Otto's Way

It was nice waking up in Wisconsin this morning. We all went for our morning loop and when we reached the end of our road, a couple was walking up the hill. They did not have their dog and they were in heavy winter clothes. Otto took one look at them and started barking and barking, he just wouldn't stop. My husband told me that was the couple who owned the female black lab that Otto went after last summer.

I could barely contain Otto. He was lunging, growling and barking at the couple which was not a good way to start my pre-coffee Sunday morning. I thought for the first time that he was actually going to attack without a visible fear of threat and I was plenty worried. My husband excused his behavior by saying to the couple, "Well, Otto must smell your dog on you." Then he asked them, "How was Lucky doing?" He told us that the cancer was in her leg, spreading fast and she could no longer walk but that she was comfortable....what ever that means and then suggested that they walk ahead of us. I knew the woman must have remembered Otto as the "Mean Dog" that had attacked without provocation, her old dog Lucky.

So, am I now to understand that Otto, from a distance, can smell the cancer of a dog from the clothes of the owner? Did he view the owners as a potential threat because of this smell? Can a dog smell other dogs on their owners clothes without the dogs being present from a distance?

I am going to have to look into this further, maybe take him to the entrance of a hospital or something similar to see his behavior.
Otto could be like a directional signal for the sick or soon to be sick. I, on the other hand, will be locked up in the mental ward ranting about Otto's abilities.