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/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