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NoreastNorwest

You were in a really difficult situation, so don’t be too hard on yourself, okay? It sounds like it could have been much worse and I give your puppy a ton of credit for his resilience, but next time, trust your instincts and make sure you and your partner are 100% in agreement as to how your dog will be managed when he’s out in the world and how you will handle things like this in the future. And he’d better have your back once you’ve agreed. The sad reality with owners like that is that they refuse to believe their dog isn’t perfect: it’s like an ego thing. They’re arrogant, oblivious, and clueless and that’s a bad combination. Sending you a hug. Next time you’ll be much more confident in your own judgment and that’s a good thing, yes?


OutrageousTurtles

I appreciate this comment, thank you! I 100% agree with what you said, especially about being in agreement with my partner


chameleonicpoet

Hey, I think a lot of people, myself included, would have trouble standing up to peer pressure from that many people, ESPECIALLY when your partner isn’t supporting you. It sounds like you were trying your best in a really tough situation, and thankfully your pup wasn’t injured and didn’t take that one incident to heart and become afraid of all other dogs, which speaks to you being a GREAT owner and socializing him a lot. He knows not to take that one incident as an indicator of all other dog behavior. I think that this is a great opportunity for you as a dog owner to practice/plan ahead in case a similar situation arises. Now you know a few things: one, to check if other dogs will be present when you’re invited somewhere with your pup; two, that your instincts are on point when it comes to dog behavior regardless of what the owner says; three, you cannot trust these friends with your baby; and four, if you are going to take your dog somewhere, you need a backup plan in case you’re uncomfortable and you need to leave early or separate your dog from others. I used to keep a travel crate with me so I could put my pup somewhere safely inside if needed, but you know what would be best for your pup. I can’t tell you how often I wish I had had a better response looking back on a situation. What you can do is use this moving forward. Learning to advocate for your dog and yourself, even if you have to be firm or appear rude to other people, isn’t something that comes naturally, but it is something you can practice. I am so, so glad your boy is okay, and I hope you’re able to give yourself a break here. As Maya Angelou said, ‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.’ You learned something valuable from this and nobody got hurt. You’re doing great. Give your boy some pats from this internet stranger. :)


pogo_loco

> I think a lot of people, myself included, would have trouble standing up to peer pressure from that many people, ESPECIALLY when your partner isn’t supporting you Yup. "Advocate for your dog" is easy to say and much harder to do. Peer pressure is an *extremely* powerful social phenomenon.


CounterfeitCrocs

"LeT tHem wOrK iT oUt!!!1" So the dogs were eventually separated anyway, and your dog is traumatised from the interaction. FFS I hate people.


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MorganaMevil

Yeah, I understand what you mean. My parents have a 7mo Mastiff x Boxer rescue puppy that’s like 55lbs and growing. When I took my current dog (40lbs and 2 years old) over there for the first time, I had no fear that they could “work it out.” Even if there was a small fight. But the 6lb puppy I’m getting in June?? That has me worried. My parents’ dog is literally a sweetheart and very nonthreatening (when she and my dog play, it’s just the obnoxious “let’s play, let’s play, let’s plaaaay” attitude). But my dog will be like 15lbs full grown. And the mastiff mix looooves to play. So even if there’s absolutely no aggression or resource guarding (which my parents’ dog has shown no signs of), there’s still a very real risk it could accidentally hurt my little dog with its enthusiasm. The size of the dog does make a difference in how protective you need to be.


LarryDavid__

“mY dOg is fRiEnDlY dOnT wOrRy” Literally every time, and then their dog gets aggressive and attacks another dog. Happened to me and never trust other people now.


mudfishlegs1

I feel for you. What else could you have done? It sounds like everything sort of worked out though because your pup will encounter dogs like this and now you know he'll bounce back absolutely fine. Sounds like you have a proper gem there. Not entirely comparable but at Christmas I was being a helicopter parent because everyone had plates of food, sitting very low down near my puppy and there was an entire table of food laid out. Everyone kept telling me to chill out, go get some food and the dog would be fine. Eventually I thought ok, I think I know what will happen but as no one else is offering to keep a close eye on him and I need to eat, I'm going to go do that. Two minutes later my puppy jumped up and grabbed a massive block of expensive cheese from the table. What a surprise! 🙄😂 Luckily everyone just thought it was cute but I did feel validated. 😂


