I think part of the problem has been the personification of dogs over the last 35 or so years. I have a dog. I treat him with love and care. But not for once will I ever forget that he is an animal. THey aren't human and are prone to having nature take over. Labs love to track etc. Watch dogs 101. Certain dogs were bred to do certain tasks. Pit bulls were not bred to be snuggie wuggie lovable dogs. We need to always keep that in perspective. They are not human.

I do not blame the anchor women but I can also agree that she lacked common sense or basic human instincts. It is not about whether or not she was experienced with dogs or "spoke canine." It boils down to the same as human body language. We all have instincts that warn us when we are in danger. Unfortunately she was not able to recognize it consciously or she ignored the warning.

young children with no dog experience can feel when a dog or a person is threatening, so it is foolish to act as if this women was completely in the right to get in an animals face, a three year old would have more sense.

While that might seem like common sense to you, it's not for most people. While unfortunate, it's the truth. It is truly obnoxious for people to blame this poor woman. Seriously, what is wrong with you?

I don't really think it's about blaming the victim. I think everyone agrees that she was the injured party. However, contrary to what most people think, it's very rare for a dog to bite for no reason. It happens, but not very often. I think most of us are suggesting that the owner was definitely at fault for putting his dog in a position where he felt he needed to bite. Essentially, he may have signed his dogs death warrant.

BUT....it's really difficult for me to understand why an adult would put her face right in the face of a dog she didn't even know very well. If we were talking about a child, I would feel totally differently. But this is a grown woman. You don't have to be an expert in animal behavior to know that you just don't do that.

Trying to explain why the bite happened is not the same as blaming the victim. And blaming the breed doesn't help either. In this case, the damage would have likely been just as severe had the dog been smaller. Bites to the face are going to cause significant injury no matter what breed.

We teach our kids not to approach or pet strange dogs without permission. It's not rocket science. I really feel sorry for the poor woman. But blaming the dog for acting like a dog is silly. The blame falls on two people....the owner for putting his dog in a position where he felt he needed to bite. And the woman for being dumb enough to stick her face in the face of a dog she wasn't familiar with.

This sucks. Poor woman. Poor dog.

If she's know for segments on animals (Kyle's Kritters), she presumably has been around dogs before this. Seems that she may have been overconfident in feeling comfortable around animals. Or just forgot...

Here on the Denver TV website, most of the comments are also blaming the anchorwoman:

http://www.nbc11news.com/regionalnews/headlines/Denver_TV_anchor_bitten_by_rescued_dog_138933144.html?storySection=comments

If someone hasn't grown up around dogs, how would you know not to do that? It might be 'common sense' to dog trainers, but it might not be 'common sense' to everyone else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The owner essentially let this happen and the reporter was engaging in behavior unknowingly that brought the attack on.

From the article linked to below:

But animal experts say it was Dyer who was really at fault.

"The dog was trying to tell her, 'I am going to bite you,'" Colleen Safford, a prominent New York-based dog trainer, told Yahoo News. "Dogs 'talk' to us with their body with each and every interaction. This dog was repeatedly 'telling' the anchor that she was making him uncomfortable and if she didn't stop, he would bite."
"Basically, she did everything wrong," Ron Berman, a canine behavior specialist, told NBC. "She went up to a dog she didn't know--who didn't know her--and she either tried to kiss him or hug him or put her face too close to his face. He felt threatened and bit her."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-face-during-feel-141755422.html

Those quotes are ridiculous! This is coming from a 'dog-trainer' and a 'canine behavior specialist'. How obnoxious of them to blame the anchorwoman. Again, not everyone knows everything about every animal. Animals and people all behave differently. It's not as if the anchorwoman was pulling on the dog's or puling his tail. Yes, these 'dog specialists' know everything, but also, hindsight is 20/20.

If all these 'dog specialists' are such experts, why didn't the dog owner say 'Please don't get in my dog's face - he doesn't like that.'

Because the dog owner was downright negligent, too. Sorry, but tail pulling is not the only thing that can make a dog feel threatened. The point is, this dog didn't just go from docile to biting "out of the blue". He felt scared and threatened and was making that known, and sadly, no one there picked up on it or intervened. Preventable dog bite.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The owner essentially let this happen and the reporter was engaging in behavior unknowingly that brought the attack on.

From the article linked to below:

But animal experts say it was Dyer who was really at fault.

"The dog was trying to tell her, 'I am going to bite you,'" Colleen Safford, a prominent New York-based dog trainer, told Yahoo News. "Dogs 'talk' to us with their body with each and every interaction. This dog was repeatedly 'telling' the anchor that she was making him uncomfortable and if she didn't stop, he would bite."
"Basically, she did everything wrong," Ron Berman, a canine behavior specialist, told NBC. "She went up to a dog she didn't know--who didn't know her--and she either tried to kiss him or hug him or put her face too close to his face. He felt threatened and bit her."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-face-during-feel-141755422.html

Not everyone speaks dog.

If you don't speak dog, don't get down into a large dog's face and try to "hug" him.

While that might seem like common sense to you, it's not for most people. While unfortunate, it's the truth. It is truly obnoxious for people to blame this poor woman. Seriously, what is wrong with you?

Anonymous wrote:The owner essentially let this happen and the reporter was engaging in behavior unknowingly that brought the attack on.

