| Thanks Mick for the well written post. I was waiting for this one and understand much more now why my dog hasn't shown much agression. She definetly falls into the mid-strength category.
My only question is - what is considered a direct threat? Won't that vary from dog to dog or situation to situation? Is it always a physical threat or is it determined by a dog's "sixth" sense? Can you elaborate a little more on what direct might mean?
For instance on our walks my dog (19 month old female) struts very confidently, checking everything out and if she sees let's say a group of teenagers hanging on a corner she will stop and observe them for minutes sometimes, seemingly assessing their intent and behavior, then she will pass on by, still watching but without any agressive display, no growl, no bark, no bristle of fur. However, the other night two people (a man and a woman) were arguing (the man was threatening to hit the woman) in their car parked along our walking route and she stopped again in erect Rottie stance and observed for many minutes, then she strongly insisted on lead that I let her go over to the car, jumped up on the side, stuck her head in the window and let out on big deep, "Woof!" Then she continued on our walk, looking back occasionally until we were out of sight of the car. Needless to say she startled the two people arguing and they seemed to stop at least momentarily. This was not a "direct threat" in my opinion but she may have felt that it was. I certainly was very tense and nervous when I saw the man about to hit the woman and I'm sure that she must have felt my reaction. Please let me know your thoughts if possible.
Thanks again for the great post.
Rott4me  |