'Hercules' saves owner from attacker

[Hum]

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- A 10- month-old Rottweiler puppy in the Woodlands, Texas, is living up to his name, Hercules, after saving his owner from an attacker in broad daylight.

 

Catalina Humphrey was walking Hercules on the popular Sawmill trail in the Grogan's Mill community around 4 p.m. Saturday. Humphrey said a man crept up from behind and grabbed her shoulder.

 

She told KHOU 11 News, Hercules lunged into action before she could react.

 

"He went around behind me and attacked him. I fell down. I was surprised because he's sweet and loving. I didn't know he would exhibit that side of him."

 

Humphrey said her 110 pound puppy sunk his teeth into the man and bit him again and again.

 

The man reportedly cursed at her. He ran off screaming and bleeding.

 

"I didn't have a purse on me. I just had my workout gear on. I didn't have something that would draw me out for him to want to attack me like that. I don't know what his intent was but it wasn't good."

 

Humphrey then ran home and called authorities.

 

She then rewarded Hercules with a chew bone and a Doggie Spa Day.

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[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

Dogs make effective but unpredictable defensive measures. They will royally screw someone, but there is so much of a problem "pulling the trigger" that it is a severe loose gun (pardon the terms). Most people aren't capable of the training a dog is required to be a defensive tool, and all too often can even attack owners.

[Hum]

if that's a puppy, I don't want to run into him when he grows up

[restroom]

3 minutes ago, Zagadka said:

Dogs make effective but unpredictable defensive measures. They will royally screw someone, but there is so much of a problem "pulling the trigger" that it is a severe loose gun (pardon the terms). Most people aren't capable of the training a dog is required to be a defensive tool, and all too often can even attack owners.

To be fair, this sounds like a dog that's well looked after and was simply doing the same as a son looking after its mother if she was being attacked. Whilst the statement that she didn't know he would show that side of him is a worry and she should potentially take him to dog training to ensure he will only show that side ON DEMAND and not when he perceives a threat, that's not to say that he is not already or is capable of being a loving but protective dog in the right manner, unlike gang dogs that a bred to be killers.

 

As a previous dog owner and trainer, I can tell you the shock a gang got when I approached them to stroke their dog. They said I can stroke him, but he might bite. He growled a little (which told me he was saying, "I'm not sure about you and will attack if I see you as a threat, but I'm not sure so wont turn on you just yet"), but once I calmly "explained to the dog" that I wasn't a threat, he suddenly rolled over and let me tickle his belly in a submissive pose. The kids where amazed as they said he was used "for protection" and they had never seen him do that before. Any dog has the ability to be good or bad, its just about knowing the dogs temperament and knowing the warning signs before they happen.

[Skiver Veteran]

6 minutes ago, Hum said:

if that's a puppy, I don't want to run into him when he grows up

 

Exactly my thoughts! I'm no Dog Expert but I think they may be "fully grown" by that sort of age so he's probably not likely to grow some more.

 

I'm not sure what idiot would attack a women with a dog like that at their side. 

[restroom]

6 minutes ago, Hum said:

if that's a puppy, I don't want to run into him when he grows up

Heh, yeah, when I read "puppy" I was stunned at the size of the animal. He is going to be one big dog!

[restroom]

1 minute ago, Skiver said:

Exactly my thoughts! I'm no Dog Expert but I think they may be "fully grown" by that sort of age so he's probably not likely to grow some more.

 

I'm not sure what idiot would attack a women with a dog like that at their side. 

Still has about another 10 to 12 months of growth and then a few more years to mature to its adult weight...

[Skiver Veteran]

1 minute ago, restroom said:

Still has about another 10 to 12 months of growth and then a few more years to mature to its adult weight...

 

Wow, is she sure it's not actually a small bear?!

[restroom]

Just now, Riva said:

Some breeds are what they are and you cant change the nature no matter how hard you try, thats pitbulls, stuffies, dobermans rotweilers etc. Surely they can become part of your family and will be nice and cute with you but they are still savage.

Absolutely. That's what I mean by making sure you know your animal, know its temperament and know how to react safely and in a timely fashion to the warning signs.

 

Training is as much about learning to understand your pet as much as teaching your pet to obey you.

[restroom]

5 minutes ago, Skiver said:

Wow, is she sure it's not actually a small bear?!

Heh, they do grow to be VERY large animals. They usually have a shorter life than the smaller breads due to their weight causing issues on their limbs as well as stomach issues for some reason I'm not sure of.

 

My friend had one of these dogs called Baloo and it was an amazing animal. All 16 stone of it! It did turn on him one day because it growled at his baby son, so he decided the best course of action was to kick Baloo in the balls. I came downstairs to find the dog had him pinned up against the wall growling in my friends face. I've never laughed so hard in my life. He never once bit him, but was sure making him well aware he wasn't going to be handled like that. My mate was a body builder and was sweating like crazy saying, "good boy, there's a good boy". Never seen such a large bloke look so scared. The dog ignored him for weeks after that.

