Читать книгу Dogtography - Kaylee Greer - Страница 30

Okay, so besides the visual and aesthetic reasons that poor body language should be avoided, there lurks above our heads an even bigger and more important reason that we need to be on the lookout for what dogs are trying to say to us.

Safety.

Safety for us. Safety for the dogs. Safety for everyone. Let all involved walk away from this experience with rainbows and unicorns circling around our happy little heads and no weird, sad feelings or visits to the emergency room for a too-deep dog bite that can’t be stitched up because it could get infected because of super cool dog bacteria, so let’s have the nurse aggressively pop your wound open while pouring hydrogen peroxide directly into your bones. (Oh, what’s that? That sounds like a very detailed real-life, firsthand experience, you say? Ah. Good intuition, friend.)

Have you ever heard someone say “The dog bit for absolutely no reason”? Of course you have. But here’s the thing—there’s almost always a reason. A dog will almost always tell you if they are uncomfortable and will often give out ample, clear warning signs before resorting to biting. It’s up to you to be able to read and interpret those signs during your shoot for the safety of both yourself and your dog model. The signs that a dog is uncomfortable can range from the obvious, such as growling or cowering, to the more subtle, such as lip licking and yawning. Learn as much as you can about these warning signs and remove the dog from the situation as soon as they begin to exhibit them.