One of my previous dogs panicked when a friend walked into the house wearing a hat. She had her pinned in a corner, barking furiously. I yelled, "Take off the hat!"

My dog was VERY embarrassed when she realized who The Killer really was. You wouldn't think dogs would be embarrassed, but she was. Apologetic, too.

Treats can be very handy. And many dog owners will preface giving them one with "Do you want a treat (or cookie)?" That might prevent the dog from thinking your throwing motion is a threat.

Sue

Blast,
You did an excellent job of keeping your group safe. It's a shame no one else had a hiking stick and stepped up to help you and themselves.

Here's a little food for thought...
Last year one of my wife's co-workers was attacked by 2 dogs on her daily run.

The dogs, Labrador Retrivers, weighed less than 100 pounds each.
They escaped their enclosure, chased her, and attacked her from behind. During the attack they severed her brachial artery and she nearly bled to death from her wounds, which included severe lacerations to her arms, chest and legs. One of the EMT's on the scene was overheard saying that he had never seen so much blood.

These dogs had never so much as barked at her before, she lived across the street and jogged past every day. She knew the dogs and they knew her.

Fortunately, the dog's owner, a registered nurse, was at home at the time of the attack and heard her screaming. Her quick action probably saved her neighbor's life.

The RN's dogs were put down. The jogger is still in rehab regaining the full use of her hand.

The moral of the story boys and girls is that dogs, no matter how much we love them, are only a few steps removed from the pack of wolves or coyotes chasing a deer through a forest near you.

No matter the size of the dog be aware that they may attack you for what may seem like no reason at all.

Does this mean that we should be scared of all dogs? No, but, we should be aware of what they are capable of doing.

I always cringe when I see some stupid runner/jogger/cycler going merrily down the street, both ears plugged with music, totally oblivious to everything around them. No street smarts. No survival instincts. Dumb.

Sue

Wow. I've never heard of labs doing that. Defensive? sure. Offensive when not mistreated? I guess you're right, you never know.

What makes the jogger/cyclist an even greater danger to themselves is that they are usually traveling in the wrong direction.

I had never heard of labs doing it either. Sure they've bitten people, but chase them down and maul them. That's a new one to me. That was one of the reasons the owners gave for having the dogs put down. Once the trust was gone what were they going to do?