I have a sweet, cuddly dog named Teddy. He's a neutered two year old male who wears a a pink heart tag and likes to cuddle with his "big sister," my twelve year old Shepherd/mystery mix. While dumber than dirt, Teddy is a good natured dog, who refused to bite a chicken that attacked him while relieving himself, choosing instead to hop away on three legs while still "going."
He wrestles with a pug named Tyrone at the dog park. He chases a freckled dog named Izzie after she tries to hump him. He tags along with Kody the Ridgeback at the beach and splashes hesitantly in the salty water.
He's also an aggressive breed dog.
A Rottweiler, Teddy is subject to some harsh penalties here in south Florida. One step out of line, and he is taken and euthanized. Being aware of this from the get-go, my husband and I worked hard to socialize him properly and make sure he has good manners. About 98% of the time, he does. That other 2% is usually when he roughhouses with my husband at home.
I took Teddy to our local dog park this morning. We had been there with a couple of friends for about an hour when a new dog joined the park, and made a beeline for my dog. This other dog snapped at Izzie. He snapped at Teddy. He snapped at Tyrone. I grabbed Teddy's collar before anything could happen. But as I was grabbing for him, the owner of the other dog tried to kick Teddy, who was not snapping at any body. My friend grabbed Izzie, and she got into it with the owner of the other dog. The exchange of words was not polite.
Even though Teddy had been bitten, and did not do any biting, we had to leave. Because if that man called and complained, my dog is automatically guilty and is subject to immediate destruction, simply because of a label people have assigned to him. It isn't a label he's earned.
tl;dr: I hate people and I love my dog. That guy tries that ever again he's going to get punched in the throat.
