Has anyone experienced this?

[Deborah and Molly]

I took Molly for her walk yesterday at a local trail. We had completed the 1.3 mile loop and started on the .3 mile loop when we came upon a man, young woman, and their male boxer. As we approached, Molly came to a halt, started growling and barking. She never does this since she loves everyone and every dog she meets. I stopped to talk since the couple asked me what kind of dog Molly was. Molly was so uncomfortable she came up behind me and put her paws on my shoulders and her face next to mine; then she got down and pulled on her leash. I have never seen her act this way. Not 10 minutes before, she was making friends with a couple's two dogs. Do dogs really sense people who are "not good" people or was she sensing the dog was mean? The dog was quiet the whole time and just sat there.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

When she does this, if she does this again, tell her to heal and sit right to your side. Make her do this. Insist. You may never know the reason, but this is the correct way, IMO, to handle the situation. Good Luck

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

My daughter's old boxer was the sweetest dog with all humans, however she picked many of fight with other dogs....it freaked me out. She just went after a young Lab once in a pet store. She never ever bit and always stopped when told but we had to stop taking her places because of it. Maybe Molly sensed something about the boxer.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The boxer may have been giving off signals that Molly can read but you can't. It's hard to tell. I never stop to talk to other dog owners when JD and I are out walking, because he can be reactive to other dogs on leash, and that's pretty common.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I am like Karen. Riley loves all dogs and all people but if people approach with dogs on leash I give them a wide berth and walk on unless I know them and the dogs.  I'm just not comfortable with strange dogs on leash.  You may trust your own dog but what happens if the other one is reactive?  

[GBK]

I have had this happen maybe three times in all of Buddy's 7 years.  Twice at  people and once at a dog.  The people, I took my cue and kept walking by them with  him in a heal. 

The dog was a mastiff mix in our Rally class and the sweetest, calmest big lug, I have know idea what offence Buddy took to him.  The smell, a look, I've never seen him react that way, so we stayed our distance with a few dogs and people between us and never had a problem even when we ran through the course off leash. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

I know my Rio has reacted to dogs that do not have doodle ears--he sees so many doodles that when a dog has pointed ears he gets very suspicious--at least, I think that is what he is reacting to--it seems very consistent. 

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Our Libby has done the very same thing to one particular dog and her owner.  We walk every day two and a half miles and she NEVER gives us any trouble at all.  She loves people and ALL the doggies we meet along the way.  When the woman comes in sight of Libby with her dog, OMD!   Libby goes crazy with a very harsh bark and tries to get away!  We have learned to stay clear of the situation!

[Donna K & Quincy]

It seems every boxer we meet wants to take a piece out of Quincy and it's just boxers. I have no idea why and Quincy doesn't react to them, only once when one boxer actually strained againt the leash so hard that he got almost close enough with teeth snapping ready to bite and then the reaction was one snarly growl and he didn't lunge it was more a keep away warning. Now we give boxers a lot of space.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned doesn't like boxers and will bark and growl at most of them.  He was fine with the female in our training class though.