Bfgrn
Gold Member
- Apr 4, 2009
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Labs I think are in the top ten of dogs that have bitten/mauled/killed.
I took Klaus to the dog park the other day, and a lady came with a lab mix bitch...a young dog. Klaus as usual was very excited; they were both on leash, I wanted to let them both run but her dog flipped and started snapping and lunging. Now klaus was barking and jumping too...I made him sit down though and wait for permission to do anything. I think it would have been okay; she wasn't big enough to hurt Klaus and Klaus does really well with psycho females since he has one at home, but the owner dragged her away. I was on the way out..I would have stayed but I thought it looked like the owner was nervous so I went ahead and left.
The owner should have taken her dog, made her sit, and kept her there until both dogs calmed down. Then we could go to the next step...People think avoidance is a good policy with difficult dogs. It's not. You have to work through whatever it is. I have a hard time getting people to do that when I have klaus because he's intimidating, and because he is, he triggers dogs...they become fearful. Then the people become fearful, and I can't manage my big goober and their dog and them too....it's frustrating.
No, labs are one of the least likely. They are probably the biggest population of any medium to large breed, with a very low relative risk of fatal attack.