Porter and I had an ordeal this morning. In the end we both came out unharmed but I wasn't sure that was going to be the case in the moment.
They say you shouldn't get between dogs when they are fighting and I have and would give the same advice to clients if they wanted to know what the safest thing for them to do it would be. But frankly, when something goes down, I have always jumped in to protect my dogs even if it put me in harm's way. And thankfully, I have never been bit.
Today I wasn't worried about being bitten myself, but I was fearful that Porter was going to get into a very nasty fight with a very powerful dog.
A neighbor wanted to go on walks with other dogs and owners to get her dog more socialized. It sounded simple enough, but part of me was a little hesitant. But it's only a walk, not an off leash romp. Her dogs gets a bit worked up and excited near other dogs and she'd like him to walk calmly past them on the streets. One could say the same about Porter at times. So we agreed to meet and to keep our first walk with some distance between the dogs, especially since they are both intact young males.
We stopped about 30 or so feet from each other and both dogs were highly interested in each other. Porter was being horrible about giving me attention even though I brought yummy hot dogs so I did a quick whistle (his recall cue) and he turned and jogged the foot or so to me.
I guess that quick movement, or maybe the whistle, set the other dog off and he broke free of his head halter and suddenly a 120 pound dog was growling and charging straight for us. So I did what everyone tells you not to do. I stepped in front of Porter and held him behind me. As the charging dog circled around me to get to Porter I kept rotating and tried to prevent him from making contact.
What was Porter doing this whole time? He wasn't cowering and trying to run away. He was mostly trying to keep his eye on the other dog and face forward. I tried to prevent that. When the other dog lunged close to Porter's face, Porter growled right back at him. I could see a true fight happening if they got close enough and actually made physical contact with each other. Yet when I kept Porter's back tot he other dog I was worried that dog would jump on Porter's back or take a chunk of of Porter's thigh. Some dogs are more brave when attacking from the rear. There's wasn't a good solution to come up with in the spur of the moment.
The other owner wasn't just standing there like an idiot. To her defense, she was trying her hardest to grab her dog and did a good job keeping herself between us and her dog part of the time.
Oh and did I mention how I was tossing hot dog pieces at the dog's face to try and distract him? Yeah, that was about as effective as throwing cotton balls at a charging lion. But I tried it several times, since it was all I could do while circling and keeping Porter safe. I thought it seemed like a good idea at the time.
At one point I think I slipped and either let go or almost let go of Porter's harness and I thought, "Oh shit, we're done for." Thankfully at that moment the other dog had swung wide so I was able to scramble up before the two engaged.
When the other dog was caught and moved away I realized the leash and head halter was not within her reach. Do I toss it to her, and chance the movement freaks her dog out? Do I trust she has a good hold of his collar and walk it up to her? Or do I move away and trust she can hold on to him tightly while walking him over to it? I didn't consider just walking away since if the dog got loose again he could easily catch up to us. I choose the former and it all worked out fine. I moved off slightly as she was getting him back in the head halter. Hoping to be out of his line of sight if he broke free and maybe use the bushes or cars as a wall so he couldn't circle behind me to get to Porter.
But once he was outfitted things went well. I treated Porter heavily in case he was worked up and anxious but he looked normal. He sat and then laid down in the grass for more treats. He didn't look over and growl at the other dog or eyeball him, which I what I would expect after such an incident. I would have thought that he would view the other dog as a threat now, but Porter seemed unfazed.
We kept our distance for 10 minutes or so while we talked and I assessed in my head if Porter was ok and if her dog was still a threat. All seemed well. I was very impressed with Porter's bounce back. So we went on our walk and the boys did fine. We didn't let them get close enough to have a problem, but after what happened they did amazing.
I know her dog didn't actually intend to shed blood or it would have happened. But it was still extremely scary. I'm glad Porter's temperament is stable and I hope she takes my advice to get some private training to work on this issue.
We're going to meet again for a walk. I don't feel this will happen again. She walks him often and I think this was a just a horrible equipment malfunction coupled with a reactive dog, but now she knows to clip the leash to the collar as well for back up.
I look back on this and think how different my two dogs are. Indi would hate this dog for life after this. Porter let it roll off his back. But I do need to make sure there are no side effects that crop up in the next few days...weeks maybe? I'll need to keep a close eye on him to be sure he came out unscathed.
