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Last evening I was walking down my walkway to take my bichon for a walk. A lady was walking past with two labs.
One of them tore loose from her and ran at my dog snarling and snapping and kept after him as he tried to run away circling me with the leash. The lady was slow in getting things under control because she had to manage the other dog with her. It happened too quickly for me to react and within two sec I was on the ground having stumbled from the dogs circling me while I held the leash.
It was fast, scary, and both the lady and I were awfully upset. It was a female lab--ten years old who according to the owner NEVER did anything like this and loved other dogs including small ones who lived next door. How does a dog suddenly do this? It was just about to be dusk--could the dark and my dog's being white have anything to do with it?
I'm so sorry for your encounter. A dog doesn't suddenly do this. Trust me, it's not the first time this has happened with that dog. The number one phrase I hear every single day when a dog lunges at my 4 month old puppy is, "Oh my God, my dog has never done anything like this!" Right. I have no sympathy for those that can't control their dogs. As you can see, this is a sore subject with us, since our dog has been bitten on several occasions, with the owner claiming they never act aggressive.
Dogs have there own minds, a lot different from people. You can have the best trained dog around and think you may have everything under control but still, a dog is a dog and they're going to react differently sometimes no matter what.
I wouldn't call it an aggression issue and I wouldn't blame the other woman since all the dogs were on leashes.
It's like having kids that don't like other kids. They get into fights and animals are the same way in this respect. It's up to the person to try to control them but it's not always going to happen that way.
If you ever watch the Dog Whisperer, he tells you that your energy/vibes have something to do with the way a dog reacts. Most people freak out when they see other dogs coming toward there dog and it makes things worse. Actually, I don't know how Ceser does it but if I had a small dog, I'd freak out too if a big dog came towards me.
I'm sorry this happened to your dog and hopefully your dog wasn't hurt.
My last dog, a yellow lab, was the most docile, friendly thing on the planet. When she was about 7-8, she absolutely went on a tear after a greyhound. No snarling, but she had NOT ever done anything like that before. It happened again with another greyhound a few years later. I have no clue why the greyhounds bothered her. There was never any agressiveness per se, but she was DETERMINED to get away from me, and to them.
My dog was limp with fear but we continued on the walk because I needed to see if all was in working order and also not to get a pattern of avoidance started. It was clear that the lab was coming for busines from the get go--pulling away from the lady--it just seemed so unpredictable that I think something must have been going on--for instance could this dog be prey- driven towards cats or say rabbits and it was a mistaken identity though she continued the aggression after coming close enough to know better. Any thing about labs that might explain this? I am just curious--all seems well after the incident. I feel sorry for the lady as she was as distressed as I was.
I can imagine how she felt.
I have a lab mix and have had 2 lab mixes.
My youngest brother has a lab and a miniature schnauzer and I used to dog sit for some labs and golden retreivers. All these dogs have been around small dogs and have gotten along so I don't think it has anything to do with being prey.
I've done some research on dog aggression and have wondered why dogs attack other dogs and have come to the conclusion of it's dogs being dogs and we never know how they're going to react. That's mostly what I'm reading anyway.
I am happy to know that your dog wasn't hurt though.
I can say through experience though (and a bad one) that this is true, that we never know how our dogs will react no matter how calm they normally are.
I'm sure the other person was upset, but she needs to have her animals under control at all times. You could have broken a vertebra by falling down or been bitten in the fray. If she can't watch them both and hold onto them both, she should walk one at a time. Sorry this happened to you!
Appreciate the good wishes. Made me wonder though about generally walking. I always thought if an aggressive animal came at me I would have time to pick up Kirby and get things under control. Not so. I learned that. We have a leash law and there aren't usually loose dogs though one could always get out. Now I think I should have some protection just in case. Is there anything anyone would recommend that could be used that would work to humanely deter a dog--a pepper spray??
Get a can of Direct stop which is a citronella spray made by the same company that makes the citronella bark and training collars. It is harmless to dogs and will stop them. You can even get it with a belt clip or it is small enough to fit in a large pocket.
was fast, scary, and both the lady and I were awfully upset. It was a female lab--ten years old who according to the owner NEVER did anything like this and loved other dogs including small ones who lived next door. How does a dog suddenly do this? It was just about to be dusk--could the dark and my dog's being white have anything to do with it?
If she's had the dog that long, chances are it may have shown some aggression towards small dogs before.
How scary for you. I'm glad you and your dog are okay. What about buying some pepper spray?
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