@bonnieb 1) I agree with other comments - this is an adorable, rad, sweet story. Thanks for sharing!
2) As an animal behavioristand trainer, I do have a few things I wanna add. BUT I don't mean to be a bummer here or one of those animal people who instantly finds some issue with a perfectly lovely or admirable or cute experience you shared with your pet. So please keep in mind that me putting in my two cents from an animal behavior perspective here is not me discounting the fact that your pup did great. And you
should feel proud, feel safe, feel loved. He did just what his instincts and evolution taught/bred him to do. Nothing wrong with that.
That said, I do want to emphasize that now is a good time to make sure he doesn't develop any negative associations with that event. I'm saying this ,particularly because of his age.
Your 7-month-old is right around the age that the
Second Fear Impact Stage / Period occurs.
You very well may already know all about this. But if not, or if you want a refresher, here's a quick summary: The second fear impact period isn't something we can spot or test for as it's happening in our dogs. But we do know it's perfectly natural and occurs in all dogs during their late juvenile stage of development (aka silly but smart late childhood/preteens) and/or early adolescence (aka early, rambunctious, rebellious, yet insecure teen years).
This fear period takes place between 6 to 14 months of age. "Generally, this critical age occurs earlier for small dogs and later for larger ones."
Your guys a Corgi (LOVE THAT BREEDS! Too cute), so he's on the "little" end of this spectrum, placing him right there. But also a lil tuff guy!
"Dogs who experience stress or trauma at this age can experience larger, related behavioral problems or consequences later in life, so it’s important to be sensitive to training needs during this time." ( AKC)
"Even confident / well-socialized puppies go through a phase of being concerned about something that might seem silly to us. "
Same goes for an event like this one; one that, in the moment, was natural, heroic, and necessary-or even just felt so to him and you at the time. The problem is (sometimes) that during this stage, everything from normal yet strange and startling new events (think thunderstorms, or vaccum cleaners) to actually traumatizing ones (like a mean kid kicking your dog, or in this case a scary stranger coming to potentially hurt you) can leave a lasting, negative impact that alters the dogs behavior in a long term sense, if not nipped in the bud.
But don't fear. This can be prevented by you (and/or the help of a good trainer or behaviorist).
"Just because we know that the vacuum cleaner turning on, a plastic bag blowing in the wind, (or lightening, or all men) isn’t something dangerous, your puppy doesn’t have the same understanding of the world. Fear periods are a developmentally normal part of growing up for dogs and something for us to be thoughtful and intentional about preparing for."
So that's all I'm saying: be prepared for this stage and any new responses from him following this event. Keep a close eye on him for now. Give him lots of love. And treat for good behavior by all means! But don't form a connection between bad, scary, or threatening people or things happening to you/him and treats/praise.
It is especially important to take the lead for right now in body language and behavior, and don't encourage him to continue to feel the need to protect you against non-harmful people. Make sure he doesn't form any negative associations between that event and objects, sounds, smells, clothing, humans, etc., that were related to what happened. And encourage confidence in him by ensuring you're his confident human protector, as well!
I'm
not saying he is traumatized. I'm just saying be extra attentive for a bit in terms of his development and make sure that the experience doesn't fix in his mind as a traumatic one he needs to be prepared for.