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There's an agility trial held near me every 3-4 months. Misha's only 10 months and obviously too young to trial, but on the suggestion of his trainer, we've been going and sitting with him a distance from the ring and having him practice focus and obedience so that he'll be very used to the trial environment when he does start competing. It's not uncommon for young dogs and puppies to be brought to the event for exposure. Today we were at the trial and we were walking around the edge of the ring in a more quiet area to walk back to the parking lot area. The competition rings are surrounded by another fence which is bordered by concrete paths. People set up their crates and chairs along this secondary fence, but it's also the walkway that people are frequently walking their dogs through. So we're passing crates and chairs, making sure to give them a wide berth so we don't upset the dogs in crates. One of the spots has some folding chairs with two terriers on leashes. As we come kind of near, one of the terriers starts barking, so we back up even further to give them space. I assumed their leashes were tethered to the fence or something. But apparently not, because the terrier jumped off the chair and charged us, dragging the other dog with it. I instinctively tried to block it from reaching Misha, but it bit my hand. I pulled back and it lunged and grabbed Misha's tail and he cried out. At that point the dog's owner (who was present the whole time) was able to grab her dog. Thankfully Misha wasn't actually harmed. My finger has a minor puncture but nothing really serious. A lady who witnessed it came and talked to us afterward, and I think she talked to the trainers who requested that we report the incident to the AKC rep so they had it on file in case it happens again. So we did that. Everybody was really nice.
I was pretty freaked out immediately after it happened. I've never seen a dog suddenly act so aggressive. It wasn't a "stay back from my territory" reaction, but more of a "I'm going to murder you" and it gave absolutely no warning. The owner said the dog was normally friendly with other dogs. Maybe that's true. But it certainly decided it wanted to attack Misha without even meeting him. In retrospect, I wish I'd been able to pick him up. I think I didn't because he was a few feet away from me, and I was holding the leash with my right hand. I don't think I could easily pick him up with just my left. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to block the dog with my hand, but if I hadn't I think Misha would have actually been injured. So I'm glad I did. He is showing no signs of being bothered by the encounter, though of course I was very worried about it being a bad experience for him. I think this was a highly unusual incident, as usually people are very careful with their dogs at these events.
I was pretty freaked out immediately after it happened. I've never seen a dog suddenly act so aggressive. It wasn't a "stay back from my territory" reaction, but more of a "I'm going to murder you" and it gave absolutely no warning. The owner said the dog was normally friendly with other dogs. Maybe that's true. But it certainly decided it wanted to attack Misha without even meeting him. In retrospect, I wish I'd been able to pick him up. I think I didn't because he was a few feet away from me, and I was holding the leash with my right hand. I don't think I could easily pick him up with just my left. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to block the dog with my hand, but if I hadn't I think Misha would have actually been injured. So I'm glad I did. He is showing no signs of being bothered by the encounter, though of course I was very worried about it being a bad experience for him. I think this was a highly unusual incident, as usually people are very careful with their dogs at these events.