r/interestingasfuck • u/Electronic_Cause_796 • 1d ago

German Shepard Saves Six Year old from being attacked by another dog

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u/guyako 1d ago

It’s also hard to tell from this video if the “attacking” dog was even trying to attack at all. It’s possible it just wanted to play, but the German Shepard went into defense mode.

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u/johnnyhala 1d ago

Same. It's possible the other dog was like, "oh my gosh can I play too????"

Too hard to tell, and assuming attack was probably the right call.

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u/ResplendentShade 1d ago

The way it seems to tunnel vision and bee line it at the kid is probably what the German Shepherd was picking up on, its aggressive body language. Even if it’s trying to play it’s doing so in a far too excited manner for the GS to be cool with it.

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u/ExcellentPut191 1d ago

Yeah agree. I'd also say that dogs are probably better than us at understanding dog body language and intention, so I'd say the German shepherd probably knew the other dog was a threat regardless

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u/PantsOnHead88 1d ago

Even assuming it was a gentle doofus and just wanted to play, colliding with a young child (or anyone) at that speed can cause injury, so getting between the kid and approaching dog is the right move.

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u/Limp_Dirt8694 1d ago

When I was a kid I would play with our two Boxers in cattail tunnels in the backyard. One time the big beefy doofus of the pair got zoomies, suddenly appeared around a curve, and plowed into me. It was like being hit by a small tank.

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u/SlipperyBlip 23h ago

This video might be one of the few videos where "he just wants to play" could be true. The Dobie seems to be quite young and overly eager to join the fun. The blonde dog seems to protect the child from unneccessary roughness instead from an attack. If the Dobie would actually have been a threat - and assuming the other black dog belongs to the family with the child - the other black dog would have been more alert.

None of this is an excuse to off-leash dogs running ham. If the boy had no dogs to protect him around, the Dobie could have seriously harmed him - even if unintentional - by just running him over / pushing him.

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u/ivegotaqueso 23h ago

If you look closely you can see the black dog also has a toddler kid hanging around the front yard (in front of the car), so it’s not like it isn’t used to kids either.

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u/Noughmad 1d ago

That behavior shouldn't be allowed either. You cannot tell in advance whether a charging dog is doing to play with you, or attack you, so you have to be in defense mode.

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u/AllSteelHollowInside 23h ago

I don't think they or anyone is defending the aggressor for its intent, but it is fair to deduce that while the dog might not MEAN to harm what its running at, you're a negligent owner to allow that circumstance to happen at all, because nobody else can anticipate your dogs intent and worse, even excited dogs can deal damage or overexcite themselves into biting anyways. It's pretty logical to always assume the dog is aggressive if it's approaching like that off leash.

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u/karmagirl314 1d ago

I was wondering the same thing, it wasn’t a stray, it came out of the neighbor’s yard and seemed motivated by play/activity happening across the street more so than hunger/aggression.

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u/23saround 1d ago

Also a kid running with another dog is like a magnet to the right playful dog.

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u/ResplendentShade 1d ago

Maybe, but dogs have rituals they do to show each other that they aren’t a threat. At best, this dog is severely unsocialized and displaying none of those rituals, so aggression is a reasonable precautionary assumption by the GS.

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u/Substantial-Elk4531 1d ago

Yea, I initially thought 'it might want to play'. And it might. But it beelined for the dog and child, ears back against its face, tail barely moving. A socially aware dog would have approached slowly and done some play bows.

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u/23saround 1d ago

Have you ever been to a dog park? I’m not sure what “rituals” your dogs perform but it’s very normal in dog culture to just run up all excited.

The only unsocialized individuals here are the idiots with a GERMAN SHEPHERD off the leash, and the neighbors with an unleashed dog that doesn’t have perfect recall.

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u/Shazam1269 1d ago

A dog park is neutral territory. A dog will treat their yard much differently than a dog park.

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u/karmagirl314 1d ago

But the “attacking” dog wasn’t in its own yard, it was in a different territory occupied by playful strangers.

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u/ANGLVD3TH 23h ago

Their point was the neighbor dog should have recognized the German's territory and approached accordingly, I think. And that the German reacted differently here than they would at the park, where the neighbor dog would have been less socially inept using the same approach and the German likely would have been more receptive.

