First, back story. Tinky-Winky came to me labeled as "extremely dog-aggressive." And, she was. She would attack any dog that came in range, which is a lot of dogs because people are retarded and will let their dog run to the end of the flexi-leash and approach another dog even if I tell them "keep your dog away." And they'll be like "oh don't worry, my dog is friendly." Which isn't true, because that's not how a friendly dog acts, but that's a rant for another post. But the bigger point is, what kind of retard lets his dog approach another dog despite being warned not to?
So anyway, on leash, Tinky-Winky gets approached by a lot of stupid people's dogs, and when I first got her, she would attack so fast you didn't have time to blink, let alone pick her up. She would go for the jugular, no matter what size of dog, and not let go. I've had to pry her jaws open a few times to free another dog. One time, she was on leash, and a guy was walking two Doberman pinschers off leash. They came running up to us, and Tinky-Winky lunged at them so menacingly that they turned and ran away screaming, even though she didn't even touch either one of them. And that's a much larger breed that has a name for ferocity.
So, all that to say, Tinky-Winky was a serious problem. Even on leash, we could only walk quietly between 11 pm and 5 am when other people are indoors, or on the back road where all the aggressive dogs go. If she wasn't such a small dog she'd have been put down long ago. Four years later however, you wouldn't know it's the same dog. Turns out she's not an aggressive dog, she's a timid dog who figured the best defence is a good offence. Now that she figures the best defence is me, she just comes back to me when she's not comfortable with another dog. I can walk her off-leash with other dogs, I can have her visit at someone else's house, she'll even let another dog walk into our apartment and eat her food without saying boo. And she doesn't bark at the door anymore, either. Dog-whispering magic.
The only thing is, she still attacks small poofy dogs. Not smooth-haired dogs like Jack Russels; only poofy ones. She will go way the heck out of her way to go attack a small poofy dog. That's a problem.
So yesterday, as we were coming home from walking, she got distracted by two ravens who were eating popcorn in the Highrise parking lot, and then a small poofy dog walked out of the building on a flexi-leash.
Ah, crap.
Tinky-Winky left her popcorn and went to investigate. I tried to catch her and failed. Instead I kicked her in the hip as she went around me, and that also failed to distract her. She stopped about two feet from the other dog, who was pulling on his leash toward her, and they looked at each other, and then she attacked. And the stupid person who was with the poofy dog started screaming like a pig and pulled on her dog's leash, with the obvious result that her dog couldn't breathe, freaked out, and also was forced to turn his back to Tinky-Winky, so he got bit on his back. Obviously.
Not that this detracts in anyway from the fact that it was my fault for not controlling my dog, but a less stupid person would have a) not let her dog out to the end of its flexi-leash, b) not let her dog run out way ahead of her on the leash, c) brought her dog back to her when another dog showed up, d) picked her dog up, and/or e) at least let it defend itself.
Well, of course a non-stupid person wouldn't have been using a flexi-leash in the first place, but again, that's a rant for another post.
So, the poofy dog got bit on its back, and he's fine. The woman, on the other hand, screamed like a banshee, and decided to call the RCMP, like they give a frack about a dog fight at 6:00 pm on a Sunday night on private property. And since they indeed didn't give a frack, she thought it would be clever to tell them I was drinking and driving. Which is funny because first I don't drink, so she just cost herself any credibility she might previously have had with them, and second, they still didn't give a frack about the dogs. A cop came and found me, asked if I was drinking, declined to give me a breathalyzer, mentioned that I'd be civilly liable for any damage my dog might do, and went home to write his report.
The other reason it's funny is that I would have felt bad about the incident if she hadn't started screaming, somewhat less bad once she acted like an idiot, and not bad at all after she proved to be an evil bitch. Not that you expect any less from people in Hay River, mind you, but now I'm positively amused that she's upset.
Still, I'm not at all amused with Tinky-Winky, and since it's been 4 1/2 years and all her other behaviours are gone and she still attacks small poofy dogs, I'm rather out of solutions. Keeping her on the leash wouldn't help, especially as long as there are stupid people with flexi-leashes who let their dogs approach other dogs. She gets into more fights on leash than off anyway. And going back to ungodly hours and back roads doesn't suit me.
So, what's gonna happen is going back to Plan A: a muzzle. I had bought one for her a few years ago, and never ended up using it because she was improving so much. Since she doesn't seem to be improving anymore and she still can't be trusted, she can get the muzzle now. It will keep her from fighting, it will also keep her from eating gross stuff on the ground, and as an added bonus, maybe it will finally convince retarded people with flexi-leashes not to let their dogs approach her. For whatever reason, people believe a muzzle a lot more than a verbal warning.
