I agree with Liarie that maybe something is being lost in translation here, but I'm an American and also think that patting a person head is odd at best. As for Scratch and head pats, I actually thought it was cool that the folks who designed the pet interactions seem to be aware that most dogs really don't like being patted on top of the head.
In general, it would be nice if there were more choices for interactions, including physical ones, with your party members, though. And it would also be cool if different party members responded differently to those interactions. Not everyone likes being hugged, for instance, and some people like affectionate physical teasing/horseplay of various kinds, and some don't. I suppose we'd still be waiting for the game to be released, plus it would take up even more space on our hard drives if they went wild with stuff like this, though
