I don't know about the repetition, but I feel the something
s are bad style for different reasons. Avoiding "something" makes your text feel less wishy-washy and more intense and to the point:
Not a minute passed, however, when the rottweiler stopped me again.
At that same moment I was pushed to the floor.
“... it seems like the dog wanted to lure you into a trap.”
The solution, in my opinion, is to name the "something".
For example, if the dog stopped him, why first state that "something" stopped him, only to immediatly clarify that it was the dog? The man wouldn't stop if he did not recognize the dog right away. If he thought it was just a bush, he would keep going. So he sees the dog, then stops. Why not retain that immediacy, by naming the dog, instead of causing a hesitation in the narrative that is not there in the action?
Or, why does he say that the dog wanted to lure him into "a trap or something"? What other something could there be that he could be lured into? I have no idea. This sounds like you have no idea what other something could be there, either. So just delete it. The dog wanted to lure him into a trap. And that sentence ends with a nice clear and unconfusing "bang", just like the trap would.
Or something like that ;-)
Just went to your website.
Maybe you can try to delete superfluous words:
Once again, I traveled three hours only to eat sushi, alone. Cars passed by and people streamed along the sidewalk.
So:
Again I traveled, three hours, to eat sushi alone. Cars passed and people streamed along the sidewalk.
Write like a guy with a lot of muscle: less words, more impact.
"Once again" does not tell me more than a simple "again". The "only" is a comment by the narrator, not a description of the character or the action. Hold the narrator back and let the reader come to their own conclusion. Yes, cars pass "by", when they pass, we know that, so don't tell us what we know.
Even if there are things that the readers cannot know, some things left out for the reader to wonder and guess create tension and interest, where detailing out every particular just creates impatience and boredom. Be brief to the point of omission, and suddenly your narrative will become rich with meaning.
The somethings are the same: too many words, where less words say the same or even work to create interest.