Other People's Dogs

As I do every night, I took Brody on our daily walk. When we get to the path I see a dog walking off leash ahead of us with its owner on a bike. But they are ahead of us so, no problemo.

Well, the other dog is being pokey and is sniffing everything and since Brody and I are walking briskly, we catch up. Brody loves to play with other dogs and to meet new people. So Brody does his usual happy greeting to the dog and the owner. I call it his downward dog dance. The other dog is a pit bull mix - not as big as Brody but not a tiny dog - and seems to want to play. I even pet the other dog. (Can you tell where this is going?)

When all of a sudden, Brody is rolled and the other dog pins Brody to the ground and just stands over him. It was like a WWF championship match with out the tights and sequins. Hulk Hogan would have been impressed.

Of course I go into protective Dog Mom mode and try to get the dog off of Brody. Not panicking but I know the urgency of the situation. (I've been to the dog park a few times, as they say.)

The whole time the other dog's owner is saying "oh it's alright, she is just trying to tell him to calm down." She even said "like in the dog whisperer". Needless to say, I am NOT buying it. And it isn't as if the other owner could do anything anyways because she is 10 feet away on her bike. (There are leash laws for a reason people!!!)

As I am literally pulling the dog off of Brody I finally say "NO, it is not ok because my dog will attack your dog if she continues!!!" I think she could finally see that I was not happy about the situation at this point.

Brody is a happy go lucky kind of dog and has never attacked another dog but he doesn't take much crap from other dogs either and will protect himself if necessary. And he certainly doesn't take kindly with other dogs telling him to not be happy and playful.

Although she may have watched Cesar Millan on "The Dog Whisperer" a few times, the other owner clearly had no clue about dog behaviour since she had no appreciation of the danger her dog was in by being so aggressive. (Or the damage I would have done to her dog in my attempt to protect my Brody Baby. I am a Dog Mom after all!!)

A dog is a dog whether it is a pit bull or a brittany or a maltese and no one should underestimate the reaction of a dog you don't know. It's just common sense - which I guess some people just don't have.