Whta is the scariest thing your GSD have done to you?
Phenix really scared us when he was around 6 months old. We were at the dog park. I don't know if I will be able this describe it clearly, but the park is on a small hill.
It's a field owned by the city, so they have built a garage into the hill to store their tools. You can imagine: they digged into the hill, so there is a hole on one side of the hill, but no fence to protect dogs from falling into it.
Phenix was never approching this whole, until one day, when a guy threw a ball in that direction. Our little boy was so focussed on it, he didn't see the edge and felt 8 feets downs into the hole :shocked:.
No sounds. No movements. We were freaking out. I ran there and he was sitting there, looking at me, not realizing/understanding what had just happen:crazy:. Thankfully, he was all right, not injured. I was so happy! :wub:
From there, I wrote a letter to the city to ask them to put a fence around the entry of the garage because it was not only dangerous for dogs, but also for young children. No response. They never did anything to correct the problem.
Phoenix and I were out hiking in the backwoods, and I was looking down towards the creek beside us, and when I looked forward, I saw him freeze, ears pricked and hackles bristling. We had stumbled up on about thirty deer, barely ten feet away. We had just gone up over a little hill, and we didn't hear them and they didn't here us. Anyway, he had never ever chased deer before, but I think the temptation was just too much and off he went! He came back after a little while, but holy smokes, I was SOOO scared!
Another time, he bit a glass ornament. Got glass all over his mouth, and I thought he ate some... Good grief. BUT, he never did it again!
I was hiking in the woods with my GSD, a friend and her doberman Heidi. Heidi was ball obsessed and would find them everywhere. It was Winter with snow on the ground and pretty cold.
Heidi spotted a tennis ball in the stream and before we knew it she leaped off a 6 foot cliff into the icy water to get the ball. That part of the stream is curved and the water had deeply undercut the steep river bank. Heidi couldn't get a purchase on the river bank. We tried to get her to swim downstream where she could haul herself up but she wasn't listening. This went on for several minutes. She started to tire and then started panicking--big wide eyes, frantic pawing at the steep bank.
I had to do something and now. I put my GSD Maddie into a sit stay to prevent her from following me. Then I jumped into the stream. I was able to push Heidi downstream a bit then lifted her onto dry ground. Then we hightailed it home as we were soaking wet on a cold Winter day.
From that day on Heidi followed me around on our group walks and sought my attention. She was super aloof to everyone but her owner before that scary event. But she knew who saved her.
When I was about 11 years old, I was in the living room with my 2 labs and my cat. First night home alone. My parents went to dinner and left me under the care of my older sister who ditched me for the boy down the street. Well I was fine.. watching TV and sitting quietly when both dogs started growling toward the hall way.. both got up and started stalking toward the pitch black hall... hackles up, growling a low warning growl and baring teeth.... the cat was with me and we had no other pets and I was the only one home. Talk about scared out of your dang mind as a child. I called my sister who proceeded to ignore my call and then ran next door to my neighbor's house. He came over and searched the house and found nothing. I wouldn't let him leave until my parents got home and my dogs were fine after that. Needless to say, I hated staying home alone when I was younger.
Story 2:
Titan has 2 distinct types of obsessive barking moments. One is for strange humans in the yard and the other is for a strange animal. Very very different alerts. So it's easy for me to tell when he's barking if I should worry or not if I"m not expecting visitors.
Anyways... over a year ago, my roommate was gone for the weekend and the BF was deployed. I was home alone with Titan.. which wasn't entirely unusual so it's not like I was nervous or anything. It was night time, pitch black outside, with not very many street lights to light outside. I was in the back room catching up on some work when Titan went bat S**T crazy at the front door (so I thought) with his distinct "human" alerting bark.. but when I say crazy I mean.. if he could have gotten to that person, or whatever it was, I am certain he would have done some severe damage.
Well when I walked out to the living room to find him and calm him, he wasn't at the front door going nuts, he was at my back door to half acre privacy fenced yard... mind you still trying to tear through my glass back door, who's blinds were up. I have never been more scared in my life. I ended up grabbing my knife and calling my mother... who somehow, convinced me to let him in my back yard, since whatever was there was on my property and it was our right to protect it (hind sight and more knowledge being 20/20 I woujld do differently in the future) but I did.. Titan ripped to the side of my yard where the gate was then did a full sweep of my half acre lot. coming back to me (like in SAR) with an all clear sit. LOL. Not gonna lie I was rather impressed at that part. So nothing was there and we did the same in my front yard with nothing there. No idea what was out there but I couldn't sleep that night. Probably not a ghost, either someone in my yard or an animal but it was enough to scare the F out of me.
I have never seen him so aggressive and intent on getting whatever was there. And we have had all kinds of critters in our yard from bears to deer, to rabbits, etc.. but all in my front yard and he has always just been super intrigued.
Just a few nights ago, I wake up to Finn doing his full on "someone is breaking into the house!" bark and crashing into my bedroom door. I thought he was dreaming, but the only other time I ever heard him bark/growl like this was when someone broke into the house. He was digging at the carpet and just losing his mind...all his hair was standing up on end and he looked as if he'd eat the next person who walked into the room.
