When my son was either four or five, I saw him running as hard as he could from a big dog that was chasing him. I started running directly to that dog (and I was a medal winning running champion at college).
I knew I was going to kill that dog with my bare hands when I got to him (adrenalin killer mode). The dog saw me running toward him and he knew he was dead if I got there, so he screeched to a halt, turned and took off.
How did the dog know I would kill him? I was staring into his eyes without blinking as I ran and transmitting his death to him eye ball to eye ball. I’m sure :o) he was also calculating the speed of my run and he thought, “Oh, s-—, she can outrun me.”
Really, when a mom sees her kid in actual danger, no one is safe from that mom until the kid is safe.
Several years ago when Mrs. henkster and I were taking a walk in a nearby neighborhood, we were aggressively charged by a large dog. The Mrs. scares easily and was terrified. I immediately got between her and the dog and went into my defensive crouch and stared him down. He broke off his charge and retreated, but if he’d continued I was going to kill him with my bare hands. If dogs can sense fear, the opposite holds true.
When dogs made their deal with us 50,000 years ago, the terms were that there is only room for one master in the relationship, and it’s man, not dog. That deal has not changed.