Today was the second sunny day in months, so we got baseballs, a bat, and a mitt, and our badminton rackets, collected the dogs, and went to the park. The park is awesome: it starts out with a large field, with swings and a playground on the far end and a baseball diamond and tables on the other. A long shaded trail curves along the diamond and veers off.
Kids and Gordon got treats at Starbucks and Baskin Robbins and I walked the dogs on the trail. I had both dogs and they were perfect. No pulling, no growling, passing other dogs with a minimum of fuss. It was beautiful.
We get back, and the kids and Gordon are playing baseball on the diamond. So I give the hounds to Gordon and go to pitch, while Kid 1 bats.
Down the trail comes a man with a German Shepherd. The shepherd is young and she obviously doesn’t like the look of Luka and Luka doesn’t like the look of her. The man stops some distance away and start talking about his dog and what a beautiful a lovely dog she is and how while she is “a bit protective” on the leash, she is so good at a dog park and tries to herd other dogs. Gordon is being friendly and Luka, realizing that no immediate danger is present, calms a bit. The shepherd is dancing in place. She wants a piece of Luka.
Kid 2 walks up and asks if she could pet the shepherd – who really was a gorgeous dog. The owenr says, “Of course.”
Kid 2 heads for the shepherd. The shepherd, who by this point is unbearably excited, lunges for Kid 2.
Luka charges. He doesn’t get far because of the leash, so he bellows like some sort of hound of Baskervilles.
Luka: DO NOT TOUCH MY KID, I’LL KILL YOU, I’LL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!
The shepherd: “Bring it, fatso, bring it!”
Luka: I KILL YOU! I KILL YOU! AROO!
Del, the full on Doberman crazy, with teeth completely bared. “Careful, big fur, or I’ll strip the flesh off your bones.“
Gordon: Shut the hell up! Stand down. Luka, sit! Del sit!
Shepherd owner grabs the dog and takes off. Kid 2 goes to see the dogs, who drool on her to make sure she’s okay.
It’s good that it’s a public trail or we’d totally get kicked out. I’ve come to the conclusion that no amount of training will overcome Luka’s guard dog tendencies. It’s bred into him and that’s just the way he’s wired. On other hand, I pity any dog that attempt to bite the kids.
They were just being protective – I’m sure you’d want that, especially if shepherd’s owner was some psycho (you never know). I’m glad noone was hurt, and at least you got outside for some sun.
Omg, haha i love your dogs guys you make them out to be so freaking funny. everytime i read about them i crach up laughing, which wasnt the best of ideas today, im doing my assignment for uni in the library and me cracking up earned me a couple of glares, oh well it was worth it.
lol AROO. HAHA.
xoxo Nas D
I have the sweetest golden named Emily. Everyone loves her she will lay for the kids so they can pet her, just the best. One day a black lab went after me for some unknown reason and Emily before I knew it was between me and the lab ready and willing to take the black lab down. This black lab had already killed one of those rat dogs? not sure of the bred, but little. Anyway the black lab goes home and I look at my son and asked him what happened and he was like Emily told him who was the Bitch in the neighborhood. I guess you gotta love those dogs that love us.
Before Moose, we had a small black dog named Murphy, who used to taunt Dasher, the german shepard/collie breed, who was always fenced in (Murphy stood twice in the cuteness line, apparently thinking brains were overrated…). One day I was walking Murphy and Charlie (our golden mix) and Dasher burst out of the woods and went right after Murphy. I was getting ready to jump in (stupid, I know), when Charlie hurled herself on Dasher and forced him away from Murphy. Charlie is our steady go-to girl and she saved Murph’s life that day, I’m sure. She also piddled right in front of Dasher’s fence for the rest of his life. That’s why she will always get an extra treat and gets protection from the sometimes annoying Moose.
hehehe.. this is funny..
I like your dogs..
Either protective or jealous.. hehehe
Oh god you gotta love overprotective dogs. I have a yellow lab male who is much the same way except with other male humans. Doesn’t matter who he is boyfriend, guy friend etc. He hates them wont let them touch me or even sit next to me on the couch. I’m just thankful that all he really does is growl and whine and try to get between us. I threaten him all the time that as soon as he bites or lunges at someone he’s gone.
those are HIS babies! HIS!
