Q. I’m a yeshiva bochur in a choshuve yeshiva, thanks to my Zaidy shlit’a. My parents are a bit liberal and we have two large male dogs at home that roam around at their will all over the place and also join us for meals, including Shabbos and Yom Tov.
My question is, since these dogs obviously show all their body parts, is there a problem saying a brocho or divrei Torah when facing them?
A. Talmud (Brochos 25b) rules that one may not read the shema in front of the nakedness of any human. However, it is permitted in front of an animal such as a donkey. (Pri Chodosh O.H. 75: 4, Pri Megodim 75: 1, Ben Ish Chai – P. Bo, et al). Rivavos Efraim (O.H. 5: 44) maintains that even lechatchila, on the onset, it is doubtful that one should be stringent.
Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is to be lenient.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit’a