First, some "truisms" about Puff:
Puff is not a dominant dog by any means -- she rarely contests possession of anything with another dog.
She's also friendly around other dogs, wagging her tail and usually wanting to play after exchanging sniffs. When we're walking our neighborhood at her potty times, when other dogs bark as she passes their territory, she doesn't go to see them but stays with me on the sidewalk.
One bad trait is barking at people. For her first 4 years, she barked at my neighbors on each side of our home when they drove in -- barking, running toward them, tail wagging, and then attempting a quick lick on their faces. She's finally stopped doing that but still barks at others passing by on our sidewalk. To me, that's her most irritating characteristic.
So, this morning as usual, Puff and I drove the 2 miles/4 minutes to the huge parking lot where we begin our walk in the nature preserve. About 100-150 yards/90-120 meters away Puff noticed a man walking with his leashed standard size black poodle across the field toward his car.
Puff started barking at them (the poodle?) and moved slightly towards them. I had her leash draped over my neck as always, ready to put on in case we meet other dogs, but she was too far away to do that.
I yelled "Sit" which she's always obeyed but instead she kept barking and moving closer -- me following, demanding "Sit!" "Sit!" and "NO!" to her barks.
The man and his dog got to their car before Puff got close but then Puff refused to come close to me so I could clip on her leash. She'd skitter away as if I was about to hurt her and she had a strange, leery (almost ashamed, guilty) look on her face, ears somewhat pulled back. Never in her life have I slapped, whipped, spanked, etc., her although that was certainly what it looked like she was anticipating and trying to avoid.
I kept demanding that she sit or come to me but Puff kept her distance -- no closer than 40'/35 m.
That lasted for 5 minutes or so.
Finally ("DUH!") I threw her retrieving dummy and she retrieved it and got a few kibbles as reward. After that she was fine and we walked our 2 miles with no further incident.
In over a couple thousand walks in/at the nature preserve nothing like this has happened before. Whenever we've met another dog or people and I tell to sit, she sits, so I can attach her leash.
Any thoughts as to what was happening?
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Puff is not a dominant dog by any means -- she rarely contests possession of anything with another dog.
She's also friendly around other dogs, wagging her tail and usually wanting to play after exchanging sniffs. When we're walking our neighborhood at her potty times, when other dogs bark as she passes their territory, she doesn't go to see them but stays with me on the sidewalk.
One bad trait is barking at people. For her first 4 years, she barked at my neighbors on each side of our home when they drove in -- barking, running toward them, tail wagging, and then attempting a quick lick on their faces. She's finally stopped doing that but still barks at others passing by on our sidewalk. To me, that's her most irritating characteristic.
So, this morning as usual, Puff and I drove the 2 miles/4 minutes to the huge parking lot where we begin our walk in the nature preserve. About 100-150 yards/90-120 meters away Puff noticed a man walking with his leashed standard size black poodle across the field toward his car.
Puff started barking at them (the poodle?) and moved slightly towards them. I had her leash draped over my neck as always, ready to put on in case we meet other dogs, but she was too far away to do that.
I yelled "Sit" which she's always obeyed but instead she kept barking and moving closer -- me following, demanding "Sit!" "Sit!" and "NO!" to her barks.
The man and his dog got to their car before Puff got close but then Puff refused to come close to me so I could clip on her leash. She'd skitter away as if I was about to hurt her and she had a strange, leery (almost ashamed, guilty) look on her face, ears somewhat pulled back. Never in her life have I slapped, whipped, spanked, etc., her although that was certainly what it looked like she was anticipating and trying to avoid.
I kept demanding that she sit or come to me but Puff kept her distance -- no closer than 40'/35 m.
That lasted for 5 minutes or so.
Finally ("DUH!") I threw her retrieving dummy and she retrieved it and got a few kibbles as reward. After that she was fine and we walked our 2 miles with no further incident.
In over a couple thousand walks in/at the nature preserve nothing like this has happened before. Whenever we've met another dog or people and I tell to sit, she sits, so I can attach her leash.
Any thoughts as to what was happening?
After the poor woman recovered from the initial shock, she burst out laughing. Once again, I couldn't see the joke at the time but every time I think about it now, it always puts a smile on my face. 