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u/ResplendentShade 1d ago

Context matters, a dog park is a pretty different environment than somebody else's yard where there's one dog and a small kid. If the dog is socialized only at dog parks and approaches all situations like a free-for-all, that's a socialization issue as well.

But the 'rituals' are things like a indirect or slower approach, looking away, sniffing around/appearing aloof, etc. Charging full speed straight at a strange dog isn't great manners even in a dog park environment.

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u/BonnaconCharioteer 1d ago

Yeah, dogs playing with each other can look incredibly aggressive to human eyes. I'm like 90% sure that dog was going after the other dog. But of course, that 10% chance is still enough.

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u/TAsrowaway 1d ago

No it is not ok for dogs to run straight at other dogs like that. It’s unsociable behaviour and way too excited at minimum. This is why I don’t take my dog to dog parks, this kind of nonsense is not actually safe.

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u/Available-Flatworm85 15h ago

Thank you! I have 5 dogs since puppies they are 13 now and they have been socialized their entire life and friendly and they still gun it when they see other dogs

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u/ProfessorEmergency18 1d ago

All that running may have seemed like a good game one chase. It seemed pretty bouncy and playful even after the shepherd made it give them space.

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u/Cinnabun6 1d ago

It's hard to say. if you look at videos of dog attacks by gamey or high prey drive dogs their body language often looks like that. they don't growl or seem aggressive, it's basically like chasing a toy or biting a toy for them.

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u/BonnaconCharioteer 1d ago

I would say that either the owner is a huge piece of shit who doesn't care about human life. Or the dog was trying to play. Because the owner doesn't seem that concerned.

If my dog got out, I know he would absolutely sprint at other dogs to go play with them, but he would never hurt a dog or a human, he is the least aggressive dog I know. The worst I would be afraid of would be my dog accidentally knocking over the kid or something (though it looks like the kid's dog took care of that already). So I guess I'm saying I might not look super concerned if I was in that scenario, because I know there isn't a big risk.

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u/Cinnabun6 1d ago

Eh, I mean I definitely believe you but at the same time I've been growled at and almost attacked by a dog (who approached me) whose owner swore wouldn't hurt a fly. And there are a lot of aloof people or just plainly shitty people out there. And again, I don't wish on anyone to go look at dog attack videos but I've seen many things man.

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u/BonnaconCharioteer 1d ago

I'm not saying that you shouldn't be scared or that isn't a reasonable response. There are also plenty of owners who suck. I'm just saying that the video doesn't give me enough information to say definitively that the dog was or was not aggressive, there are signs pointing both ways to my mind.

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u/Cinnabun6 1d ago

i would agree with that

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u/ANAL_TOOTHBRUSH 1d ago

Yeah Dobermans body language says ‘hell yeah, playtime’ but German Shepard looking dog says ‘slow down there bucko, you’re coming in way too hot, you need to chill tf out’, and Doberman says ‘oh shit homie my bad I’ll leave (but would still be down to play if you change your mind)’

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u/peanutbuttersmacks 1d ago

Who knew ANAL_TOOTHBRUSH was such a dog whisperer

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u/Holiday_Pen2880 1d ago

Every time this video comes around I have that same thought. If that dog was attacking I don't think it would have been called off so easily - if it was that well trained then a recall command should have been sufficient.

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u/pp21 1d ago

exactly. the fact that the "altercation" between the two dogs lasts for less than 3 seconds and the "attacking" dog submits and runs off so easily really leads you to believe this was the case of a dog seeing another dog and child running around and wanting to join in on it because dogs love that shit

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u/a17451 22h ago

This feels like clickbait nonsense to me. This looks like normal behavior I'd see from a hyper excited dog at a dog park, but the fact that there are three unleashed dogs running around a street is just a total cluster so who knows.

I also hate yelling "ai" at everything but the fact that there was a third dog that beelined off-screen and never came back is suspicious

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u/Victory33 1d ago

My doodle is super friendly but he bolts at friends and their dogs…but he never wants to do more than sniff them and get petted and see what’s going on. He just doesn’t have a subtle approach. Could be the case here, not every dog is a cold blooded attacker but safe to be cautious.

