Rex was attacked today.

[Antman408]

Earlier today I was at Lowe’s with my gf and Rex. We were picking up flowers, mulch and such for a gardening project she wanted to do for the house.

While waiting in line to pay I hear a grunting sound and immediately turn around. An autistic teen was charging Rex and made an attempt to stomp on him (if I had not moved him a second earlier he would of been stomped). He continued to try to stomp him while charging, his father grabbed him and held him back after a short tussle. Rex handled the situation very well and was not scared. However it startled me. I didn’t get upset at the child because he was autistic and couldn’t help it.

Has anyone else had something like this happen?

 

[LifeofRubie]

Earlier today I was at Lowe’s with my gf and Rex. We were picking up flowers, mulch and such for a gardening project she wanted to do for the house.

While waiting in line to pay I hear a grunting sound and immediately turn around. An autistic teen was charging Rex and made an attempt to stomp on him (if I had not moved him a second earlier he would of been stomped). He continued to try to stomp him while charging, his father grabbed him and held him back after a short tussle. Rex handled the situation very well and was not scared. However it startled me. I didn’t get upset at the child because he was autistic and couldn’t help it.

Has anyone else had something like this happen?

No, luckily, but we've decided to stop taking the dogs places where we might not be able be be in total control, i.e. holding bags, pushing carts, unsupervised children, because the risk of not being to react in a timely manner is too great. Imagine if you'd had a bag of mulch in your arms when this happened, or had his leash tied to a cart. That being said, we can't predict EVERY situation but gosh darn if I'm not always scanning where ever we are (even our own backyard) to be a step ahead.

I'm glad Rex handled it well; that situation could've ended a hundred different ways.

 

[My2Girls]

When we take the dogs out in public I am constantly scanning the environment and giving my husband a heads up as he’s usually the one holding the leashes and watching them. I usually hang back a few feet. It’s a scary thing when something takes you by surprise like that. Glad nothing serious happened and Rex handled it well.

 

[Sir.duke865]

That's crazy, I limit taking my 2 places where I can some what control interaction or see it coming well ahead of time, honestly not for fear of something like this (something like this never crossed my mind) but more because of his training and being taught to react to aggression or what's perceived as it anyway. I'd have had a bit kid on my hands if something where to happen like this. You just gave me a lot more to think about with this one, I'm glad no one was hurt tho.

 

[Antman408]

That's crazy, I limit taking my 2 places where I can some what control interaction or see it coming well ahead of time, honestly not for fear of something like this (something like this never crossed my mind) but more because of his training and being taught to react to aggression or what's perceived as it anyway. I'd have had a bit kid on my hands if something where to happen like this. You just gave me a lot more to think about with this one, I'm glad no one was hurt tho.

We typically take him everywhere, mall, stores, family, bars and have never had a problem like this. Closest thing we’ve had was a teenage girl trying to play with his nub when we weren’t looking. I quickly put an end to that. We’ve had people “taunt” him, but he ignores it when we tell him to “leave it” but today was the first experience like this.

When we take him out, one of us has 100% attention on him while the other shops, handles paying etc. to make sure we have 100% undivided attention to handle anything I’d it arises.

However I’m not going to let this incident discourage us from bringing him places with us. Just use it as a learning experience.

 

[LifeofRubie]

We typically take him everywhere, mall, stores, family, bars and have never had a problem like this. Closest thing we’ve had was a teenage girl trying to play with his nub when we weren’t looking. I quickly put an end to that. We’ve had people “taunt” him, but he ignores it when we tell him to “leave it” but today was the first experience like this.

When we take him out, one of us has 100% attention on him while the other shops, handles paying etc. to make sure we have 100% undivided attention to handle anything I’d it arises.

However I’m not going to let this incident discourage us from bringing him places with us. Just use it as a learning experience.

We have an IN TRAINING and DO NOT PET patches for a vest that we've used if we're in close quarters. In this scenario, the teen may not have minded them but I would hope the parents would've taken notice. I know there are quite a few people here who use them. When people ask us what she's training for, we just say Focus, Social Distractions, Ignoring People, etc., and people have been very respectful about it.

 

[Antman408]

We have an IN TRAINING and DO NOT PET patches for a vest that we've used if we're in close quarters. In this scenario, the teen may not have minded them but I would hope the parents would've taken notice. I know there are quite a few people here who use them. When people ask us what she's training for, we just say Focus, Social Distractions, Ignoring People, etc., and people have been very respectful about it.

I have a “do not pet” patch on his collar. It typically works, a drunk women pet him then read it as she was petting him and broke down in tears apologizing for petting him and then went home because she felt horrible lol.

But yeah, it was somewhat funny, the teenage girl was their with a friend waiting in line to go in somewhere. She grabbed his nub and I told her not to do that. A minute later a 4 or 5 year old girl walked up to me and said “excuse me mister. May I pet him?” Blew my mind how a 4 or 5 year old had the courtesy to ask rather than grab but a 16ish year old does not.

 

[Kaiser2016]

Really young always ask before petting. I'm guessing they are teaching it in schools.

 

[Tebeaux]

I've always taught my kids to ask before petting any animal, no matter how small or nice looking. We do a lot of camping and there's always dogs being walked, or we pass by a campsite with dogs laying around and they're very good about asking.

 

[XerxesYoga]

I had normal kids through rocks at Audry before. However they could not hit her and parents corrected them so no harm.
However when she was 7 months old before I train her for bite work. ( it is just past 2 months and we did only 8 classes as I don't have acsses to helper now.)
Two different occasions both situation two black guy with pipe and one with broom in Toronto downtown streets charging and coming towards us Audrey didn't get scared but was confused. She had no traning that stage so no reaction. I assume they were trying to get her to bite to sue me. In both cases I Yale at them said keep moving to come close or I shove that thing in your A****.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

I know from experience a situation can go south quickly in a matter of seconds.

Training is good but there is also a deep seated instinct in some dogs that may override or enhance training experience.

Knowing and understanding your dog is so important and training yourself in certain scenarios with your dog is invaluable.
Your situation made me cringe at all the possibilities of different outcomes.
Kudos to you and Rex for maintaining a calm and controlled demeanor.
The average person does not even think of that kind of situation occurring and are ill prepared for it.

I have the In Training Do Not Pet harness on my twins when in public. I find it amazing that people ignore it and attempt to approach them. I respectfully request they observe their patches and allow us to continue on. For the most part though people do respect the patch and will comment on how beautiful they are and inquire about their training and lately it seems many ask permission to take their picture. They either have owned Dobermans or know someone that does.

Sure am glad it ended well with your situation and it certainly reflects on your time spent on Rex’s training!