Biting the Hand That Feeds You

My beloved dog, Smith, gave me a scare yesterday. While walking in my dog-infested neighborhood, we encountered a little long haired white dog (breed unknown to me) who started lunging at Smith and barking wildly. Well, my dog needs virtually no invitation to display aggression at small dogs, so he started pacing, jumping and barking at the little dog while I desperately tried to restrain him on the leash.

While trying to get a tighter hold on this 70 lb beast, he lunged AT ME ripping a hole in my shirt. I yelled and he lunged at me again. Finally I was able to get control of him, and nervously walked his violent ass home.

I wish I knew more about dog psychology to know why the fuck he did this. This marks the third time he has done this to me. On another occasion he scratched my breast while trying to get to two snappy beagles. Smith is never aggressive with me any other time, and he's never done this to Anne. Each time he has shown this behavior toward me, he is trying to get at another dog, and it's like I'm in the way, or he's trying to take me out so that he can eventually get to his real target!

If anybody has thoughts on this, please share. All I know is that it's very disturbing to have your own dog try and attack you.

jb