[alaskayorkie]

As I was walking Eddie and Jack to the car, unleashed because we live on a street with little traffic and they generally mind, a poorly cared for neighbor chihuahua came up and started harassing Eddie and Jack. He's always unattended, and he typically tries to mount my dogs.

This time, Eddie proceeded to thrash him. Well, as much of a thrashing as a 9-pound Yorkie can deliver to an 11-pound chihuahua. The good news is, the chi ran home. The bad news is, I didn't know how to react. It took me a full year to get Eddie to stop beating up Jack. I know I can't encourage him to fight, but dang, I don't want him to roll over in a situation like that either.

I tried to do nothing, but I could tell by the look on his face that he knew he wasn't in trouble. He may have even sensed I was proud of him.

How should a responsible pet owner react?