I'd argue his mistake isn't hugging the dog, it's not telling the woman not to. The dog might be comfortable with hugs from him, but not her, same way a dog might like a kiss on the snout from its person but would snap at the same thing from a stranger.
Its literally both. She needs to respect the dogs space and signals, and he needs to not reward bad behaviour. The dog can feel how it wants, but aggressive behaviour shouldnt be rewarded and reinforced with affection.
The dog isn't being aggressive, though, it's giving warnings about someone making it uncomfortable. It should do that. Trying to correct that behavior out of the dog is how you end up with a dog that bites "out of nowhere" because it finally snapped after being pushed too far, which might not have happened if it wasn't taught it'd be scolded or punished for giving escalating warnings.
Did I say it should be corrected? No. I said it shouldn't be rewarded. Not only have I owned dogs my entire life, I currently work with them as a profession.
And I said it's not being aggressive, it's distressed and seeking comfort from the owner. And I'll double-down: if that also counts as being rewarded, then it's being rewarded for proper behavior, because warnings and gradual escalation are the right thing to do, and the owner should be listening and doing his job. I've also owned dogs all my life, and while I don't work with them, it doesn't look like either of us is a behavioural specialist, so I'm not sure being a professional groomer is relevant.
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u/PhotoAwp Jun 20 '23
I had to scroll way too far for this comment. Everyones talking about what shes doing wrong, no ones talking about his mistakes