Scooby is as sweet as they come, but he also can be a Cujo about other dogs. If I see the other dog I IMMEDIATELY put the boy in a sit stay, and bring the pinch collar up as far as I under his chin and hold him in that position until the other dog and their owner pass. If the other dog is loose, I do the same thing with Scooby - sit stay and hold that pinch up close and tight. I then scream at the top of my lungs NO and stomp my feet and make as much noise as possible. Fortunately that has startled the other dog and they generally run the other direction. If that does not work and the other dog is aggressive I do have mace attached to my walking fannie pack. I have never had to use it, but would not hesitate to do so if the other dog would attack either Scooby or me. I couldn't pull Scooby off another dog, so I try and be proactive when these situations present themselves.

I feel so bad that you had to experience that situation. How is the other dog doing? As bad as I feel for the other owner and their dog, I can't help but think if the owner had the dog on a leash, this could have been prevented. Wspecially since the dog is deaf - what if a car were coming? That poor little dog could have been run over.

We all forget that animals are territorial and will defend their "territority" including their humans. Even Scooby gets stupid when someone is walking on the sidewalk next to the house..he barks to let them know MOVE..

How are you doing Laura? I hope you are doing better...

Judy, Scooby, Daphne

I agree with you Txgal. Do what you can to stop it! Last summer Sam was walking Kain and he noticed a dog across the street a few houses up that was not on a leash. About that time the dog noticed Kain and immediately charged across the street at him. Sam went into protective mode and kicked the dog back! He got up and tried to charge at Kain, again and Sam, again did the same thing. He got the message and ran off across the street. We called animal control but they never found the dog. Every since that happened I take a bat with me when I walk Kain...not sure what I'd do with it but it makes me feel better! Laura - Kain is deaf and we would NEVER let him out in the front yard without a leash. To do that would just be so careless. The other dogs owner really should have known better and hopefully will change going forward.

Elizabeth
Kain's mom

So sorry you all went through this! I have certainly had my problems with Jinx pulling and getting really excited with barking dogs behind fences. Fortunately everyone so far in my neighborhood keeps their dogs on leads and when they see us coming scoop up their small dogs and run it the other direction...ha!

We are now using the gentle leader very successfully. Jinx took a long time to get used to it, but she finally did. I now make her sit and stay when I see anyone coming. She complains verbally when we do that, ha, but it's been working.

I must say that clicker training has made a world of difference with her. www.clickertraining.com! It's all based on positive reinforcement and it works better than any training I have ever done.

Hope you all feel better fast, I know if it were me I'd be a basket case!

Laura, my sympathies to you for the dramatic event.

I'm wondering... You know how women and children are given things to do in a worse case situation? You know, kick to the groin, punch out the tail lights if stuck in a trunk, etc.

I've never been in your situation. But is there anything anyone could do in the future when faced with your situation? Seems like it's a fairly common event. Maybe one huge tug, when the animal gets close, on your dog while you take a step forward and punt the target back into his owner's yard? Seems like a better option than getting mauled. Of course, that would depend on the size of the dog and the owner.

Or a kick to the small dog owner's groin. grrrrr

Several years ago when i was living in MO I had a similar experience with my dog, Kaper (a Belgian Shepherd/Chow mix). The couple who lived in the apartment behind ours had 2 cocker spaniels. The woman always refused to put them on a leash. "My babies are too well behaved to need leashes!" Her husband always had them on a leash. Well, when I took Kaper out to do her business one day here come one of the little snippers trotting right at us. I yelled and waved my arm and even acted like I was going to throw something at it. Nothing. Bleeping thing came right up and bit me. That was the last straw for Kaper who had up until that point been polite enough to only give a low growl and never really liked other dogs anyway. She grabbed it and down all three of us went to the ground. Her pounding the spaniel into the ground, and me trying to pull her off of it while also trying to untangle all three of us from Kaper's leash. I managed to get Kaper to drop the other dog and untangled us and it went running off screaming bloody murder. The woman finally came around the corner of the building and, get this, began screaming at ME! I was bleeding and shaking and in no mood so told her very shortly that if she'd had the dog on a leash it wouldn't have happened. The spaniel was okay thankfully but the more I thought about it over the years the more I think it was also, on a small scale, my fault that Kaper attacked. I was nervous and tense. Kaper was like a part of my soul and extremely in tune to my feelings and moods. I think she felt my nervousness and fear and reacted. She was trying to protect me and that was the only way she knew how at that point. In any case I think the moral of all these stories is very clear: Don't find out your dog's limit. Give them YOUR limit on a leash! What happened with you was that man's fault for not having the dog on a leash!

