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This is why I stress keeping dogs on a leash! I don't care who you are, how obedient & gentle your dog is... keep it on a leash in public. I have a German Shorthaired Pointer who regularly gets beat up by our cat, and once actually caught a squirrel, carried it around for about 2 minutes in his mouth (pointers have really, really soft mouths and don't really bite or chew), until the squirrel got tired of it and bit his floppy ear. He has never harmed a thing. Ever. I can take him off leash and he won't go further than 2 or 3 feet from me, returns when called, etc. Still, when we are out in public I keep him on a leash--for his own good.

A few months ago some lady was at petsmart when I ran by there, and her lab wasn't on a leash in the parking lot. She wasn't paying attention and her lab walked out into the road, was ran over, and died a very slow death. Senseless, and could have been prevented by just keeping the dog on a leash.