Bad owner

Wednesday, 6:09 pm

By Kate

Nov

10

2010

I live in a residential neighborhood filled with children, couples with no children, single women, and retirees. We’re a real mixed demographic and it’s quite lovely in most regards. What drives me crazy, however, is the tendency for everyone to believe with their whole wonderful hearts that their dogs are perfect and obedient and cute and, therefore, do not need to abide by the leash law when they let the dogs out the front door to relieve themselves...usually in someone else’s yard. Of course. That’s just dog logic.

Perfect and obedient are not always the case, though cute often is. In fact, perfect and obedient rarely occurr. I no longer take my dog walking on her leash up the street because she has been attacked twice and scared witless by big old friendly dogs rushing up to her. We don’t deal well with rushing dogs. Especially the ones with jaws snapping and hackles raised. Fortunately, MacKenzie hasn’t been harmed with more than a couple of scratches. Unless you count the trauma, of course. She is terrified to walk up the street. Because she is very little and the other neighborhood dogs are very big.

This evening, I was in the process of dragging my trash barrel to the curb when the dog across the street...a black lab...came charging across the street with his hackles raised, his tail straight out, his ears flat back, showing his teeth and snarling. He wasn’t joking around. He meant it. And he came right for me. We did quite a fancy dance out by the street. He chased me in circles with his jaws snapping, while I turned circles, keeping my trash barrel between him and me. His owner shrieked at him and called him and scolded him and finally grabbed him. She did not say a word to me. I think I said something like, “I guess he doesn’t like me.” Yeah, understatement there.

I returned to the house shaking like a leaf. No apology, no nothing. Just...nothing. I don’t think an apology would have made me feel all that much better, but it would have been good to have some sort of acknowledgment that her dog had done a bad dangerous thing and she has absolutely no control over him. You know, it’s only a matter of time before one of the kids in the neighborhood gets mauled. I don’t know what set the dog off, if anything did in particular. It’s the third time in a month that he’s chased people that I’m aware of. Once was my friend across the street who got out of her car in my driveway. The other time happened a day or two before the lad left for New York. He was crossing the street after carrying some heavy stuff for another neighbor. The dog chased him home and scared both of us. Again, while his owner stood helplessly by yelling at him as he totally ignored her. There is something not quite right with that dog, not the least of it being an overly permissive owner.

What would you do in this situation? I don’t know. I would like the dog restrained at all times.  A leash. It’s the law anyway. A fenced in yard. You know, a few of us with dogs went to the expense of picket fencing our yards in. In my case, as much to protect my dogs as to keep my dogs from wandering. Terry’s middle name was Wander and MacKenzie is basically terrified of anything that moves and apparently looks like easy pickings to larger dogs. Why is it that other people think they and their dogs are so special, even when events suggest otherwise? Why, why, why? I don’t need a leg full of stitches, thank you. Nor do any of the neighborhood small fry need facial reconstruction. This is nuts. Irresponsible even. And stupid. Let’s not forget stupid, either. I’m upset.