Laura,
First I am so sorry that this happened. The same thing happened with Ninja about 2 months ago where I came home and opened the door and she saw a little white maltese walking in front of our house. She flew past me and started attacking the little dog without even thinking about it. The dog was practically screaming and so was her owner. I had to haul Ninja off of the dog and I just stood there looking at the woman and had no idea what to say. Her umbrella was broken, she was covered in mud, and she had lost both of her shoes trying to rescue her dog from Ninja. I offered to help her to her house, but she said she was okay. I baked her cookies, but had no idea what street she lived on and neither did any of my other neighbors. I was so upset at the time that I went home and cried. I didn't want the people in my neighborhood to label my dog as "the bad dog", because she really isn't. Is aggression towards small animals common among Danes? Ninja would attack (and has) every little thing she could...I think she thinks they are toys, but Hank doesn't really care unless the smaller dog is being really aggressive towards him.

I used to use the prong collars on Ninja and Hank, but I never really had control over the dogs with them on. The prong collar hardly ever stopped them from pulling me if there was a squirrel or some other animal that they wanted to check out (and they went to obedience school and did great with their walking!). The best thing that I have come across is the "Gentle Leader". It totally makes sense to me and works really well with the dogs. If you think about it, would you just throw a rope around a horse's neck and expect to have control over them? They have halters for horses for a reason, and it works the same way with the Danes. Now if they see another dog or a squirrel, I first try to redirect their line of vision by turning their head away from whatever they are interested in. And if that doesn't work, they can try to pull and buck all they want, but I can keep walking them and not have them pulling me towards their new "friend". It has really made me feel better about walking them by myself because I know that I am in way more control than with the prong collar. If you try the Gentle Leader, your dogs may not like the feeling of something on their face at first (and it is not a muzzle in any way) so my trainer suggested practicing putting the halter on and taking it off several times with a lot of treat rewards and then practicing walking around the house with them with it on. It took me a day to get my stubborn dogs to accept that this is how they were going to walk from now on. So, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try if you want. I couldn't recommend it more. Btw, Carter put it on Willis last night to walk him down the street to go potty and he didn't have a problem with it at all on the first try.

Hope you're feeling better today. : )

Meg, Carter, Ninja, and Hank

You have NOOOO idea how closely I can relate to your horror story! I went through the same thing not so long ago with Jack. He saw a small dog and he pulled me so hard that he dragged me across the street and I landed on my rear finally b/c I did not want to let go.. I was so afraid that he would kill the small dog. The owners picked the dog up thankfully (after it peed all over the place). I was so embarassed. Sydney, much to my surprise, went after the dog too after I let her go to gain more control of Jack. We have about 5-7 new neighbors since then who all have dogs.... Labs, small dogs and one has a mammoth Bull Mastiff. If any of them are ever out walking when I am walking Jack, I know I will be doomed. It sacres me to death as it is inevitable that it will happen one day. But what if it is not a poodle and he encounters one of the other dogs? I can't not take them for walks.... I dread the day.
I am sooo sorry that you went through this. I know I would be crying my head off too from sheer shock! Goodness gracious thankfully that poodle is still alive! Hopefully the owner will not let his dog out again without either checking to see for any other dogs or on a leash. I sympathize with you.

Cristina
Jack & Sydney's mum

HOW SCARY.. This is my big fear with Mocha....she just doesn't get it...
It is a good thing the man understands and isn't trying to blame you for this ACCIDENT.. IT IS NOT ANYONES FAULT.....

you can both play the what ifs.....

hugs prayers and paws crossed

I can only imagine how scary that must have been. I'm so sorry and you are absolutely right....it was not your fault, not Bruizers fault. It was an accident. If anything...that little dog should have been on a leash, even to go to the mailbox with the man. Elgin goes out front with us off leash as well, something that I need to stop doing....usually to the mailbox or the greet hubby when he gets home. It could easily have happened to us... Poor Bruizer... he didn't know his own strength...and I'm sure he must have thought that little poddle was a toy for him. Praying for you to have peace and KNOW that it was an accident. Prayers sent for the mans poddle as well....that he will recover quickly.

Stacey
~in memory of Moose~