Close call at the park today

Our neighborhood park almost never has anyone in it in the mornings, and I feel comfortable letting my guys walk off leash. That's the main reason I've put Eddie through so many obedience classes. I wanted him to be able to walk off leash when I deem it safe. Jack is no problem. He's never more than a couple feet away and never wanders. Rusty is a bit more adventuresome, but his "come" is generally good.

Today, the downside of my love of unleashed walks reared its ugly head. We were at a part that is closest to one of the streets, and I looked over to see a large, brown, muscular dog sprinting toward us. His body was erect and rigid, but the hair wasn't standing up on his back. All three of my guys were within 5 feet of me at the time.

The dog seemed to be focusing on Rusty, and Rusty was acting aggressively, so I grabbed him first to make sure he didn't egg the big fella on. When the dog got near, I gave him a loud NO, and I was encouraged when he pulled up a little bit. I grabbed Rusty by the collar and stood between him and the other dog. No fight ensued. I gave everybody a couple GOOD DOGS. GOOD.

But then Jack got the attention of the big dog, who immediately hovered over him. Bless Jack, he let out his yaps and confused the heck out of the hoverer. He sounds much meaner than a squeaky toy.

So with Rusty by the collar, I worked myself between Jack and the big dog and gave him a couple more NOs. I was able to scoop up Jack.

Then comes Eddie, totally clueless to my underlying panic. He wanted to play. The big dog turned his attention to him, so I moved between them while towing Rusty and carrying Jack. A few more NOs kept the dog a foot away.

Eddie was bobbing and weaving and more difficult to pick up. Thank God for his "stay." I said stay and he allowed me to scoop him up too. I gave everybody a GOOD DOG, and the big dog sprinted away in the other direction to join another dog he was apparently wandering with. That one looked pregnant. Ugh.

I got lucky. I think I just ran into a nice but curious dog. If he had been aggressive, it would have gotten ugly real fast. I definitely need to rethink my unleashed walks.

The only good thing to come out of it is the realization that the big-dog meetups we've been attending weekly for almost a year have helped my pack deal with a situation like that. There was absolutely no fear in any of them once the situation was resolved.

Whew.