martin2017
New member
A few days ago my partner and I were hiking with Bonanza (reactive dog). We walked by a woman with her kid, who let us know that her husband and the dog were just ahead. We paused, thanked her for letting us know and asked if it was leashed. It wasn't, so she yelled ahead to tell her husband to put it on leash. Instead, the dog thought it was being recalled and came sprinting at us from around a wooded corner.
It was huge, graceful and muscular and headed straight for B as soon as it saw her (not aggressively...more like it wanted to play). Thanks to all I've learned from this thread and the trainers I've worked with, I calmly told my partner to retreat with B, then I stepped towards the oncoming big buddy and...
I made a low, abrupt, loud 'HALT' sound that I genuinely couldn't replicate if I tried (I'm normally very soft spoken, so this was pretty neat to pull off). It worked. The oncoming dog immediately slowed, looked surprised and veered off the other way. Catastrophe avoided, and with minimal intervention...but the lady was APPALLED. When I turned around she was staring at me with shock on her face and hissed "you did NOT have do that". The momentary relief and pride I felt at redirecting the dog drained, and all I could muster was a quiet "It was for your dog, not mine. It was to keep your dog safe. I'm sorry you had to see that."
And then I kept obsessing about what I should have done differently for the next hour, and I'm *still* thinking about it days later. But...it's okay because it could have been way worse, and I advocated for my dog. I just wish it hadn't been so awful and shocking for the lady, I suppose. I also wish I had been a bit more direct in my explanation and said something like "I just put my own body between our dogs to keep them both safe, and I wish I hadn't had to do that."
ANYWAYS: long post, but thank you for 1.5 years of helpful advice and guidance, and especially for the sense of community. Y'all helped me keep Bonanza safe, and I appreciate it!
It was huge, graceful and muscular and headed straight for B as soon as it saw her (not aggressively...more like it wanted to play). Thanks to all I've learned from this thread and the trainers I've worked with, I calmly told my partner to retreat with B, then I stepped towards the oncoming big buddy and...
I made a low, abrupt, loud 'HALT' sound that I genuinely couldn't replicate if I tried (I'm normally very soft spoken, so this was pretty neat to pull off). It worked. The oncoming dog immediately slowed, looked surprised and veered off the other way. Catastrophe avoided, and with minimal intervention...but the lady was APPALLED. When I turned around she was staring at me with shock on her face and hissed "you did NOT have do that". The momentary relief and pride I felt at redirecting the dog drained, and all I could muster was a quiet "It was for your dog, not mine. It was to keep your dog safe. I'm sorry you had to see that."
And then I kept obsessing about what I should have done differently for the next hour, and I'm *still* thinking about it days later. But...it's okay because it could have been way worse, and I advocated for my dog. I just wish it hadn't been so awful and shocking for the lady, I suppose. I also wish I had been a bit more direct in my explanation and said something like "I just put my own body between our dogs to keep them both safe, and I wish I hadn't had to do that."
ANYWAYS: long post, but thank you for 1.5 years of helpful advice and guidance, and especially for the sense of community. Y'all helped me keep Bonanza safe, and I appreciate it!