Poor pooch

Pepper got attacked in the dog park this morning. He's fine, thank goodness, but there were some intense moments.

Only one other dog was there when we arrived, and Pepper and that dog have played together before so I was not worried. They did some running and chasing and then went their separate ways; everything looked good. While Pepper was on his sniffing mission I was chatting with the owner and found out that she had several problems with her dog before (he attacked another dog the other day (!), he is possessive of a field where he likes to dig, etc., so a huge red flag went off right there). I decided to call Pepper and leave while things were ok. The other dog came as well. As I was praising Pepper for coming, the other dog started to charge him (jealousy?). The owner got him quickly, so nothing happened. I did not want to leave with this experience in mind, so I let Pepper go on another sniffing mission. Instead of holding on to her dog the other owner let her dog loose again, and that's when he decided to charge Pepper, who by then was peacefully sniffing the ground some steps away. Definitely unprovoked attack (he wasn't even looking at the other dog). Pepper was trying to get away, was on his back, was whining. It took me a few seconds (felt like minutes!) to get the other dog off him. Pepper did not bite back. He only barked twice at the dog once the other owner had her dog on the leash, and then sat right next to me, panting heavily but looking at me for guidance. He did an excellent job in reacting in the best way possible. What a great dog. 

The other dog's owner decided to leave at that point (good!). It took us a few moments to recover from this. Pepper was following me closely for a good five minutes. I made a point of sending him off to play (well, more like sniff as there were no other dogs there), just to make sure he leaves with a good feeling and doesn't resent the dog park from now on. 

Yeah, the pros and cons of the dog park. Another dog added to our list of dogs we want to avoid from now on...

Update 08/17/11: I ran into the same dog and owner this morning again. Thank goodness, they decided to stay in the smaller area. I talked with her a while, and she said that she is now seeking professional help to deal with the problem. Good.