A Walk In The Park
Me and the Mrs. took Politically Incorrect Dog (PID) and Politically Correct Dog (PCD) for a walk around the Maryville Greenway a couple of weekends ago. The dogs enjoy the walk and it’s good to socialize them with people and dogs.
As we rounded a corner (me and PID were ahead of the Mrs. and PCD), another couple was walking their Golden Retriever and headed in our direction. I looked at the guy walking the dog, he looked at me and we smiled and nodded to affirm that we’d let our dogs meet. PID saw the Retriever and bowed his head (i.e., quickly outstretched his paws and lowered his head while keeping his rear in the air, which is dogspeak for you wanna play?). The Retriever began snarling, growling and had his hackles raised (which is dogspeak for I’m gonna kick your ass). Upon seeing this, I pulled PID towards me and gave a heel command.
At this point, you would (assuming that the owner of the Retriever knew anything about dogs) think that he would command his dog back to sit or heel. He did not. Instead, he sort of smiled and kept allowing his dog to come forward with this look on his face that seemed to say Look at my dog, he’s gonna teach this bigger dog a lesson.
Me and PID behaved. PID never once growled, snarled, or bucked up to the dog. He stayed at my side, obeying my command, and wagging his tail. PID has never acted aggressively to any other dog (except for PCD, when they have spats over toys and food). He has been socialized and is dog-friendly. Surprisingly, PCD is not real dog-friendly. Both are extraordinarily people friendly (maybe even too friendly, you have no idea how many times we’ve had to get two 70 plus pound dogs out of visitors’ laps).
The point of this rant is that the owner of the Retriever above should have corrected his dog. At the very least, you would expect him to refrain from encouraging the behavior. He did neither. He essentially encouraged his dog to threateningly approach PID (who is perfectly capable of grabbing the Retriever by his throat and shaking him until he dies). It defies common sense. I can understand wanting a protective dog (who doesn’t?) but your dog should be under your control at all times, otherwise the dog is a danger. Even if you are the type of ignorant dog owner who encourages your dog to fight, you don’t want them picking fights they can’t win.
Had I not had control of PID and the Retriever attacked, PID would have won the skirmish. The police would likely have been called and PID would most likely have been taken by animal control, despite the fact he was not the aggressor.
Control your dogs and learn to spot and correct aggressive behavior.
August 19th, 2003 at 2:10 pm
Yes that indeed does suck, and sadly is de rigeur for many parks around here.
On a related issue, I find myself wanting to punt nearly every small lippy dog I run across these days.
August 19th, 2003 at 2:43 pm
It seems, these days, that there aren’t very many dog owners that train their dogs at all, much less employ training in the interest of politeness.
August 20th, 2003 at 5:51 am
Maybe Drake’s comment brings to light why many dogs demonstrate aggressive behavior.
Oh course, I may be a little sensitive since I have a small (lippy?) dog that could be punted.
August 20th, 2003 at 9:41 am
Feh. Hyperactive little yap-boxes.
May 31st, 2004 at 9:43 pm
It seems dog owners are split between two categories: The ones who research and learn about how to take care of the dog and train it properly, and those who stick their dog at home on a chain and expect that barking and lunging is normal behavior.
My puppy, who is just under 20 lbs and 10 months, was attacked by a large german shepherd at a park last week. The owner was sitting at a bench table chatting merrily away to her friend while her dog and the other womans’ dog barked and lunged at ours through the fence. Her screams at the dog to come to her were completely unheeded by the animal. She had to grab the collar and hang on, as the dog was STILL trying to get at mine. (Incidentally, they were in a fenced in “off leash area” for dogs, and on the gate was a sign saying that vicious dogs were not allowed in.) Hmmm. Anyway, as we walked away from the area, the dog jumped the 3-4 foot fence and attacked my dog, grabbing him by the back and shaking him. As the woman ran away with her dog, we paid the vet bills, and are left with a dog who now exhibits aggressive behavior toward other dogs. Does anyone have ideas on how to get him to be back to his “love everyone and everything” self? He was such a good dog before and it’s heartbreaking to see him act in such a manner to other dogs. He is still the same happy loving dog with people however.