My boyfriend has this tiny dog who is very protective of his house and his family, which would be a good thing if Yago wasn’t a very small pincher…
He really think he’s a doberman and behave of consequence! Anyway it’s very funny to see this toy-dog with bared teeth, fur standing on end, growling like crazy in front of every stranger! Once he even try to attack a german shepherd at the jugular and he’s been lucky that the big dog thought he was a cub and not a menace.
I do love your dog stories! Bless Luka ‘protecting’ her
Love your dogs, mines just crazy. loves socks and toes. Major toe fetish, i dont understand it my self but he loves them. ick.
Dogs- what incredible creatures they are! I had a dog-Sonar- who would hide behind me if we were startled by suspicious hikers and their hell hound minions. But he cowboyed up when it was real. I was alone in a new construction house, nothing but house-skeletons on my street, construction workers gone for the day, husband out of town. I was bathing when I heard some beast from hell growling and carrying on down stairs. It was my timid Sonar! I went downstairs dripping and in a towel to peer out the window, thinking my boy had found a deer. Instead, he had found a pervert. A smiling-not-one-inch-away-on-the-other-side-of-the-window pervert. I think I made some small sound and that marked the loss of Sonar’s sanity as he launched himself at the window. The guy took off. Three weeks later, the serial rapist that had been stalking women in the area was caught. Dogs-gotta love them and give them steak.
Wow!!! Scary! You go Sonar!!!
AWESOME Luka and Del ! Our dog Ryan just died after 13 years he was a lab and chow mix, although he looked almost perfectly like a black lab. One time when my two girls were little they were playing in the back yard (which is fenced in my a 7 ft privacy fence) and Ryan didn’t like the people walking their dog on the sidewalk outside our fence. He charged the fence barking and growling, broke through the fence, and bit the dog all in the name of protecting the girls (talk about hoping not to get sued). Ryan was the best dog ever my youngest could pull his ears, jump on his back, yank fist fulls of fur out of him and he never batted an eye, but if he felt like someone was out of line with the girls WATCH OUT!
When Daughter the Eldest starts dating, this can be a plus.
New Boyfriend, meet dogs. Dogs, meet chew toy.
Add in Gordon’s protective glare and you got it made.
LOL, I have to admit, the first vision I got was of Ilona and Gordon making the girls take Luka on their dates whe they are older!
Have you seen Everybody Hates Chris? ‘I aint lookin after no grand-babies!’
Kid 2 goes to see the dogs, who drool on her to make sure she’s okay. awwwwww this part made me smile! YAY for dogs who protect our children!
When I went off to college my parents replaced me with a Jack Russel terrier. We had always had labs and I had my heart set on owning a Bernese Mountain Dog someday, so the scrawny little terrier was… unexpected and dissapointing. The day after I met him for the first time, however, he completely changed my mind.
We had a thunderstorm and at the first growl of thunder he stood up from the couch, all his fur on end, and shaking like a leaf. The second growl of thunder had him running over to the door, barking like crazy. He obviously thought there was a REALLY big dog outside.
The sight of him, shivering in fear but standing in front of the door willing to protect his family, amazed us. When my mom went over to calm him down he made sure to position himself so he was always between her and the door, answering any thunder noises with his own threatening barks (as threatening as a 4 pound puppy can be that is). He was an awesome, fearless little dog.
Funny, isn’t it, how we get chosen by dogs or someone else chooses them for us and they still manage to win us over with their larger-than-life heroics?
We got our dog from the shelter and he had been abused as a puppy, the owner would kick him and neglect him, he is a handful because of this and was returned to the shelter 2 times before we got to him. He is the sweetest most loving dog, it is like he knows we saved him. The only problem, every time he sees a stranger he tries to bite their head off, he lunges on the leash and barks and growls enough for a 200 pound. We have tried everything and he is slowly getting better, we had a try a few different leashes to stop him from lunging but he still barks like a mad man when someone comes near us outside and we can’t let him out at all with other people at our house, he actually bit my friends uncle.
