I think that sadly, the dog may or may not have been a real danger. The problem is, the officer appears to have been acting on her best evidence at the moment. I can really envision the kids, scared (or acting scared, I have seen that too, having taught high school, kids screaming, some attention getting behavior, some really frightened others just getting into the whole *game*), the dog getting excited, and some dogs actually can’t turn that off either. We had a GSD when I was a kid. She was a great dog, with us, but she actually almost bit a little boy once when he got too rough with my brother. So, it’s possible this dog got out of hand in *play*. Sometimes and with some breeds it’s a very fine line between the two.
It’s hard to say, and the fact that the dog was trained (according to the comments from the supposed owner, altho I sort of discount all of that since I don’t know if that was really the owner) as a drug detection dog who apparently washed out—what is the real story there? Did the dog have a stable temperament? I have seen some VERY squirrely GSDs (I show dogs, I have seen a lot of dogs thru the years, and I used to train for other people, just general obedience). So, who knows what this dog was like?
The owners would naturally be upset and angry. Who wouldn’t be? I don’t find enough information in the article to really determine what really happened.
Good point. I know that GSD’s are very protective but it just confuses me that he didn’t bite someone. Through the years, I have had two and my best friend had three. They are so fast and if they really wanted to, they could attack/maul/bite within a short period of time. I do know that many people (even around us) see our dog and assume he is vicious because of the breed and size. I am left wondering if it was a Dobie, a rot, or any other dog over say 80 pounds if the interpretation could have been the same. Some people see a larger dog and just assume they are dangerous. IMHO