I open the door...nothing. I checked the downstairs, nothing. By the time I got back upstairs, he was laying back on his pillow chewing a rawhide like nothing happened.
The only other scary thing I can think of was he managed to put his front leg through his collar when he was about a year old. I have no idea how he did it, but it was so tight, I couldn't get it to unbuckle. He started fighting and struggling, which caused a laceration and it started to bleed. We had to use a pair of tin snips to cut the collar off, then it was a long E-Vet trip.
Varick knows how to open the latch on our gate, so we have to keep a clip on it 24/7. Someone forgot to put it on one day, and he happened to be outside for over 30 minutes. I was busy doing housework, so I didn't check on him for a while. When I did, the gate was open and he was gone. Completely TERRIFIED me. Luckily, he has a great recall, so I called him (not knowing how long he's been out or how far he's gone) and I heard his tags from the distance. He immediately came back (at full German Shepherd speed), tail wagging and super excited to see me.
Oh Gawd.
Vegas ate two pounds of bird seed when he was five months old. Can you say projectile vomit at 4am? Big time.
He accidently bit our old Border Collie mix while playing with a toy (she ran right in front of it and he got her), and put a hole in her thigh. Six staples and $118.
The other week he slid and fell into a ditch and I thought he broke his leg. Wouldn't put any weight on it and SCREAMED bloody murder when it happened. Has me in tears trying to get him to the vet. 20 minutes later he was running around, no limp or sign of injury. He's a drama king.
He is generally a very good dog, but he's very dramatic... Scares the **** out of me sometimes.
Zebu was starting bite work so this was before we put a lot of control on him. we dragged him off his last bite outside to cool down and potty before being put up. We had been letting him have slipped sleeves so figured he was biting the equipment not the person in it. Decoy got out of his leg sleeves and after a few minutes of zebu being outside I figure he's cooled down and is ready to crate on his own.
I open the door and he flies in and immediately tries to engage the equipmentless decoy but I called him off before he got there and got him under control.
Or that time he ate a shaving razor but passed it without incident
The scariest for myself was when Cruz got loose in the parking lot at Petco. I had one of those harnesses that you "loop" them into. It had a large loop for your hand also. Not a good thing. It was like in the upper 90's that day and so I had a half full water bottle with me. Cruz was around 4 or 5 months at this point. Well, I get out of the truck and then let him out. We parked by one of those islands and he just bolted unexpectedly and pulled the leash right off my hand. I was freaking for a split second and then the training took over. I stayed calm, and tried a recall to no avail. Then the miracle happened. The water bottle made that crinkling sound and it got his attention. So I dug it out of my pocket and started working it and calling him to come. He reluctantly came over and I got him secured. Scared the heck out of me because this is a large parking lot and it's on the corner of two high traffic areas and only maybe a hundred yards from a major interstate.
Now he does what some here have described. He just did it last night and again this morning. He will go out to the back corner of the yard and bark. Hackles standing from neck to tail. Stiff legged staying back from the fence a few feet and slowly creep towards the fence. It scares me only for the fact we have quite a few skunks in the area. Being there is a ditch on the other side of the privacy fence, they like to use the ditches to move around. That last thing I want is Cruz getting sprayed. That actually scares me more than the possibility of some one being there that shouldn't be. But, I have learned, you should always, always trust your dogs instinct. If he or she alerts, pay attention.
When we first got our puppy, he was tiny. It had been about a week home so he was about seven weeks when this happened. On a weekend, my kids were napping. I took the puppy outside with our other dog in the backyard. We have a six foot wood fence. Yogi took off ambling around the side of the house and when I got up to get him, he was GONE. I panicked and my husband called me inside. He'd been out front smoking and there was Yogi, lying on the welcome mat at the front door. Scared the crap out of me because he was TINY. He apparently squeezed between the last board of the fence that connects to the house. Scariest thing to happen so far.
About a month after we brought our puppy home a piece of bark got stuck between her teeth in the roof of her mouth. She wouldn't stop whining and made movements with her mouth like she was choking her trying to vomit. I was panicked since she was my first dog and only saw the bark when we opened her mouth to have a look. We had to use a toothbrush to flick it out.
We were in the bush walking Harry and Lola off lead, suddenly saw a wallaby that just took off, before we could even take a step or utter a sound, Harry and Lola were off after it, they were gone for about 2 minutes (a really long time when you don't know where they are). I did panic a bit because they were gone - I couldn't see them, they were in the prey chasing zone and did not respond to our recalls - it was scary, was so glad to see them trotting back like nothing was wrong!
Just a few days ago i chucked a stick down the hill and when Tyson came back he had his mouth open and scraping at his face with his paws. I ran over and pulled part of the stick that was jammed down his throat out, talk about worrying, he was okay though.
Swallow a rib bone whole at 7 weeks. I know, bad mom, but there was 3 of them and I was inexperienced with GSD puppies I had no idea the 3 of them could knock a huge trash can over. 2 vet visits and 3 days later he pooped it out. But he traumatized me.
