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Some dogs just dominate a scene.

True story: A while back, I was visiting my stepmother and took her little beagle for a walk one workday morning (I was on a vacation).

She lived in a development that was new and not totally filled in, so there was a nice rural feel to it.

It was a sunny day, and Sam and I were just strolling along. Suddenly, a pack of barking dogs! All around us!

Apparently people would let their dog out when they went to work and bring it back in when they got home at the end of the day. All those loose dogs formed a pack and terrorized the neighborhoods.

People finally complained about it enough to get some changes brought about, but that would be long after Sam and I met the pack.

They weren’t threatening me, but Sam was in danger. I picked him up. The intersection — an open area where someone might see the trouble and come help us — was close, but as I looked up there, a Rottweiler came around the corner.

My lucky day.

But it took one look at the situation and slunk away. Yes, the Rottweiler was scared!

We got back home just fine, but I couldn’t help thinking that that must have been one bad bunch of tough dogs.

Since then, my perspective has mellowed. Maybe that big black dog was a gentle soul that had always been treated well and just didn’t know its own strength.

Perhaps it had just had a treat.

• AKC breed page
• There are four kinds of Rottweiler, per Dogster
• Cesar Milan says that Rottweilers are misunderstood.

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They are beautiful, inside and out.

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The End

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Featured image: Casey;adew/Shutterstock

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