Even with all of the issues he has, we still love him and accept that he may never change, he is only screwed up becuase some jackass needed to abuse a little puppy to feel better about himself. It makes me so mad, there are some things in this world I can never forgive no matter how hard I try, and animal abuse is one of them.
Love the dogs. Lovelovelove them.
I had a gift shop in Atlanta for five years. My dog Mazie came to work with me every day. She was a seventy pound German Wirehair and full of genius. Her spot was the floor at the entrance to the stockroom, affording her full view of the front door and guardianship of the back.
She would not let anyone in the stockroom unless they were accompanied by me. But she didn’t move a muscle until someone got within a couple of feet of her, when her stump of a tail would start to wag so enthusiastically that her posterior would get caught up in the inertia. More than one person thought she was a stuffed animal until they got close enough to witness this phenomenon.
With babies and small children who wanted to pet her, she would stay on her belly with her front paws splayed out like flippers on a sea turtle and scooch forward in her very best “I am not scary I am not scary I am not scary” posture. On two occasions, a child wandered into the verboten stockroom and Mazie came to get me.
She turned into Cujo when a large man I didn’t know found his way into the stockroom one day. He left. And did not come back.
My shop was the only store in our center that never got held up at gunpoint.
Yeah, dogs are awesome.
Luka sounds normal to me!
My dog would try to attack people walking towards us and looked our way a second too long. Always on a leash with that one. She was a wild dog puppy when we first got her and never learned how to be civilized, but a really good guard dog.
Good for Luka, at least you know he is there for the kids. I loved the one night my husband had been out and he came back real late. The light was off in the kitchen, so when he came in he stopped hesitant like. My lab runs into the kitchen, stops and lets out this deep warning growl, scaring the crap out of my husband. He starts talking to the dog, letting him know who it is and so the dog calms down. I think he couldn’t see who it was and from the way he acted, assumed trespasser. I’m comforted knowing my dog will attempt to protect me when I’m alone.
Unneeded protection maybe, but gotta love him for it. Love hearing about your dogs, they sound really awesome!
Aww, big puppies were just protective of their humans.
I’m going to say you shouldn’t blame your dogs. You said the german shepherd was excited? Tail up in the air & not wagging, maybe? I’d say Luka deserves a cookie because he sensed something – something that dog owner warned of… when he said his dog was “a little protective” on the leash? My guess, his dog has nipped at people before (most likely a kid). Your dogs did just what they should do – they warned your kids of danger. You have good doggies.
(My sister had a dog that was “a little protective”. She was mostly a good dog but even tho she was familiar with me, one day when I moved too fast to follow my sister to the kitchen she lunged and bit me in the behind – through my jeans – hard enough to draw blood. I wasn’t the first or the last to be bit by her….)
I love the protective instincts that dogs get for “their” people.
When I was young we showed horses every weekend. So every weekend we were off, living in our camper, parked next to other people in campers. You really got to know your neighbors back then as things were a lot less “wierd” in the 70′s.
On one trip, our neighbors had a Doberman. She was sweet and I, being an animal person, decided that she was my new best friend at the horse show. I played with her whenever her owners let her out, fed her scraps from my plate, and generally just adored her. I found out that the feeling was mutual the afternoon my mother got a bit sharp with me because I was ignoring her instructions to come help with something in favor of playing with the dog. Mom walked up behind me, using The Tone and raising her voice. My nice new friend was suddenly in front of me, growling. Apparently, she did not care for my mom’s behavior!
Mom still grumbles about the dog who growled at her when she yelled at HER KID. But if I remember correctly, that dog got some extra scraps that night. I think Mom really appreciated the dog’s willingness to protect her child. Even if it was from her.
Dobies are very sweet. When I sat on the grass with the dogs, Del scooted until she could put her head on my lap so she would get petted. But they’re also frighteningly smart. I’m pretty sure if Del had opposable thumbs, she’d open the pet gate. Shje knows how, she just doesn’t have the dexterity.
Your kids are the dogs’ puppies – of course they are protecting them. Good thing, too. It’s always good to have help protecting the youngins.
