Emergency measures call for emergency actions. This wasn't a training exercise, it was a do-what-is-necessary-at-that-moment damage-limitation situation.

What if you hadn't done what you did and stopped him and so the incident had been much worse, with the police and courts involved, if the other owner had been bitten trying to rescue her dog?

As you said yourself, you will not make the same mistake about the car in future and you may even have saved him from being seized as a dangerous dog and kept in kennels for months by your prompt actions, so I wouldn't beat yourself up to much.

And well done for ensuring the other owner and their dog was OK.

Maybe he only gripped and when you punched he punctured the skin??

In the heat of the moment, about 30 - 60 sec after I'd seperated them she told me the skin was broken. When I tracked her down some 2 or 3 hours later, after she'd examined the dog more thoroughly in her home, when she'd calmed down and after I'd offered to pay any vets fees -she told me that she'd had a good look at the dog and that he was fine - she declined to take my number.

Whether he gripped or whether he bit - it was down to my carelessness.

michael.... mistakes happen.. lockys prob forgotten it..and the retriever prob has..lesson learnt..now chill

You're right.

Thanks.

ditto, Michael, you fronted up to what your dog did, and made sure the other dog was okay, as others have said, he gripped rather than bite, and your actions sound more like a knee jerk reaction, I have no doubt you feel guilty for doing that, but your dog and the other dog are okay, and that is a good scenario.
As for the future I would look at a lead when getting home, also being old he may have a medical problem. I would also do some practice of recall again, starting from the ground up.

Have to agree with this......

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Im agreeing with the others, YOU are in danger of making a issue out of this, where there is none. One out of context situation is not going to undo all your work.

The fact that you chased over to home etc would all have put him on edge etc

It was your error that not putting him on the lead. so obvisley that wont hapopen again.

Just carry on as normal & make sure you meet some other dogs "normally" today

At the risk of sounding like I am blarzsa (sp) I think you making an issue more than it was.
Sorry don't mean that to sound picky, but dogs will do these things, I doubt anyone has a 'perfect mutt'

I certainly know that my male isn't one for going over to other dogs and greeting infact he's rather a snob (in my book) but I am aware he will take another dog's grumbling to heart and have a go back.

I think the only thing for you is to remember to pop his lead on from huse to car, we have to with Bruce, we learnt long ago when Bruce was just getting into the car unleaded, someone walked passed with thier dog that snarled at him, he forgot the car and ran over grabbing this guys dog, that was over 12 months ago......it was a bad judgement on my side, lesson learnt I see that guy now and he walks with me over the park at times......Bruce totally blanks his dog and his dog stays away from Bruce. The past forgotten between us we now have some good chin-wags

I agree, try to relax (so easily said, isn't it ).

Firstly, you did what you felt you needed to do under the circumstances. I think you maybe panicked a bit - do you feel that if you'd originally told him he was a good boy, whilst he was sniffing the other dog, you may have been able to get hold of him more calmly (or even call him to you?).

I suspect that your reactions were sensed by him and they intensified the situation (I hope you don't mind me being honest, we've all been there ). However, we shall never know as none of us are inside Locky's head

I do think some dogs react very instinctively to other dogs outside their own home. I recall 2 incidents where, as a teenager, dogs of mine (lab x whippet) took it upon themselves to run out of the garden and "attack" another dog It's basically guarding/territorial - not sure if this was the case for Rocky, but I suspect it came into it and in fact, if he did feel this way, he did well to come to a halt and sniff. In fact, he was perhaps investigating and thinking rather than intending to fight straight off. That's good, if scary for the other owner.

I don't think he's gone backwards, in fact in a way this was a predictable thing as I know you realise so all I'd say is that you need to carry on exactly as you have been doing, and simply be more vigilant, use leads etc.

Don't feel bad - you made a mistake and we've all done so.
We can all hold our hands up at some point and say "oh god, what did I do, if only I'd done it differently".

best wishes

Wys
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