A bee nest at 5 months and then got hit by a porcupine at 7 months. :blush: It was absolutely horrific to see that happen to her and now she avoids both creatures. She still won't go back into that same area where the porcupine got her.
Daisy was about 4months old. my husband had her w/ him in the front yard working on our front beds. When I turned onto our street the first thing I saw was Daisy in the middle of the road. I stopped grabbed her and put in he truck w/ me. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. hubby was frantically trying to find her when I asked where she was then she popped her head through the window and he saw her.
Lucky= The first time he tried to come down our basement stairs he just jumped from the top step over the side. I had visions of e-vets and casts but he was fine.
Sibling throwing ball for Dante. Ball ends up in bed of truck. Dante jumps up, into bed of truck to retrieve ball. As Dante is jumping down from bed of truck one of his rear paws gets stuck between bed and tail gate. He is hanging by rear leg, from truck bed struggling and crying while sibling is panicking using commands that I NEVER use to try to get Dante to stop. I come out wondering WTH is going on and use his 'still' command. He stops, lays relaxed and I can get him released.
Asher:
Sibling is throwing balls for both dogs; Dante and Asher. (I previously posted this event in Add to.BEWARE:toys) Asher is a ball hog and tries to get both balls into her mouth and 'swallows' one. Long scary visit to emergency hospital and a HUGE amount of LUCK, Asher is ok.
Lesson apparently to learn : Do not allow sibling to play fetch with dogs.
Seriously: Make certain others use the correct commands with your animals. And never ever have any toys, especially BALLS that are too small.
I was at work. My daughter and nephew went out to the barn to feed the horses. They took Hondo with them (mistake #1). When they got to the barn the horses came running up, making my daughter and nephew jump for cover (mistake #2). Hondo took off after the horses (mistake #3). Daughter ran out screaming for the dog which made the horses even more excited, which made Hondo even more driven (mistake #4).
Daughter calls me hysterically crying. Says Hondo chased the horses and she thinks he got kicked. He is bleeding from his mouth. (As I am shutting down my computer etc. to rush out) I tell her to calm down and give me details. She said he kept coughing up blood. I work 2.7 miles from my house. So I'm home before Hondo even has a chance to catch his breath from his little adventure.
He looked and acted totally fine - I opened his mouth...he had bitten his tongue.
Mishka's collar got some ice on it today while we were walking down the road.... It came unfastened while she was running in the snow.... Thankfully we have been working on her recall... So she immediately came back to us.
Can't decide between Stosh
1) jumping into a dry creek bed where a wild hog was hiding her babies
2) chasing deer into the woods and being gone for 3 hours. My husband found him on a road to an oil lease- Stosh obviously had panicked and just kept running and running instead of turning back for home. He sure was glad to see our truck and he's never done that again.
My pup got her toes caught in the threshold of her wire crate as she was jumping out of my vehicle and screamed and had her leg hung up behind her.
Words can't describe how awful I felt. I know you aren't supposed to coddle them when stuff like that happens, but I felt so bad I was close to tears and hugging her and apologizing, I felt so bad that her little paw was hurting. The worst part was she was acting like I did it to her and acting totally submissive, I guess because I was standing so close, she thought I did it. I think that almost completely broke my heart.
We had just gotten Hildy a new collar, then got invited to a Patriots game (we're both huge fans ) so I walked her once in it, we left for the game at about 1PM, and got home from the game at midnight. I put the collar on Hildy and attached the leash; something felt wrong so I had my DH double-check it and he said it was fine. Out the door we go; we got about 150 feet and all of a sudden the collar just popped off I called Hildy and she came - BUT - she must've thought it was a game as I was kneeling to get her collar and leash, so she darted to me, then darted away, darted back to me, then darted away..... luckily I had chicken in my pocket, I pulled it out and she came sprinting and ate it out of my hand - BUT! the collar would not re-fasten!!! As I said, we had just gotten home from a game and my cell battery was dead so I couldn't call my husband.... I had to carry her (at the time she was about 77lb and I am around 125) home. (She doesn't have a strong/reliable "look at me" / heel if another dog is around.)
I was so relieved when I got her back in the door, I was crying. That incident shaved at least five years off my life expectancy.
Dia did a backflip out of a shopping cart onto concrete and cried bloody murder. She was only 3-4 months at the time and i thought she broke her spine.. Petsmart employees run outside and check to see what happened. Dia hops off and runs for their attention... I was so angry with that stunt.
My dog is a born jumper..when she was a few months old she did a half pike with a twist and took some serious air off the deck...landed on her side, didn't move a muscle, evaluated the situation, got on her feet and away she went.......and that was before she ate the mushrooms in the backyard....but that's a whole 'nother story for another day.
I always put her in a crate when driving. We were at a rc flying field and I was parked 200 yards away and her crate was down by me. I was leaving and I brought her up to the car and drove her in the backseat for 200 yards to gather my stuff.
She saw a skunk walking across a mowed field and jumped out the window as I was going a few mph! Then I saw the skunk running in slow mo while Apache closed distance! She got him right as he hit the tall grass and I just had to cover my face. You can guess the rest, I washed her in the lake.
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