[DocM]

My late best friend Spike was about 110 lbs and a Rottweiler/Rhodesian ridgeback mix.  

 

GREAT dog who loved kids and would let little ones crawl all over him, tug ears, then slobber all over them. When the kids would try to take the grandkids home he'd block the door. 

 

OTOH, if any potential threat arose he'd get in the middle and make clear any attack would be over his dead body. A fearsome display. We saw him go to war once vs an intruder, and that was fugly. 

[Hum]

Quote

She then rewarded Hercules with a chew bone and a Doggie Spa Day.

 

I would have cooked him a medium-rare steak.

[Mando]

10 hours ago, Skiver said:

Exactly my thoughts! I'm no Dog Expert but I think they may be "fully grown" by that sort of age so he's probably not likely to grow some more.

 

I'm not sure what idiot would attack a women with a dog like that at their side. 

hes about 2/3rd grown up, rotties are big dogs, my mates got 2 adults and Bruno (the male) once stopped his 125cc quad bike by biting and puncturing one of the tyres, Neil was almost pinged over the handlebars, he stopped it dead.  Brunos paws were like bear paws, almost as big as my hands.

 

big soppy lumps as long as they knew you, and still thinking they are puppies leap onto you to sit on your lap.........well and truly twatted on a regular basis, and im a fairly big guy!

[DocM]

11 hours ago, Riva said:

Some breeds are what they are and you cant change the nature no matter how hard you try, thats pitbulls, stuffies, dobermans rotweilers etc. Surely they can become part of your family and will be nice and cute with you but they are still savage.

 

Bullhockey.

 

I've known many Rotties, Pit Bulls, German shepherds etc. who were slobbering babies and passive. OTOH, I've also seen labs who would gladly remove your legs unprovoked. A dog behaves as they are socialized to. Training grasshopper, training.

 

That said, any dog will defend their pack, meaning their family, it's just that some are better equipped to do so. Hell, there are some Pekes I'd rather not tangle with. The owner's responsibility is to assure they are the Alpha dog and can command restraint from their charges.

[Draconian Guppy]

On 25/1/2017 at 4:48 AM, Riva said:

Some breeds are what they are and you cant change the nature no matter how hard you try, thats pitbulls, stuffies, dobermans rotweilers etc. Surely they can become part of your family and will be nice and cute with you but they are still savage.

Completely disagree, we had a dobbie, sent her to "school" to get trained, they gave us our money back because she couldn't be taught to bite, she was so sweet.

[DocM]

47 minutes ago, Riva said:

So you see the dog will attack anyway when it considers it necessary. I have seen a lot of dogs with good owners who moved from cute harmless pitbull to a dog that cant be taken unsupervised.

Only when provoked, and it's the owners job to train the dog to do it on command. Spike ALWAYS warned, fiercely, but wouldn't attack unless commanded. Once that command was given, good luck until his stop command was given. 

[restroom]

22 minutes ago, DocM said:

Only when provoked, and it's the owners job to train the dog to do it on command. Spike ALWAYS warned, fiercely, but wouldn't attack unless commanded. Once that command was given, good luck until his stop command was given. 

I agree. But you also need to know the limits with any animal.

 

I only have a cat now, but even they have different temperaments. My parents cat is awful. Any child goes near her and she scratches and bites. She isn't loving and just generally not a nice animal.

 

Our cat was always loving, but I knew that when our first child came along, he would need to be used to a bit of rough play. So I used to play roughly with him, pull his tail etc. so he got used to it.

 

Obviously I have taught my children how to be caring toward animals and to date neither have grabbed him or hurt him. However my wife looks after children too and one child is a bit of a nightmare. He one day grabbed our cat by the scruff and pushed him in to the sofa. The cat put his ears back and went stiff, but didn't once make a noise. My wife pulled the child off and our cat ran away. Once the boy was picked up by the parents, I gave the cat a load of cat nip and a nice big dinner. He was happy and now avoids the child when ever he is about. That being said, if he had scratched or bit the child, I wouldn't have blamed him, but I like to think that my handling previously has taught him to take such incidents and knows it will be followed by a nice treat when he doesn't react.

 

You can train a dog, but you need to always be aware of their limits... and there ARE limits. As I said before, training an animal is not just about teaching it commands. Its also about you learning the animals personality and warning signs, so you can react before an incident takes place. That's what makes a good owner - someone who doesn't just take the dog to training and expect that it will always do as you say. You need to learn about the dog too.

 

My old dog, a Jack, was so well trained, I could whistle a certain way or simply wiggle my finger a certain way and he would respond accordingly. He also suffered fits and has a bit dopy ad overly loving. He lost all his teeth due to poor nutrition at birth, so when a child came in the room, he would dive bomb them, then lick them all over crazily. If you blew in his face he would growl like crazy and then lick you all over as soon as you stopped. Giving him a grape was hours of entertainment since he couldn't get it in his mouth due to lack of teeth and the grape being on a smooth floor.

 

God I miss that old dog.