LOL!! Oh man, Becky! That is a funny story, although it was prolly terrifying at the time.
I've been around silly Rotties, so I know they aren't all bad. But like Beaker said, I wouldn't want to be on its bad side.
That one that bit me was crazy. The owner came to pick it up (I worked at the vet's office back then) and since the dog hated men and I was the only woman on staff that day, I volunteered to bring the dog up.
When I took Cain out of the kennel, he was playful and happy, even licked my hand. I bent down to fasten the harness under his chest and his tail just froze in mid-wag.
I felt his body go tense and ~knew~ I was about to be attacked. I slowly stood up and backed away, keeping my eyes to the side to avoid provoking a challenge.
No luck. He jumped at me and sunk his teeth into my left arm. I kicked, screamed and punched until he let go and then kicked him in the ribs as hard as I could. As he went sliding across the concrete floor, I ran out of the back and shut the door.
The Doc lassoed him with the choke stick and brought him up to the front, where Cain charged his own owner, teeth bared.
The owner was stunned and Doc told the owner to put the dog down. The owner refused, so he was told that the dog was never allowed back in our office again.
Last I heard, the dog was seized and euthanized. I have a feeling Doc M made a phone call, because he was seriously worried that the owner's children were in fatal danger from the animal. And the owner seemed to care more about keeping his dog (which cost him $500) than the safety of his own kids!
It makes you wonder what made him so afraid of the harness. I do small animal rescue at times and they can come in with so many phobias.