine you are the President and act as such. Your friends will be surprised how their dogs start to respect you.
I do actually the opposite of what you write. I go to the dog, and start to talk with them, in a cute way. And honestly, I never had problems. If it is because I love dogs, and I’m friendly with them, that I don’t have problems, I don’t know know. Fact is that if my dad tries it, the dog doesn’t like it. I think I’m a kind of a dog person, and it will be weird to have problems with them, as so far, I never had one.
Hi there Emmanuel, it’s good to hear that you have little trouble with other dogs. It must be your demeanour. Being friendly with dogs isn’t the trick though, it is your personality. You are obviously a leader and dogs can detect this fact and are usually willing to follow this confidence and treat you with respect. Perhaps you should be a dog trainer!!
Remarkably useful!
I’ve always had a problem with not knowing how to actually greet a dog or how to behave in its presence. And I’m always so uncomfortable as well as I have had a fair share of negative incidents with dogs when I was very little.
That said, I believe I have a better idea of how to manage that the next time I get invited to my girlfriend’s.
However. This might be a tough question but are there any ways how to go about it if the dog seems to be hostile right from the start, like barking constantly (aggressively)? (I feel very uncomfortable when they bark at me.) I get that they may feel I’m scared so they might continue to bark to establish dominance. I mean, do you know any tricks that could help to deal with the kind of situation?
One can, of course, ask politely to put the dog away or something. Still, I feel embarrassed when have to ask that to people.
Thank you for all the insights!
Rasa
If you find the dog intimidating, the owner should really keep the dog at bay until he settles down. The main problem people have when a dog barks at them or moves towards them is they look at the dog. They will also move away from the dog. You must stand your ground, don’t look at the dog at all, pretend he isn’t there. Staring at a dog is an act of aggression in his mind.
If you have to move, don’t move backwards, move to the side. If you let the dog take your space, you are a follower in his mind. Do something that does not involve the dog like reading a magazine, check your phone and slowly turn away as though he isn’t there. Stand tall, take deep breaths and imagine your ‘superwoman’. It’s amazing how this pretence can actually change your mood which the dog will pick up on. Good luck!
Hi,
It’s a very unique & interesting article to me. Dogs are very common & useful domestic animals but it’s very important that how to behave with dogs. This article answered everything of my question which is very helpful to me. If your behaviour makes a dog nervous it is not good news at all because of that the dog can harm or attack you which is dangerous for anyone. I love such kind of this different article.
Hi Snigdha and thanks for your comment. Your mood will affect how the dog perceives you. You must be calm but assertive. Move slowly but purposefully. Stand tall and do not back away from the dog. Don’t look at him, Ignore him completely. When you sit down, he may come to sniff you. Let him, but don’t allow him to sit on your feet, climb on you, or paw you. These are all disrespectful behaviours. Don’t let him look down on you. If he climbs on the settee to sit on you, gently and slowly push him away. If you feel nervous to push him away, just stand up so you are taller than he is.
Hi,
As an animal lover, it’s really an enjoying article to me. Most of the people don’t know how to behave with the unknown dog so that they get attack from dogs. In this article, the writer told everything with details about how to communicate with dogs. The author gives some instruction like no touch, no talk, no eye contact, don’t allow to jump, etc. which are very important to know for everyone. I am very helpful to read this article & I would like to recommend everyone to know about this article.
Thanks for reading the article Akborm, looks like you’ve got the jist of what to do around a strange dog. Hopefully this will make your meetings with new dogs more positive and pleasant.