@ TK: That is so cute! When my boy was 9 month old, my neighbor’s black lab protected him from me. The lab was a six week old puppy when I was pregnant so he’d known me for all of his short life and he just adored me. But when I was playing with the baby, making growly noises at his tummy, the lab got very agitated. He had no idea what to do since he liked me just fine but he did not approve of whatever I was doing with my ‘puppy.’ Growling and hackles ensued until I curbed my behavior and then we were all friends again. After the baby was inspected, of course.
Ooooh, that is the very reason I can’t take my dog to the park, or pretty much anywhere where other dogs are, he is way too protective. We have an Akita named Boo. Several years ago, my girls had some friends over to play, and they were running around chasing each other and screaming. Boo took off after the girl that was screaming and bit her bc apparently he thought she was going after daughter #1. We did end up paying for the girls stitches and felt horrible about the whole thing, and the girl never did come back over to play at our house after the incident.
Our dog has never bitten anyone since then, but just goes to show how you can never anticipate your dogs’ protective behavior.
Loved Jana’s comments, LOL.
Hopefully you still enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and had fun at the park!
I had a doberman when I was kid. One of the best dogs, he would pull adults to the ground when on a leash (major feat since my dad is huge) but if my dad gave me the least he would heel and was so sweet. He would also attack anyone coming into the yard unless they had a kid, apparently my dobbie loved kids and would do anything to protect them. I personally think it’s great your dogs are so protective, keeps your kids safe.
lol. my dog never did that. i don’t know whether i should be gratefull or insulted
He’s proctecting her. So smart! Mine wouldn’t do that ^^.
It makes me think of that pic:
http://ihasahotdog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/funny-dog-pictures-not-giv.jpg
D’awwww, our Setter and (9 month old!) Mastiff act the same way. Your dogs were doing what they were bred to do. Afterall, whose to say the shepard wouldn’t have attacked? At least that’s what they were thinking.
I think that’s just awesome what Luka did: better an over-protective dog who’s quick to defend than one who just sits there while his master gets bit by some other dog.
I have a friend with some kind of mix. She is exceptionally sweet.
) she gets really excited and will run around too.
However if you start running around or acting generally crazy (Said friend and I have a tendency towards the later
The first time I was over (I love dogs, but never having owned one am a bit cautious/skittish when meeting new ones) we got out of her hammock and started to run around the side of her house. Mowie (dog) came running after us, making little growlie noises. When I turned around she was following us with a toy in her mouth so she wouldn’t bite anyone.
Needless to say I fell in love, anyone that concerned about their own behaviour in such a way, it’s amazing.
Before reading your posts I thought I was the only one going around with “dog dialogues” running through my brain. Cassaday, our shelty x papillion, would often come say things like, “Oh silly squirrel, I don’t care if you mock me from that tree. I just wanted to see you run up it because you are afraid of me.” Glad to know that I’m not the only one that can hear their “doggie dialogues.”
I really missed reading your blog posts (we were in Florida for 2 weeks.) I know it’s not a good thing to happen in the park, but it made me love Luka and Del even more. Plus, I think his dog started it first. Stoopid dog:) I had to read the dialog out loud to my kids while laughing hysterically.
Good thing they love their dogs up in Portland! I have slightly similar issues, my Aussie will be fine, acts cool, plays at the dog park until he gets tired or a wire crosses in his puppy brain and “snap – tweak” he starts kicking booty and we have to go home. The worst was when he fought a little beagle with a “hitch in his giddy-up” after the beagle tried the dominant mambo on his backside. That lady gave us the stink eye that day!
hello again, i am so glad to hear yall are enjoying your west coast weather it has been hot and rainy weather here in the NC. Your dogs are definitely doing what is instinctive for dogs to do. I know we all believe that we own the dogs but the truth comes out in instances like this. Kid 1 and Kid 2 are Luka’s pets. He’s probably just fine to share them with the family but for him to let them near another dog that he does not know is tantamount to him letting them get in the back a white van and ride off with strangers. He’s gonna be protective until he knows in his doggy heart that nothing is going to happen to his pets. So learn to socialize him a little more and have the kids be a little observant, have gordan turn the dogs around not to watch because if they see it they will act. Hope your fourth of July was as good as mine. Can you say Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach S.C., What a lovely shopping exstravaganza. Take care of your puppies because they will take care of you. People with animals have lower blood pressure and overall better health. Love yall
heather