Dog Walking Misadventure

 On our daily walk around the field behind my house, the dogs and I had some unwelcome excitement. A neighbor dog that always barks viciously at us behind a fence got loose today. As we walked by he immediately charged us. He attacked Yukon repeatedly by jumping up and trying to bite his back and neck. He was in complete, brutal, ferocious fight mode. All I could do was try to keep them separated as much as possible because I knew if Yukon had the chance to fight back, the other dog would just fight that much harder and maybe turn on Copper also. As he attacked Yukon, I screamed at him to go away (trying to sound authoritative, but probably sounding more panicky). Luckily, he was just tame enough to hesitate at the sound of my screams for a couple of seconds so I could pull the dogs away about a foot. Then he charged Yukon again and started biting his back and neck. This attack- scream- hesitate- pull cycle repeated itself several times before we were finally far enough away for him to lose interest. We made it home uninjured. For all of that dog's attack efforts, I think he was only getting mouthfuls of fur.

I don't understand why, but the dog focused his attacks solely on Yukon, the much bigger, furrier, stronger dog. I am so glad he did because he would have torn Copper to shreds, if I couldn't have separated them. Not only is Copper's hair much shorter, but he also has zero aggression to other dogs. If he couldn't run away or hide, I"m pretty sure he would let another dog tear him apart. Yukon, on the other hand, has a wonderful natural defense system (his very long fur, including an incredibly thick mane) and he has no issues with defending himself, his home, his family against other dogs or anything else.  I guess that is the difference between hound dogs and guard dogs- hound dogs are bred to be overall friendly with people and dogs while guard dogs always have an aggresive streak in them. We have experienced Yukon's bravery in other situations, but today I fully realized the benefits of his fur coat. As a house dog, we always complain about his shedding and dirty fur, but if he were living his life as a livestock guard dog, this protection would be invaluable. Matt and I had decided that our next dogs will be short- haired to make dog and house maintenance easier, but what happened today may have changed my mind a little.....at least until Yukon's next shedding season.

Yukon, Great Pyrenees

Copper, Redbone Coonhound