Ugh what a disaster last night.
Walking home late last night a man is walking his lab on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Off leash. I see the dog look over at us with a look that I well recognize from my own lab as he locates a possible friend/breeding partner. I didn't think much at first but then in less than 20 seconds everything happened so quickly I barely had time to react. The lab decides to cross the 4 lane street at a sprint. The owner calls out to him in vain and begins to follow. Leia jumps back. Her collar slips over her head. The Lab arrives. Leia takes off running at full speed. She makes it almost 40m down the sidewalk before slamming on the breaks and turning around. The man arrives while calling out apologies and grabs his dogs collar. Leia is sprinting back towards me. The man is bending down next to me putting on a leash. I notice the look in her eye. I call out to her. In vain. She lunges mouth fully opened and hits most likely where she was aiming, his neck. He's knocked on his side and she sort of flys over him. The lab freaks and growls will lunging as she rolls on to her feet. She lands a bite on the underside of the labs neck as I manage to get my arm around her own neck. The guy has managed to grab his labs collar and I'm already moving away from them holding on to Leia's scruff.
no more than 20 seconds. Felt like 20 minutes.
I get her collar back on. The man is bleeding lightly. She's got some of his shirt stuck in her teeth. The lab is barking. She's snarling. I apologize, he apologizes. Supposedly the lab has never crossed the street, supposedly Leia has never done that before. We're both pretty shaken and move on quickly.
So yes, collar tighter in the future and while I'm glad that she didn't leave me high and dry in the end not to mention not running into the street and getting hit by a bus. I'm a little less than thrilled that her first reaction was to run from the other dog. Can you teach a dog to stand it's ground? She certainly doesn't like to give an inch when playing with our other dog. Is it because she's only 7 months. Is this a temperament fail?
If you can teach her to stand her ground, how do you do that?
Walking home late last night a man is walking his lab on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Off leash. I see the dog look over at us with a look that I well recognize from my own lab as he locates a possible friend/breeding partner. I didn't think much at first but then in less than 20 seconds everything happened so quickly I barely had time to react. The lab decides to cross the 4 lane street at a sprint. The owner calls out to him in vain and begins to follow. Leia jumps back. Her collar slips over her head. The Lab arrives. Leia takes off running at full speed. She makes it almost 40m down the sidewalk before slamming on the breaks and turning around. The man arrives while calling out apologies and grabs his dogs collar. Leia is sprinting back towards me. The man is bending down next to me putting on a leash. I notice the look in her eye. I call out to her. In vain. She lunges mouth fully opened and hits most likely where she was aiming, his neck. He's knocked on his side and she sort of flys over him. The lab freaks and growls will lunging as she rolls on to her feet. She lands a bite on the underside of the labs neck as I manage to get my arm around her own neck. The guy has managed to grab his labs collar and I'm already moving away from them holding on to Leia's scruff.
no more than 20 seconds. Felt like 20 minutes.
I get her collar back on. The man is bleeding lightly. She's got some of his shirt stuck in her teeth. The lab is barking. She's snarling. I apologize, he apologizes. Supposedly the lab has never crossed the street, supposedly Leia has never done that before. We're both pretty shaken and move on quickly.
So yes, collar tighter in the future and while I'm glad that she didn't leave me high and dry in the end not to mention not running into the street and getting hit by a bus. I'm a little less than thrilled that her first reaction was to run from the other dog. Can you teach a dog to stand it's ground? She certainly doesn't like to give an inch when playing with our other dog. Is it because she's only 7 months. Is this a temperament fail?
If you can teach her to stand her ground, how do you do that?