It is with much sadness that I write this post.  It comes on the heels of the loss of a pet from one of my dear friends.  Several days ago my friend lost her loyal companion in a terrible and sudden tragedy.  Her constant companion named Angel suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury while attempting to protect her food dish from a bigger dog, a Labrador mix. It was very very quick and totally unexpected.

Upon hearing this terrible news, I emailed friends and family that have close bonds with their furry friends in hopes of bolstering up support to help my friend get through this tough time.  My cousin asked some specific questions that led me into a deeper conversation about Angel’s death.  One of the things that my friend said was that in the days after, she found out that this Labrador mix dog had previously been attacked and severely wounded by another dog.  She wished she had known about this prior to the attack on Angel because she felt that if she had known, she would have been more on guard.  The thought is this, that once a dog has been attacked, it is most likely to defend itself much quicker against a perceived attack.  That is what appeared to have happened here.  When Angel growled and bared her teeth in an attempt to protect her food, the Labrador mix remembered the previous attack and defended himself even though Angel was much smaller. 

Possibly a future tragedy could be avoided if you simply ask your host some pointed questions about their dog.  Or, perhaps you can take warning and alert your guest of your dogs history. This was no doubt hard for the owners of the Labrador mix too.  How would you feel if your dog attacked and killed some ones loved one?  Even the most well behaved dog can feel territorial and have their instinct kick in.

Let’s not let history repeat itself and have another sorrowful pet loss.  “Ask and Offer”.  Let that be the motto when your pet companions are sharing space together.  Let’s keep all of our furry friends safe and remember to just “Ask and Offer”.