The only downside of this plan is it's been so long, I have no idea where her muzzle is now, so I'm gonna have to buy a new one. That's rather a waste of money.
So anyway, on leash, Tinky-Winky gets approached by a lot of stupid people's dogs, and when I first got her, she would attack so fast you didn't have time to blink, let alone pick her up. She would go for the jugular, no matter what size of dog, and not let go. I've had to pry her jaws open a few times to free another dog. One time, she was on leash, and a guy was walking two Doberman pinschers off leash. They came running up to us, and Tinky-Winky lunged at them so menacingly that they turned and ran away screaming, even though she didn't even touch either one of them. And that's a much larger breed that has a name for ferocity.
So, all that to say, Tinky-Winky was a serious problem. Even on leash, we could only walk quietly between 11 pm and 5 am when other people are indoors, or on the back road where all the aggressive dogs go. If she wasn't such a small dog she'd have been put down long ago. Four years later however, you wouldn't know it's the same dog. Turns out she's not an aggressive dog, she's a timid dog who figured the best defence is a good offence. Now that she figures the best defence is me, she just comes back to me when she's not comfortable with another dog. I can walk her off-leash with other dogs, I can have her visit at someone else's house, she'll even let another dog walk into our apartment and eat her food without saying boo. And she doesn't bark at the door anymore, either. Dog-whispering magic.
The only thing is, she still attacks small poofy dogs. Not smooth-haired dogs like Jack Russels; only poofy ones. She will go way the heck out of her way to go attack a small poofy dog. That's a problem.
So yesterday, as we were coming home from walking, she got distracted by two ravens who were eating popcorn in the Highrise parking lot, and then a small poofy dog walked out of the building on a flexi-leash.
Ah, crap.
Tinky-Winky left her popcorn and went to investigate. I tried to catch her and failed. Instead I kicked her in the hip as she went around me, and that also failed to distract her. She stopped about two feet from the other dog, who was pulling on his leash toward her, and they looked at each other, and then she attacked. And the stupid person who was with the poofy dog started screaming like a pig and pulled on her dog's leash, with the obvious result that her dog couldn't breathe, freaked out, and also was forced to turn his back to Tinky-Winky, so he got bit on his back. Obviously.
Not that this detracts in anyway from the fact that it was my fault for not controlling my dog, but a less stupid person would have a) not let her dog out to the end of its flexi-leash, b) not let her dog run out way ahead of her on the leash, c) brought her dog back to her when another dog showed up, d) picked her dog up, and/or e) at least let it defend itself.
Well, of course a non-stupid person wouldn't have been using a flexi-leash in the first place, but again, that's a rant for another post.
So, the poofy dog got bit on its back, and he's fine. The woman, on the other hand, screamed like a banshee, and decided to call the RCMP, like they give a frack about a dog fight at 6:00 pm on a Sunday night on private property. And since they indeed didn't give a frack, she thought it would be clever to tell them I was drinking and driving. Which is funny because first I don't drink, so she just cost herself any credibility she might previously have had with them, and second, they still didn't give a frack about the dogs. A cop came and found me, asked if I was drinking, declined to give me a breathalyzer, mentioned that I'd be civilly liable for any damage my dog might do, and went home to write his report.
The other reason it's funny is that I would have felt bad about the incident if she hadn't started screaming, somewhat less bad once she acted like an idiot, and not bad at all after she proved to be an evil bitch. Not that you expect any less from people in Hay River, mind you, but now I'm positively amused that she's upset.
Still, I'm not at all amused with Tinky-Winky, and since it's been 4 1/2 years and all her other behaviours are gone and she still attacks small poofy dogs, I'm rather out of solutions. Keeping her on the leash wouldn't help, especially as long as there are stupid people with flexi-leashes who let their dogs approach other dogs. She gets into more fights on leash than off anyway. And going back to ungodly hours and back roads doesn't suit me.
So, what's gonna happen is going back to Plan A: a muzzle. I had bought one for her a few years ago, and never ended up using it because she was improving so much. Since she doesn't seem to be improving anymore and she still can't be trusted, she can get the muzzle now. It will keep her from fighting, it will also keep her from eating gross stuff on the ground, and as an added bonus, maybe it will finally convince retarded people with flexi-leashes not to let their dogs approach her. For whatever reason, people believe a muzzle a lot more than a verbal warning.
The only downside of this plan is it's been so long, I have no idea where her muzzle is now, so I'm gonna have to buy a new one. That's rather a waste of money.
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