It's pretty hard to tell from this brief clip. It looked to me like the dog was not comfortable with this man in the first place and when he began to stand up he leaned over the dog -- the dog took this as a threat and responded.

I would have liked to see the entire incident. It looks like the dog stop as soon as the officer pulled the lead. My opinion, it looked like the dog was setting rank by snapping rather than a full on attack. If, you watch the reporter putting his hand on the neck and moving his body up and to the rear of the dog. The dog might have though the reporter was trying to mount him to show dominance. The dog clearly didn't feel comfortable around this guy.

A stupid handler that can't read his dogs oh so obvious body language. I saw this previously and thought "that guys getting bit." <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

The ears where all laid back and I personaly don't let strangers that get that close and over any of my dogs except maybe Maggie and she has to initiat it. I'm not a K9 handler but that looked sloppy

QUOTE from Anne: Now that I hashed that out, I turn to the handler. Any handler (or owner) of any dog must tell other people how to act around the dog. The handler seems to have assumed that his dog is well-trained enough and that most people know how to act around dogs.
Most people, including that reporter, don't know how to pet a dog politely (and bites do result). Because the dog cannot communicate to the petter in ways that the person (petter) understands, it is the handler's/owner's responsibility to communicate (politely) to the petter as to how to pet the dog (pettee). END

Also, reinforcing Ann's message, an excerpt from ClickerSolutions.com: "........ there is also the "leaning over" part, where when we come into close contact with a dog, or go to pet or feed it from a standing position, we tend to place part of our bodies over and above the dog's body, which again can be viewed as an attempt to dominate."

And a final comment, if I may: I always tell people not to put their heads near (and especially over) a strange dog's head. Dogs don't think of a stranger's head near theirs as a sign of affection/hugging, etc., and this is an important point to teach children, especially, who might otherwise try to hug a strange dog. The dog sees that strange head near/above his head not only as dominance, but also as a possible bite approaching him.

When strangers ask to pet my 2yr old Golden Ret or my 5mos. old GSD I generally put the dog in a sit stay and then ask them to pet under the dogs chin with their palm up. I hope this is correct if not please let me know the correct way to allow someone to pet my dogs after I have given them permission.
Thanks
Terry

Treat them like they are animals
Train them like they are animals
Love them like they are people ................. Louis Grant

Okay, I have to ask: does anyone know the rest of the story? How badly was the reporter injured? What happened to the PSD? The handler?

I believe that is most correct, Terry.

However, with Abby, I tell children to pet the top of her head. It prevents her from kissing excessively! (Abby is a therapy dog - she gets lots of practice with strangers giving hugs and kisses)