Put the damn dog in another room.

[crazylegs]

You've phoned an ambulance. This means you're either hurt, sick, scared or a combination of all three. This means the dog will be anxious/scared. When I rock up the dog has no comprehension that I'm there to help so will defend you. This defence will start at barking & will eventually progress to biting. Furthermore I've got several thousand pounds worth of equipment & don't want some dog slobbering over it.

If your dog is barking, or showing any signs of aggression whatsoever I will hold my bag defensively (between me & the dog) and won't enter the room until the dog is gone. You might think the dog is all sweetness & light but I don't know it & it doesn't know me.

Put the damn dog in another room.

[SkullBash]

Oh wow. I never would have thought of that being a common hazard, but it makes sense. Reason #678 to say bless you and the work you do.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Yup, I can completely see this.

Back when I got my wisdom teeth out, my mom brought me back from the surgery and settled me onto the big fluffy couch in front of our big screen TV. Still completely out on meds, I dozed off. She apparently did some cleaning, then came to check on me before she went back to work.

Both my dog Ranger, and my brother's dog Daisy (whom we were doggysitting) got between her and me. Daisy stood over me, and Ranger pushed my mom away with his head. Nothing violent, just a "stay away, she's not right, so don't bother her" kind of thing.

I'm not sure how they'd react to an EMT rushing the house and trying to attend to one of us. Actually they'd probably do a lot of whimpering and watching.

It totally wouldn't do to have the person trying to save you get bit by your dog and end up with the both of you in the hospital

[BowserKoopa1]

Back when I delivered pizzas, I drove up to this one house and it was very dark. Before I could even get out of the car, 2 medium to big sized dogs approach my car and start circling it, barking at me. Since I can't understand canine, I have no idea what they're saying or if they're friendly or not, but I was guessing that they were suspicious of me, as I'm sure the owner didn't speak canine either, and probably didn't even attempt to tell the dogs that he ordered pizza so don't try to intimidate the delivery driver
Anyway I called his house and asked him to please lock the dogs up, and he gave me such an attitude about it, with a "what's the big deal" look. On top of that I got a shitty tip too. Point is, I'm not taking a chance with any dog that responds unfriendly like towards me. Keep your stupid dogs away and lock them up.

[crazylegs]

Both my dog Ranger, and my brother's dog Daisy (whom we were doggysitting) got between her and me. Daisy stood over me, and Ranger pushed my mom away with his head. Nothing violent, just a "stay away, she's not right, so don't bother her" kind of thing.

Aye - and that's someone they know. Like you said, with a stranger (especially in a uniform, for some reason that is more of a trigger..?) they would react differently.

[raudf]

When a neighbor was dying, the first thing we did was remove her dog from the scene. The poor thing was terrified and even the best behaved, sweetest dog will bite under the conditions she was in. Scare, knowing something was wrong with her caregiver, and strangers in the house, along with being mini-poodle, just seemed like a bad idea to keep her in there.

As for deliveries to our home, where multiple large and small dogs reside.. never get out. We don't WANT you getting out of the vehicle. Just honk and one of us will come out. Given not all of the dogs in our yard are ours (our neighbors occasionally like to visit our dogs and play) and that while we're certain only one of ours is likely a biter (and wouldn't you know it'd be the rat-terrier and not the big dogs) just.. drive up and honk.

Inside the house, one cat goes fleeing into another room.. and the big black fur rug kitteh tries wrapping himself around legs. HE gets shut in another room if it's an emergency or repair being done.

[Fudgethatkay]

I feel lucky that my dog is very tame around EMTs. They had to come in twice within a month's time for my mother, due to her stroke and problems afterwards, and once already last year.

My dog, a rough collie (think of Lassie) will just get up, sniff the EMTs, and walk around nervously mom, but never in an aggressive manner. She is more likely to attack me for playing with my mom than she is an EMT for handling her. (and not even real attack, she plays too.)

We did have to put her in the room last time, though, the pacing was bothering mom and she couldn't focus.

But when it comes to delivery, mailmen, etc. Daisy is never a problem. She will bark when you come to the door, but that is only to let us know you're there. LOL

[dendawg]

Inside the house, one cat goes fleeing into another room.. and the big black fur rug kitteh tries wrapping himself around legs. HE gets shut in another room if it's an emergency or repair being done.

LOL yep...sometimes a friendly pet can be just as bad as a defensive/aggressive one. When I was with my ex and she was the manager of a trailer park, I did monthly water meter readings...basically just plug in the reader and write down what it said. This one trailer had a beautiful Husky that just loved me, and jumped all over me when I came to do my reading, sometimes wrapping his tie-out cable around my ankle.

[Pixilated]

*snip*
Anyway I called his house and asked him to please lock the dogs up, and he gave me such an attitude about it, with a "what's the big deal" look. On top of that I got a shitty tip too. Point is, I'm not taking a chance with any dog that responds unfriendly like towards me. Keep your stupid dogs away and lock them up.

"No big deal, I'll just take your pizza back because I'm not getting out with these dogs here."

Unfortunately there are people who think this sort of thing is funny.

[dalesys]

... please lock the dogs up...

We want pizza, the dogs want piece-a person.

[csquared]

I have been wondering about that myself lately. I had heart trouble earlier this year. My dog is old, deaf and blind. She never was good around new people. If I was forced to call an ambulance, i would make sure to give advanced warning, but I am not sure what else I could do.

[Bardmaiden]

I feel lucky that my dog is very tame around EMTs. They had to come in twice within a month's time for my mother, due to her stroke and problems afterwards, and once already last year.

Our dog was like that, let us know that they had arrived and went to a safe spot to watch, we would normally shoo him into another room just so he was out of the way. My grandad had to have the EMTs out quite a few times due to strokes and lung cancer but the last time they came to my grandad was very different.

The dog who normally was sweet and didn't bother the EMTs growled, wouldn't leave my grandads side and tried to bite me when I had to forceably remove him. A few days later my grandad died, we think he had picked up that he was dying and just went into full on protective mode.

[raudf]

I have been wondering about that myself lately. I had heart trouble earlier this year. My dog is old, deaf and blind. She never was good around new people. If I was forced to call an ambulance, i would make sure to give advanced warning, but I am not sure what else I could do.

If you have someone you can trust come take the dog (or stay with the dog), make arrangements now. That way, if you have to have an ambulance, the poor pooch won't be left without someone or in the way and likely to hurt herself or an EMT. If there is another in the house, after they call the ambulance, have them call the contact.

That's what happened. The neighbor's housemate called us to handle the dog and do first aid until the ambulance arrived. The poor thing was so scared she refused to leave her owner, but we got her out in time to keep her from being a problem.. and when the neighbor passed away, the dog passed into my MIL's keeping, because the woman's kids were too busy bickering about the china.

[TheCheerfulTreeRat]

The dog who normally was sweet and didn't bother the EMTs growled, wouldn't leave my grandads side and tried to bite me when I had to forceably remove him. A few days later my grandad died, we think he had picked up that he was dying and just went into full on protective mode.

It wouldn't surprise me if that's what the dog ended up being trained to do - associate his owner being unhappy, with EMTs

[AmbrosiaWriter]

and when the neighbor passed away, the dog passed into my MIL's keeping, because the woman's kids were too busy bickering about the china.