Toffee, my 3 year old golden labrador hasn't lost any of her puppy-like social skills, be it with humans or other four legged friends. It is a joy to see her take on any size of dog in the park, in search of a good chase or rough and tumble challenge. Of course this can get her into trouble, as not all dogs (or their parents) are looking for social interaction! Dog speak for "Do you want to play" seems to do the trick most of the time, and to be fair, Toffee takes rejection pretty well.

At home with the kids she is docile, playfull, and endlessly patient and of course competes for attention! This is why I was taken completely by surprise in the park the other day when a seemingly friendly canine encounter with a Jack Russel turned into something resembling dog-rage! Clearly insults were exchanged, Toffee's hackles went up and the next thing I knew, JR went for a full on bite of Toffee's ear! Toffee growled and beared her teeth looking more like a wolf than a soppy labrador...for a moment I thought she would throttle JR...meanwhile the owner started screaming hysterically which didn't really help matters, and luckily I managed to separate them (the dogs that is!) At that point the woman turned her attention to me (not her dog) and delivered a deluge of verbal abuse until a witness came forward and intervened saying her dog had started the fight and mine had naturally defended herself...I decided not to persue the no-win situation and instead get Toffee to the vet for an ear inspection...All was thankfully ok.

I am now aware that even my docile family labrador can turn aggressive, all be it deffensively, and perhaps it is just as well that Toffee now seems to think twice about taking on the park's less sociable dogs! Judging by the reaction I got from JR's owner I should probably follow suit!

Toffee's Woof Blog:

Yes it's true, my hackles do go up at times...it makes me look bigger and I can impress my friends in the park..! By the way I just wanted to let you know that Mummy (i use that name because I am her fourth child you see) should not judge a book by its cover or a dog by its breed!

I know I got into a scrap with a rude Jack Russel the other day, but yesterday I had just the best time with two JRs who even volunteered to share their stick, log actually, with a brilliant tug of war game! Of course you know I didn't want to intimidate them too much, they being so much smaller than me, so I let them win a couple of times and suggested they stick to twigs next time and leave the logs for us big dogs!

So happy you've joined me on Paws Connect and I look forward to getting to know you!

Toffee