Help me stop accidentally hurting my dog

boogetyboo@aussie.zone to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 201 points –

I wear UGG boots in winter because it's fucking cold.

I also wrap myself in a blanket on the couch, and have a lovely area rug so I don't have to walk on a cold floor. All these things are necessary to survive the winter; my house isn't well insulated.

The problem with all this, is that I build up a static charge. So when I go to pat my beautiful sweetheart of a dog, I zap him. It's audible and I'm sure, quite unpleasant. Often on the head. He obviously doesn't like that, I think he's taking it personally, and I feel awful. It completely cancels out the affection I'm trying to show him.

So the question for the Lemmy community is:

How do I discharge the static before I pat my dog? I have started shocking my partner (which he doesn't like, but accepts over the alternative), before patting my dog. But as he's out tonight, I have no human vessel to offer as tribute?

What can I touch in my house before patting my dog so that he doesn't receive a shock?

Edit: standard Australian house and furniture

Another edit: I'm all the sheets to the wind so the engineering advice is not sinking in. But I'm loving the immediate response that I'd never have gotten on Deaddit.

Again: I can't stop giggling at how helpful everyone is being and how short m, drunk and silly I am, in a house with apparently no metal

And again: I should probably take me and my baby to bed now, but a big thank you to everyone who replied. You've all been lovely. Lemmy is really a different space to ask these questions! I'll be trying out many of your suggestions over the weekend; big thanks from me and my boy x

Final: thanks to everyone who responded. I did try the kitchen tap again last night and this time it worked! Mustn't have built up enough charge when I tried the night I posted. I will still primarily zap my partner's leg as it's usually closer and doing it makes me laugh. It's important he understands where he fits in the household hierarchy as well. I also learnt that American houses are very different (screws and radiators everywhere!) so that was interesting too.

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I've read all the responses here and am horrified that you seem to live in an ungrounded plastic bubble. Is that a Canberra thing? Or can't even find a small metal object the size of a coin to make discharging painless, how why?

If it's an old house there should be tonnes of metal things to touch.

Corners of walls, radiators or central air vents or return air vents, screws on switches or power outlets, furniture with metal bits on it, sinks taps and water fixtures with metal parts, thermostat, fireplace casing.

Literally touch everything and report back.

Not an old houuse (2015 build), not sure if we have coins but I'll check..

No vents in reach and certainly no radiators, no screws.. No metal furniture... No screws... The sink didn't work... No fireplace.

I'm not in Coober Pedy but may as well be it seems!

My partner has this problem a lot. The fridge zaps her pretty often (metal door and handle). There must be a metal surface somewhere on yours? Maybe the shelves? Or the stove / oven?

ETA: As a person who occasionally kicks my kitties when I go to the bathroom in the dark, I sympathize. It's a terrible feeling when you startle or hurt them. Luckily, they seem to know that I'm a clumsy idiot and accept my immediate apologies.

If you have a desktop computer with a metal case, touch the case.

Go to the hardware store and buy a metal pipe to use as a walking stick