I've been trying to read as many of the free Leerburg e-books and Q&A articles as time allows and had just only read the one on How to Stop a Dog Fight last week.

Well I was out in front of my house with my 3.5 mo old GSD yesterday along with my husband and we were talking with our neighbor who just got home from work. We have a court just two houses down the street from us where there are probably about a dozen kids that play out there every day and almost all the people that live there have dogs.

During our conversation, one of the children let their huge black lab out of their backyard and the dog bolted from the child. It saw our pup and started to make its way to us. My Leerburg "training" instantly kicked in and I immediatly pulled Caprica's leash tight and stood in front of her. As the dog got about 20 feet from us, I started to yell at it in a loud voice to go away. It hesistated when I started yelling and it started to pee. Then it continued to approach (and continued to pee which was confusing for me). It got about 5 feet from me as I continued to yell and wave my free arm at it. This is where my husband hesitated as I expected him to grab the dog by its collar since it was being calm at that point. Then it lunched towards my pup and I continued to try and keep my body between it and Caprica. I yelled at my husband and he eventually grabbed the dog by the collar. I don't know if it would've attacked my pup, but I wasn't going to take the chance! A few seconds later, one of the neighbors that lived in court (who wasn't the owner of the dog) ran over with a leash and grabbed the dog. No teeth were ever shown by either dog, but my pup definitely did not like the dog and barked at it (with her new found adult sounding bark) the entire time. Her fur was also raised up on her back when the dog approached.

We made our way inside and I scolded my husband for hesisting and not grabbing the dog. I asked him if he had read the Leerburg e-book on dog fights that I asked him to read and he said no. He got more scolding and his punishment for not doing his "assigned homework" was to go to that neighbor's house and tell them they should not let their dog run loose like that anymore.

I just wanted to say how fantastic I think this site is and how much I appreciate the free articles that Ed has produced, as well as the helpful advice everyone freely gives on the forums. It still amuses me that after only reading that e-book once, I instantly knew what to do in the situation and how to protect my puppy. Thanks Ed!

Just one thing to remember. Grabbing a strange dog by the collar is a good way to get bit. A walking stick is a good way to defend yourself and your dog, because if it bites the stick it won't hurt you.

Great job standing up for your puppy, though! I know how high tensions can get when a large strange dog with unknown intentions comes bolting at you (My dog was attacked once while I was walking him.)

Yeah, my husband said that's why he didn't grab the collar at first. Even though the dog tried to get to my puppy, it never barked or growled at us. The fact that she kept peeing made me figure it was okay to grab it. Why do dogs do this (pee on approach)? Is it a sign of submission?

Submissive urination is usually accompanied by other submissive signals such as ears laid back and crouchy looking body. Tail tucked down and wagging fast. Where as a confident dog will have the ears up and forward and be standing tall. Tail up and wagging slowly. A confident dog would pee to "mark territory" - yes, even females, and a submissive one pees to tell you they are not a threat. It all depends on the dog's body language.

That is one cute pup!

Maybe I shouldn't say this but, I think your husband did the correct thing by not grabbing that dog's collar. Like Angela said, that's a great way to get yourself bit. In a pinch pretty much anything can become a weapon. My wife was charged by a loose pitbull while walking our pup one day and she picked up a 3lbs. rock to "bash it in the *bleeping* skull with".

Would there have been time to beat a hasty retreat inside? I've studied Tang Soo Do (traditional Korean martial art) for a few years and I'd still rather beat a hasty retreat in most circumstances. If you do have to stand your ground, be prepared for the confrontation to get physical. In those situations you always want to be the one taking the fight to the enemy and a dog is not an enemy you want to fight unarmed unless you absolutely have to.