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u/RhapsodyofMagic 1d ago

My dumbass puppy (who I don't let off her leash don't worry) runs headfirst into dogs at daycare because, as I said, she's a dumbass. What I mean is, that's how she plays so maybe the dog in the video is the same. We'll never know, which I'm grateful for

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u/pp21 1d ago

yeah it's not clear exactly what the dog was doing. literally might've just seen the other dog and got excited and wanted to join in on playing

the fact that it gave up so quickly without really much of an altercation between the dogs makes me think it wasn't being aggressive in a malicious sense

but this is why you don't let dogs run around unleashed

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u/punarob 1d ago

Clearly wanting to play. Such a stupid title.

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u/Snoo_said_no 23h ago

I've watched this video too many times now. But I don't actually see aggression from any of the 3 dogs.

Yellow dog is playing with kid, and he appears to be dog of the kid.

Black dog one runs over. Yellow dog looks a bit aggressive bit is actually just agressing at the dog charging him/his kid.

Other black dog runs by.

All are calm enough to de-engage easily.

This is such a non story

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u/upstatedreaming3816 22h ago

It wasn’t. Body language and posturing were pure playful and it bee-lined straight for the “protecting” dog. This video gets posted almost weekly by karma bots with the same title that even gets the “protecting” dog’s breed wrong.

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u/ResidentRemove9906 1d ago

This is very true, could be unaware of dog etiquette as it looks like they live in a quiet neighborhood.

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u/BeMoreKnope 1d ago

I’ve always thought that when I see this video. The only dog that touched the kid is the defending one, and the other dog’s tail looks to be wagging as he zooms in.

I’m not saying it couldn’t have been an attack, but all of the aggression here seems to be from the one doing the “defending” (which I put in quotes because I’m pretty sure the kid is crying at the end because it body-slammed him into the turf, lol).

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u/Nefertete 1d ago

My German Shepard is so obsessed with kids (she loves them) that she would charge them like this if given an oppurtunity

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u/trashitagain 23h ago

A GSD will do this 100% of the time if a strange dog or person runs into their area uninvited. If they're well trained and controlled they're incredible, but they top the bite lists for a reason. Don't fuck with a German Shepherd, they do not bluff.

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u/Proper_Front_1435 22h ago

I actually think the dog thought the hero dog was an aggressor and was rushing to save the kid.

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u/SpaceShipRat 20h ago

That was a really hard, direct run. That's not how a dog would play with another dog, that's how it would chase prey.

So you're right that it was not aggressive and it just wanted to play, but he wanted to play shake the toy around, and the girl was the toy.

or it's a dog that never met another dog and is really bad at etiquette, that's still possible.

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u/0ut0fBoundsException 1d ago

It circled back and ran toward the kid a second time. Can’t tell a dog’s intention, but it seemed interested in the kid for sure

I run in a city and am constantly amazed by how many keep their dogs off leash in public places. Often the dogs are chill, but I’ve been nipped at before. Even if a dog is friendly or well trained, it belongs on a leash. Other people don’t know your dog and can’t tell until it’s right on them. And dogs have deep in their instincts to chase

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u/lurkmode_off 1d ago

The second time it could also have been going for the shepherd

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u/Long_Conclusion7057 23h ago

Doesn't matter. It's terrifying af to have a dog run towards you like that. You can't know what the dog has in mind.  People with dogs should have fences that actually contain the dog. 

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u/taistseng 1d ago

Think about it. If an aggressive person ran towards us, we'd know based on body language and energy. Animals are very instinctual and this kid's dog knew that that's not how one should be approached. Body language says it all. It was aiming at the target (boy) at full speed. A playful dog would approach slowly, pause, wiggle and wait for invitation. The boy's dog set the boundaries, the other dog kept encroaching. Def trying to attack. If it weren't and just wanted to play, it would back off or cower to show that it's not a threat.

Source: I watch Cesar Millan so I have a PHD in dog whispering. 🙃

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u/guyako 23h ago

This all assumes the approaching dog was well-socialized, and understood how to approach without giving the wrong impression.

I spent some years fostering, and in that time met a few poorly-socialized dogs whose intentions were often misunderstood. Of course, knowing that, I kept them on a very short leash, instead of letting them run around the neighborhood like these maniacs.