Today I took Seppel and Seth for a 4.5 mile walk. I didn't bring Lilo because her hips have been giving her some trouble. Me & the boys had a really good, uneventful walk. We did get passed by two joggers and someone on a bike. It was kind of a cool test because I've heard of dogs biting joggers and felt like my dogs were pretty unlikely to go after a jogger, even if they surprised us, but I wasn't sure. The first jogger I was aware of, but the dogs were not. She passed by just in the road next to us, the dogs startled a little but kept on their way. Probably not 3mins later a bicyclist passed us, I was not prepared for that, and the dogs responded the same way.
Recently in my town a woman was walking her legitimate lab mix, a jogger came upon them and her dog bit the jogger. The jogger apologized but in the big scheme she ended up having to report to her insurance and they are threatening to drop her if she doesn't rehome the dog. On the one hand, I feel that if she had the cash, it would be worth suing the jogger because you should never just run up on someone, dog or not, without announcing your presence. It's pretty easy to say "Passing on the___" or "Excuse me!" instead of just running up on someone.
However, all of that being said, I don't think it's very normal for a dog to react to a non-threat like someone jogging, by biting them. LiLo is my most 'sketchy' dog. She has never bitten anyone, but she is wary of strangers and will bark and growl at people she doesn't know. She wasn't with me today, but I'm pretty sure she would have reacted the same way.
It's very dangerous, in my opinion to have a dog who reacts first and thinks later. Seppel can show that kind of impulse on occasion, but it is rare and more geared towards getting the ball or toy. I've known a few apbt people to brag about their dogs who would 'drown' to get the ball, or climb through black berries to get the ball - I'm not all sure I'd really brag about that, because dogs like that are not actually thinking, they are just doing. I'd much rather have a dog who thinks a little about things before they do them, I'd much prefer my dog think before hauling off and biting someone.
I guess this post has gone a little off track. I am really pleased that my dogs reacted the way they did today, all I need is for Seppel to eat someone and the headline will not only say 'Pit Bull', it will say "and this dog was a TRAINED protection dog!" It's walks like today that make me feel good taking them out because I know they are well behaved [within reason haha], and that going on walks are no big deal.
I'd like to end this post with some of my favorite shots of the day!
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