As the weather warms and Iowans spend more time outdoors, many of us will be crossing paths with more canines. This is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. Pam Wiese, spokeswoman for the Humane Society in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says even the friendliest of dogs can snap. “Depending on the situation, your extremely happy, sweet, I-love-everybody dog can be set up for failure,” Wiese says. “You can put him in a situation he’s never experienced before where he’s terrified or maybe he feels like he needs to protect you or somebody else, so you don’t always know.”

Always ask the owner’s permission before you pet a dog and do so carefully, she says. Dogs will use their body language to tell you how they feel by the position of their ears, mouth, eyes and tail. All dogs have teeth, Wiese reminds, and all dogs can bite. “If a dog runs away from you, don’t chase it,” Wiese says. “If a dog is in a corner, oftentimes we back dogs into corners, we don’t mean to, but we do, and if he feels like he has nowhere to flee, if it’s fight or flight, he may choose to fight and bite.”

Wiese says the most important message is, if you are approached by an angry or dangerous dog, don’t run. Pretend you’re a tree. “Stand perfectly still. Don’t make eye contact with the dog. Keep your arms down by your sides,” Wiese says. “Don’t make any moves that would prompt the dog to chase or that could be seen as aggression.”

One group that’s especially concerned about dog bites is postal employees. Last year, there were more than 67-hundred recorded dog attacks nationwide on letter carriers. That’s up 200 from the previous year.

(Radio Iowa)

A domestic incident in Underwood late Wednesday night resulted in the arrest early this (Thursday) morning of a man on an assault charge. Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a Deputy was called to a home in Underwood at around 11:15-p.m., Wednesday. After arriving, he spoke with a 38-year old woman who said her boyfriend, 46-year old Robert Lee Robinson, Jr., of Underwood, had “poked her really hard,” in the face.

Robinson was subsequently taken into custody for Domestic Assault with Injury, an Aggravated Misdemeanor.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 42-year-old Sioux City man has been accused of using a belt on his daughter after she refused to do laundry. Court records say Ricardo Cordova-Larios is charged with child endangerment causing injury. He was arrested Sunday. Jail records show he remained in custody Wednesday.  Court documents say bruises on the 14-year-old girl’s back, neck and upper torso matched the outline of a belt.

AKRON, Iowa (AP) – The impending loss of three longtime doctors has upset many of their patients in the small northwest Iowa community of Akron. The Sioux City Journal reports that some local residents have started a petition drive aimed at keeping Dr. Cynthia Wolf and her husband, Dr. David Wolff, and Dr. Allison Schoenfelder, practicing at Akron Mercy Medical Clinic.

The doctors have told Mercy officials that they won’t be renewing contracts that expire June 30. They have declined to comment publicly about their intentions.

A community corporation owns the clinic, which is leased by Sioux City-based Mercy Medical Center. Mercy Medical Center spokesman Dave Smetter says Mercy “will continue operation of the Akron clinic with qualified physicians going forward.”