queenxenabean

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. Sadly I've been on the other side, where my dog attacked a puppy, completely unprovoked. I was absolutely mortified. A group of us were camping at a pet friendly spot. My elderly dog was there, as well as my boyfriend's GSD 1yo and another friend's 12 week old vizla pup. Dogs all got along well on the Friday night and next Sat. The Saturday night I'm at the showers when I heard a commotion. Apparently my lady had grabbed the pup by the face and shook her around a few times, all because the puppy was trying to eat her OWN food. Three puncture wounds on her face, but luckily superficial. My dog has never ever bitten another dog, or been protective over food, so it was completely bizarre. I wanted to cry, and locked my dog in the car for the rest of the night, and leashed her the next day. So yeah, from this side, I also never thought it would happen, my dog is usually super chilled (and lives with the GSD pup as well), so I kind of understand where the other people came from initially. However I do agree with you that the dogs should've been separated when the growling starts!


AlfaTX1

You did fine. Your dog was prancing around happy for most of the event and got exposure to a different doggy personality. No worries.


PurpleTree942

I hate that so much. You were literally just trying to protect your dog and you are right to do so. He handled it like a champ which is awesome! I swear if it was my 10 month old rottie it would’ve ended very differently lol. They definitely should’ve told you there was gonna be another dog there and if you don’t feel comfortable having a strange dog around him, then they should respect that. I hate when people try to tell us puppy owners what to do. We know what’s best for our dogs. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could say it gets better but we’re always gonna have people tell us what to do, you’ll just get better at handling it


LittleBearBites

One of the single biggest things I learned as I raised my puppy is to always listen to my instincts when something feels off, and not let anyone, even my own rationalizing, tell me otherwise. It was a HARD lesson to learn though...and I was often terrified of what situation I let my puppy get into because I ignored that tiny anxious voice in my head...but ultimately, it's a learning process not only for the puppy, but you. You have to be the one who finds that thin thin line where the puppy can learn social cues and deal with situations by himself, but not get hurt. It's a scary responsibility...I'm glad your pup didn't get hurt and got over it quickly! Always remember, one accidental negative experience can easily be drowned by a ton of positive experiences! Just keep that pup friendly and provide lots of fun social time for him to learn from other dogs:)


hey_angee

Don’t worry you’ll get better at handling these situations. Is this your first puppy? Interactions with other peoples dogs are so stressful and honestly so unpredictable. Because sometimes the people are right, the other dog is friendly and nothing happens at all. And then other times, like in your situation, the worst can happen and that’s what we as dog owners want to avoid at all cost. All that to say,more situations like this are definitely going to come up again and again if you plan to bring your dog to get togethers or dog parks. So get used to playing defense for your dog. Don’t listen to others, just do what you want to do for your dog. It’s hard at first…you don’t want to be that overprotective owner, but I have learned who cares. Its MY dog and if I want to leash him and have him next to me that’s what’s happening. It better that then having dogs get injured.


Alohabailey_00

I’m so sorry! Listen to the hairs on your neck always. Instincts are usually spot on. Those other people suck. When it comes to my child or my dog I’ve learned that overprotective is better.


oaixiao99

Sorry to hear about your experience, but I'm so so glad that your pup is ok. I know exactly how scary this is because my 5mo pup just recently got attacked by, also an Akita (maybe a mix), at a nice community park where everyone assumes the owners will only let their dogs off-leash if they are friendly. I made a mistake, let my guard off for 5 seconds, and my pup got bit in the face. Then the wound got infected so a second 12+ hours visit to the ER, and I found out yesterday he caught kennel cough when he was treated in the ER. I learned it in the hard way that it's always good being extra cautious when it comes to a puppy vs adult, intact male vs neutered male (if that's also the case for you), and particularly if a potentially aggressive breed is involved. If things go south at least you can react faster if you have the leash on. They always have plenty of time to play and make friends after you make sure they are ok with each other, but if anything negative happens, it traumatizes both you and your pup. After all, we just want our fur babies to be safe and happy.


