‘It was terrifying to watch!’: Friendly labrador almost gets caught in the crosshairs of a vicious police dog after it wanders into bitework training

A friendly neighbourhood labrador was almost caught in the crossfires of a police dog training session, sparking much debate on social media.

Footage of the incident was shared on TikTok by @lunascaninewellness, and shows an off-leash chocolate labrador interrupting a K-9 demonstration of bitework led by the local police force. The bitework training session saw one officer don a heavily padded sleeve, and instruct the German Shepherd police dog to maul his arm. 

While the training is useful when K-9s are needed to assist with an arrest, the bitework demonstration posed a threat when a non-police dog wandered into the demonstration. The labrador is seen approaching both the K-9 and the officer, with another policeman quick to shield it from the unfolding demonstration. Thankfully, the labrador was quick to back away from the K-9 and remained unharmed, though the TikTok user still described the ordeal as “terrifying.”

“Terrifying to watch,” the user wrote in the accompanying caption, “thank god the lab did not get too close.” The user went on to question the labrador owner for seeing a public demonstration of potentially dangerous bitework, yet still allowing their dog “​to bound over.” Elaborating in the video’s in-text, the user said the situation could have “ended badly,” especially since the owner made “little effort” to stop it from happening in the first place. 

Other TikTok users echoed similar concerns in the comments section, describing the labrador owner as “irresponsible” for letting their dog off the leash without knowing if it’s safe to do so. Others questioned the legality of having a dog off lead in the first place, saying the owners of the “uncontrolled” dog are “the ones at fault.” Another chimed in writing: “Police are not at fault here.  

Adding further context, the uploader of the video revealed that the demonstration was taking place as part of a charity event showcasing the work of the police dog unit, though some users were critical of this happening in the general public. “It’s kinda their fault for doing it in a public place,” one person wrote, with another adding that it was a “weird place to have a demonstration like this.” 

Others took the incident more light-heartedly, saying it’s “always bloody Labs” and imagining that the owner was probably off-camera saying “it’s ok, he’s friendly” — despite the German shepherd’s obvious intimidation. It’s safe to say that if it were this writer, he’d be playing dead immediately, or distracting the K-9 with the pocketful of treats he probably took to the park anyway.