Thanks for the admiration!. We're biased -- we think she's the prettiest dog in the world, but I have to say that I envy Rich Sophie's beautiful coat (and, from what Sarah and you have said in the past, her immaculate manners). So sorry she's no longer with you, Rich. Lilly just passed her TDI (therapy dog) exam and so has pretty good manners, but she's only 2 and so we're still working with an adolescent. She's sweet as honey, huge-hearted, willing to please, loves to work, and steady. No bad habits. What a loss for the people who turned her in!
And no, she's not a Ridgeback, though that is nearly always everyone's first guess and she does look like one, excepting the ridge. According to her prior owners, she's a purebred lab, though of the Field and Trial variety, so she's tall, leggy, lean and has a lot of endurance and energy. Her coloring is unusual for labs, but it's called "Fox Red." We call it "butterscotch." She's also really big for a lab (sizewise she is much more in line with the Ridgebacks) -- she's a very trim 88 lbs. Wow, I just chatted about my dog for two paragraphs! Can you tell I'm besotted?
As far as the alpha roll, I've done it too, but it was instinctive. I was out hiking with my college BF and his (rescued and very large) malamute, who had some dominance issues. About a 1/2 mile into the hike he realized he'd forgotten to lock the car, so ran back to lock it while I hung out with the dog and waited. I'm sitting on a stump in the forest with the dog on a leash when I hear a rumbling next to me. I look at her and she's up, snarling, growling AT ME. First time ever she had shown aggression towards anyone, so far as we know. Man, was I pissed. I jumped up, caught her by the throat, slammed her down on the ground, and snarled and yelled "NO!" as loud as I could. Talk about instant limp dog! Then I sat back down and kept her in a down-stay until BF got back. She and I never had an issue again.
. But I think I was just lucky -- if she'd scared me rather than pissed me off, I'm not sure things would have gone well for me in that encounter.
However, such an approach isn't something I'd try with a strange dog, off-leash, coming at me in a park. I think I'll be looking into the pepper spray, too.
As for spouses... well... why don't you try it, Rich, and get back to us on that one?