From the article linked to below:

But animal experts say it was Dyer who was really at fault.

"The dog was trying to tell her, 'I am going to bite you,'" Colleen Safford, a prominent New York-based dog trainer, told Yahoo News. "Dogs 'talk' to us with their body with each and every interaction. This dog was repeatedly 'telling' the anchor that she was making him uncomfortable and if she didn't stop, he would bite."
"Basically, she did everything wrong," Ron Berman, a canine behavior specialist, told NBC. "She went up to a dog she didn't know--who didn't know her--and she either tried to kiss him or hug him or put her face too close to his face. He felt threatened and bit her."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-face-during-feel-141755422.html

Those quotes are ridiculous! This is coming from a 'dog-trainer' and a 'canine behavior specialist'. How obnoxious of them to blame the anchorwoman. Again, not everyone knows everything about every animal. Animals and people all behave differently. It's not as if the anchorwoman was pulling on the dog's or puling his tail. Yes, these 'dog specialists' know everything, but also, hindsight is 20/20.

If all these 'dog specialists' are such experts, why didn't the dog owner say 'Please don't get in my dog's face - he doesn't like that.'

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The owner essentially let this happen and the reporter was engaging in behavior unknowingly that brought the attack on.

From the article linked to below:

But animal experts say it was Dyer who was really at fault.

"The dog was trying to tell her, 'I am going to bite you,'" Colleen Safford, a prominent New York-based dog trainer, told Yahoo News. "Dogs 'talk' to us with their body with each and every interaction. This dog was repeatedly 'telling' the anchor that she was making him uncomfortable and if she didn't stop, he would bite."
"Basically, she did everything wrong," Ron Berman, a canine behavior specialist, told NBC. "She went up to a dog she didn't know--who didn't know her--and she either tried to kiss him or hug him or put her face too close to his face. He felt threatened and bit her."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-face-during-feel-141755422.html

Not everyone speaks dog.

If you don't speak dog, don't get down into a large dog's face and try to "hug" him.

Anonymous wrote:The owner essentially let this happen and the reporter was engaging in behavior unknowingly that brought the attack on.

From the article linked to below:

But animal experts say it was Dyer who was really at fault.

"The dog was trying to tell her, 'I am going to bite you,'" Colleen Safford, a prominent New York-based dog trainer, told Yahoo News. "Dogs 'talk' to us with their body with each and every interaction. This dog was repeatedly 'telling' the anchor that she was making him uncomfortable and if she didn't stop, he would bite."
"Basically, she did everything wrong," Ron Berman, a canine behavior specialist, told NBC. "She went up to a dog she didn't know--who didn't know her--and she either tried to kiss him or hug him or put her face too close to his face. He felt threatened and bit her."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-face-during-feel-141755422.html

Not everyone speaks dog.

The owner essentially let this happen and the reporter was engaging in behavior unknowingly that brought the attack on.

From the article linked to below:

But animal experts say it was Dyer who was really at fault.

"The dog was trying to tell her, 'I am going to bite you,'" Colleen Safford, a prominent New York-based dog trainer, told Yahoo News. "Dogs 'talk' to us with their body with each and every interaction. This dog was repeatedly 'telling' the anchor that she was making him uncomfortable and if she didn't stop, he would bite."
"Basically, she did everything wrong," Ron Berman, a canine behavior specialist, told NBC. "She went up to a dog she didn't know--who didn't know her--and she either tried to kiss him or hug him or put her face too close to his face. He felt threatened and bit her."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-face-during-feel-141755422.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's all these blame the victim types that probably leave their damn dogs unattended outside! So arrogant.

Not sure where you're getting that. You sound angry and ready to jump the gun.

Yes. I am angry at irresponsible owners that are doing dogs more harm than good. Don't blame other people when your dog hurts someone. 9 out of 10 times you could have prevented it. In the end it's the dogs and other people that suffer because of you.

Anonymous wrote:

Sorry, but it's unfair to blame the anchor here at all. She's a TV anchor. She's not a vet, or an animal control worker. Not everybody knows everything about every, single, animal out there. Do you know how to behave around horses?

It's great that some of you are teaching your kids how to be safe around dogs, I try to do the same with my DD. But, it's not fair to blame the victim in this case. I really see the poor anchorwoman as a victim here.

She is a victim and it's not about blame, it's about explaining what happened. I don't know how to behave around horses so guess what, I wouldn't go stick my face in its face. I haven't seen the video of what happened so I don't know if the dog owner had time or opportunity to prevent the anchor from doing what she did. You're right, she's a reporter and not an animal specialist but that's the reason why she should have exercised care with a strange animal, especially one who had just been through a trauma.

Well, you have more animal sense than most people, trust me. I've owned dogs, horses, cats, goats, you name it! And it always surprises me how unbelievably stupid some people can be around animals. When you own an animal it is your responsibility to protect people from making a mistake that could get them hurt. I watched the video. They were sitting too close, the owner was allowing her to pet and scratch the dog's chin for a full minute before it happened...it's hard to watch honestly. That size dog needs to be on a choke collar in those kinds of situations at the very least.... I would have not let her play with the dog period.

Anonymous wrote:It's all these blame the victim types that probably leave their damn dogs unattended outside! So arrogant.

Not sure where you're getting that. You sound angry and ready to jump the gun.