I think I aged about fifteen years in the past ten minutes. I took one of our dogs (Solly) out this morning so he could go to the bathroom, and so I could run to the corner store. I saw a certain neighbor with his two dogs a ways down the alley. Solly and I were not headed that way, and the neighbor and his dogs were a ways away, so I didn't think much of it. We get a ways further down the block and Solly stops to do his business. Out of nowhere, two larger dogs are suddenly on top of him, jumping around, growling, barking. One of the dogs backed away, maybe just wanted to be friendly, but the other one is on top of him, barking, trying to bite at his neck, I think. I ended up pulling them apart while screaming at everyone to back off, and then I yelled at the owner to control his damn dogs. He retorted that my dog attacked first, which makes little sense because my dog is on a leash, standing there, going to the bathroom. WTF?
On a related note, I plan on bursting in on my neighbors while they're on the toilet later today. Just want to make friends and get to know them. Apparently it's an OK thing to do.
(Yeah, I realize it's extremely unwise to pull two dogs apart. But the owner of the other dog was just standing there, and I reacted without taking time to think it through.)
2 comments:
We have two Chihuahua brothers, very small. We always walk them on a leash! There are mostly smart owners with leashed dogs in my neck of the woods here at Ashland and Sherwin. However, we also often see numbskulls. Usually it's a guy casually walking on the sidewalk as his large unleashed or long-leash dog runs around and plays wildly. We always cross the street when we see such a fool coming our way.
I know someone will say that dog who attack are only acting on instinct, that it's not their fault when they attack. Their genes tell them to act aggressively and be the Alpha Dog when they encounter another.
Well, if a dog attacks I don't expect I'll defend myself or my pets by reaching down to restrain a strange animal. I'm certain my instincts will send my foot into the side of the attacking dog until it retreats.
I learned the hard way how not to break up a dogfight. I have since been instructed the correct way.
Grab the dog that's winning by the back legs, and pick him up like a wheelbarrow. This does a couple things: 1) makes him drop his head, so he can't bite on the other dog, 2) makes him aware that you're there, and 3) makes it so he can't turn around and bite you.
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