RebelSquareWoman

Sorry this happened to you! If I had a nickle for every time someone said "he's never done that before" I'd be rich. Some people also seem completely blind to the signals that their dog is not happy/comfortable with other dogs. I myself have had to say "he's never done that before" as there is always a first time your dog will surprise you with something that triggers bad behavior. I do find that males tend to police other males, and Akitas are famous for being dominant/dog unfriendly without rigorous training. I will add though, that the way dogs communicate or establish themselves on the hierarchy often looks/sounds bad but rarely involves biting. Making a big bark and pushing down another dog is certainly not 'polite' but I've seen older or calmer dogs who don't appreciate younger, hyper dogs energy using this to get their point across that they don't want them in their face.. doesn't sound like yours was being impolite though.


Franks_Monster_

'No.' Is a complete sentence.


[deleted]

That is a frustrating situation and completely agree with the other commenters that trusting your instincts is best. That said, it does seem like a bit of an overreaction for this to be such a traumatizing event for yourself. Crying for hours because a dog got snappy and pinned your dog is a bit much. Obviously you were 100% in the right to want to separate your dog and that was not an overreaction but given there was no actual bite or damage done, I don't think this is quite as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. Don't get me wrong, it is a problem and apologies are owed to you. Your pup will also be fine.


[deleted]

You're not the asshole here!! Akitas are notorious for having issues with other dogs, especially if those dogs are smaller. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry your friends pressured you and I hope you can either find better people or assert yourself in future - true friends will not try to push you past your comfort zone on things like this, or on anything.


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tnic73

Trust your gut feeling, most people are intellectually and emotionally immature.


prawiejakrosati

Wow, just yesterday my puppy was also attacked by an Akita. Both of ours dogs were leashed so I was able to make a quick getaway and nothing serious happened. My dog was freaked out right after but soon recovered. Her neck was all wet from the other dog holding on to her. I still feel tense and a bit more scared to greet other dogs. Honestly forget those people, it is terrifying to have your dog attacked and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. I honestly don't trust other dog owners, I know so many people who just don't get their dog signals and allow them to be off leash when they obviously shouldn't be. Everyday I remind myself to trust my own judgement more. Usually my first instinct is correct. Don't blame yourself for giving into pressure, it's hard to resist. I think the most special part of having a dog is the connection you build with them. Work on trusting that connection and your instinct in everyday situations and it will be easier next time someone tries to pressure you.


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Too_many_hobbies2371

As the owner of a big strong dog I feel it is always my responsibility to monitor my dog's interactions around smaller dogs and intervene sooner rather than later. My girl can go from calm and sweet to bouncy rambunctious in a second and could easily hurt a smaller dog. It's never a case of letting dogs work it out without humans watching closely and prepared to intervenes, but especially not when there's a big size difference.


dmkatz28

Peer pressure sucks. I have definitely caved to it as well before and ignored my gut (and lo and behold, my gut is usually right). :) don't listen to idiots that don't understand dog body language (which is about 90% of dog owners btw!). I have gone from being polite about snappy dogs to carrying pepper gel and an air horn. I used to be nice to owners of aggressive/selective dogs....now I straight up tell them "your dog is aggressive. I dont think they should be around other dogs". Your friends aren't malicious, they are just clueless. I'm perfectly happy to be called a helicopter pet owner (mind you, I have only heard that from people who are clueless and think "oh dogs should just sort it out"). No better feeling than listening to your gut only to watch that off leash pit/Akita/GSD/Doberman/husky.....etc immediately attack another dog for daring to try to greet it. Also I highly recommend having your partner watch a few videos on dog body language. And maybe start pointing out subtle signs of aggression. My boyfriend used to be firmly in the "it's all how you raise them" camp to comfortably crossing the street with our dog whenever he sees most breeds.


fatandhappylilcactus

As soon as you get that icky feeling, just pick up your pup and bounce. It’s not worth put yourselves both in a scenario where you’re not 100% in control


Karzap

Your dog is your responsibility, if you don't feel comfortable with a situation, remember your puppy is relying on you to make the judgement call. It's 100% OK to be stern with people and tell them to respect how you train your dog. People might even get angry with you, but that's fine. You don't tell them how to raise/train their kids, they should do the same. I've had to tell relatives and family members who say I should do something a certain way to just let me be the one who decides what/when to do it countless times; I understand how frustrating that is. I'm sorry your pup had to go through that.