All Bark

It began as these things often do--with a few barks from the dog whose yard we were passing. Mad Dog pulled on her leash as the other dog ran our way. I held out hope that the approaching dog (I later found out that her name was Lizzie) would stop at an unseen underground fence or that her owner would succeed in calling her back. Neither happened.

I was nervous as they sniffed each other, but thought they could get to know each other and then move on. So I let them pause a moment and relaxed just a bit myself until something set one of them off and they were at each other's throats. Both had their teeth bared and the hair on their backs stood straight up. In just a moment, Mad Dog was pinned under Lizzie and all I could think to do was scream no repeatedly over all the noise. I pictured all the worst possible things and was convinced that I'd be bringing a bloody dog home.

Lizzie's owner was able to pull her off and I checked Mad Dog's ears and neck. I found only slobber. Mad Dog seemed to shake it off quickly, wagging and sniffing as she normally would, but I just plain shook the whole rest of the walk.

That was my first experience with all bark, no bite and I'm so glad.