Probably the most common, inappropriate use of petting is when owners pet their dogs on the head for doing a difficult recall. Here’s Spike the German Shorthaired Pointer, playing with three other male dogs, and his owner calls him to come. Spike is pumped, he’s been playing hard among a group of competitive, same-age, same-sex buddies, but he’s a good boy who’s been well trained, so he dashes over to his owner to see what she wants.
