A doggy dilemma and how first impressions can be misleading…

…especially if you’re a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Sunny was found tied to a fence in a car park, (How could anyone do that to any living thing?) and is now at an RSPCA Animal Centre waiting for a new home, one where he will be loved. There’s only one problem. When visitors walk by looking for their dream dog, Sunny enthusiastically tells them:

“I’d love to go for a walk and play on the grass.”

“Please, take me home with you.”

“My suitcase is packed and ready.”

Unfortunately the visitors don’t understand Dog-lish and to them his conversation sounds like a series of angry barks.

If only those visitors could take him for a walk and play with him on the grass, they would soon see that far from being an angry barking dog, he really is a little softie…

So you see how first impressions can be misleading.

(The above photograph was taken by Daughter who volunteers at the RSPCA.)

It’s not only dogs who have trouble with first impressions. We often make judgements on other people based on a brief introduction, even though we all know that being shy or nervous can affect the way a person is perceived. How do we overcome this problem? It is especially important when going for a job interview where it can affect someone’s future career. I don’t know the answer but I know that I have often assumed that someone is unfriendly until I get to know them and then I invariably realise how very wrong my first impressions were.

I am now wondering how I come across to people on a first introduction. (They possibly can’t see beyond the fact that I talk too much!)

Have you ever made a glaring mistake based on first impressions and how do you think you might be perceived on a first meeting?

If you’re interested in giving Sunny a loving home then here is another adorable photograph of him together with his contact details.
Sunny at the RSPCA's Southridge Animal Centre.