Kimber got corrected- and it was scary

[kimbersmom]

For over a year now, we've taken walks with our neighbor and her dog, Cabot, who is a black lab mix. He's about Kimber's age and size and he's slightly submissive to her on the walks. Yesterday was beautiful for walking, so we decided to stop by Cabot's house to see if he wanted to go for a walk. We've always met up outside; this was the first time we came into the house. Cabot was barking his fool head off- and not in a good way, so we kept the dogs separated while Cabot's owner leashed him up. As we were taking Kimber out the door, Cabot lunged and grabbed her neck. He was growling, she was whimpering, it was awful. Thank God DH was there, but even he had a hard time prying Cabot's jaws off of her. All of us got outside really fast, with Cabot and owner standing to the side while we did a thorough check of Kimber. She had a little saliva on her ear but otherwise absolutely no marks, and once they were outside, they both started wagging and acting happy again. We decided to go forward with our walk together, and they were as calm and cheerful as could be.

Of course, the humans weren't quite as blase! Cabot's owner was very apologetic and horrified, but in our conversations, we learned that Cabot *hates* the door bell. He just goes crazy, body slamming himself into the door. They rarely get visitors, so it's not something they've trained him out of. Also, there's never been another dog in his house, and he's very territorial in his yard. Given all that, we think the door bell + Kimber coming into his house just triggered extreme territoriality. I'm classifying what happened as a dominance/correction rather than an attack because he *could've* hurt her. And they both seemed perfectly fine once we got outside of his house.

But it was scary, and from now on, I'll text Cabot's owner to meet us outside!

[Snowshoe]

Glad Kimber is ok, I can imagine how scary it was. So lucky that encounter didn't spoil relations between the dogs and the owners.

I have to wonder if "[COLOR=#333333]dominance/correction " is right at all. Not that it matters since all is well and you will make sure it never happens again but it sounds like Cabot was maybe terrified and since flight was out he had no choice but to fight against the perceived threat of a strange dog coupled with the doorbell. Strange dog? Yes, I think possibly Kimber inside his own house was not the same dog he knows as Kimber outside on a walk. I mean in his mind.

I love the name Cabot for a Lab. We considered early explorers to Canada for a name and https://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/explorers/johncabot.htm]John Cabot was an earl pick of mine.

[POPTOP]

Scary is right! Maybe this is the eye opener that Cabot's owner needs to work on his issues. What if EMS needs to get into the house?

Glad Kimber is OK.

[xracer4844]

Snowshoe is right about "strange dog". Usually when a dog is riled up in that state they lose track of their smell and other senses because they are so overwhelmed with, in this case, the doorbell - the site of another dog sometimes is enough to trigger a bite. They bite without realizing who or what they are biting. You are right it could have been a lot worse. Dog fights are the same way. 90% of all dog owners have no idea how to stop a dog fight safely and end up being bitten and seriously injured by their own "pet".

I am very protective of my dog simply because he is very submissive. I work with a lot of aggressive dogs, so dog fights and dominance are all very real situations. Unfortunately - the safest way to get a dog off of another dog or to get a dog to release it's bite is a very physical skill that hopefully no one needs to learn.

[BaconsMom]

So scary! No advice, but glad to hear Kimber is ok!

[kimbersmom]

Glad Kimber is ok, I can imagine how scary it was. So lucky that encounter didn't spoil relations between the dogs and the owners.

I have to wonder if "[COLOR=#333333]dominance/correction " is right at all. Not that it matters since all is well and you will make sure it never happens again but it sounds like Cabot was maybe terrified and since flight was out he had no choice but to fight against the perceived threat of a strange dog coupled with the doorbell. Strange dog? Yes, I think possibly Kimber inside his own house was not the same dog he knows as Kimber outside on a walk. I mean in his mind.

That's a really good insight. He was in such a barking frenzy, he didn't sniff or greet her while in the house. He usually loves DH, but when DH tried to distract him, he seemed oblivious to DH. I wouldn't be surprised if he saw all 3 of us as just strangers and went into high alert.

The owners think that in their old house, neighborhood teenagers used to ring the doorbell when no one was home just to taunt poor Cabot. They're nice people but not really big on training, sad to say.

[bett]

they should disconnect the god damn bell.

[CraftHer]

Glad Kimber and Cabot are both OK. I bet that was so scary.

[SnappinSami]

Awww... Poor Kimber! And poor Cabot, too. I'm just glad everyone is OK!

[smartrock]

Sorry that happened to Kimber! I'm not even sure I'd consider that a correction myself but maybe I don't appreciate the full scope of what a correction might be. Cabot was already worked up about the door bell ringing and she got caught up in his frenzy. I think of a correction more as a fairly quick (if scary) growl and snap that wouldn't require anyone to pry one dog's jaws off the other. I guess you'll be meeting outside from now on. I'm glad no one got hurt in this exchange, including your husband trying to get Cabot off Kimber!