Remember Buddy?

The Shiba who gnawed his leg down to the bone has had some closure.

Owner of dog who gnawed own leg takes plea deal

Honestly, didn't the guy ever hear of Elizabethan collars or muzzles? Duct tape is one of Dog's gifts to mankind, but it isn't the solution to a medical problem like this.

Ideal Houseguest

Tomorrow, Mischa, Tierce and I are heading up to Courtenay, BC for a housewarming party. Well, Mischa and Tierce are heading up in the car and I'm cycling it. To make a long story short, I'm crazy and have been cycling long distances for a number of years. And it's going to be nice out tomorrow.

I was thinking about Tierce and the fact that we have managed to bring him along to so many friends' places. He is not obedient, he's still a chewer, we have to keep an eye on him in strange homes so that he doesn't blithely mark in the house and, while we managed to wrest a second dog out of him a while back, still sheds a good deal of hair. Well, it's not so amazing that we managed to bring him to so many friends' places; it's that we managed to bring him more than once.

The key, of course, is that a) we never assume that Tierce is welcome without specific inquiry and b) we take exquisite care that he is properly exercised, fed, confined and entertained. His parasite prevention is kept up-to-date. His exercise pen and crate are standard equipment for an overnight jaunt - they provide a safe, familiar environment for him to stay. I also make a special effort to take him for a good walk and/or a place where he can safely run his little heart out. Tired puppy = quiet, happy guest puppy. We also are very aware of his abilities and limitations and take those into account

I truly appreciate our friends' indulgence in permitting Tierce to accompany us to their homes and feel that the only way to return such a favour is to ensure that his deportment is nothing less than impeccable. Tierce is still a long way off from being a model puppy, so his deportment is largely dependent on his confinement and supervision.

It surprises me when other dog owners don't take these kinds of things as a matter of course. It seems that people's sense of entitlement extends past their overfed and underdisciplined spawn to their overfed and underdisciplined dogs. To my surprise, there have been stories surfacing of late that involve people bringing their dogs to places and events without ascertaining whether the dog was welcome. Some of these incidents have resulted in remarkably non-dog-friendly reviews of the situation. I like to reserve my disdain for stupid, selfish people, not people who happen to love their dogs - some people actually have a sense of limits.

Things we take when Tierce visits:

1) Crate
2) Exercise Pen
3) Dishes
4) Food
5) Kong - silent toy that can be stuffed with treats
6) Flexi and 6 foot leads

If we were visiting off-Island, I would also take copies of his vaccination records, veterinarian records, Canadian Kennel Club papers, identification (he's microchipped, so that has to be noted), recent photos and grooming supplies. Just in case.

Do I say "Hi" to you with a baseball bat?

He Just Wants To Say "Hi"!

The above is one of the best articles on dog behaviour that I have ever read. It ties in to both the Shiba temperament subject and my pet peeve about dogs who are allowed to run up to mine.

A lot of owners are oblivious or just plain stupid when it comes to their dogs running up to others. They think that just because there is no fight starting immediately that their dog is "just being friendly" when, in fact, he is creating the potential for a severe backlash.

Clothier provided an excellent analogy in the above article, but let me provide another.

I'm walking down a city street and notice a big man staring at me. Without warning, he starts running towards me and nearly knocks me over. He then starts feeling me up and asking personal questions. When I kick him in the nuts and follow it up with a boot to the head, he starts screaming that he's going to call the police and charge me with assault.

Sound fucked up? But that is exactly what thousands of fucking assholes are doing to responsible dog owners every day. The implication is that they can allow their dog to run up to yours and jump all over him, but if there's a fight it's your dog's fault because their dog was "just being friendly". For variety, there's the OMG!thishasneverhappenedbefore! breed of idiot haunting city streets and pathways.

I also love how morons with their dogs on Flexi-leads allow their dogs to pull them over to my dog so that the dog can jump all over him. It smacks of the dog telling its owners what to do and the owners allowing a potentially dominant dog to get into my dog's face. It's like somehow things are okay because the dog was the one initiating contact. Never mind that I might be holding my dog close by my side so that we can pass by in peace.

Tierce is friendly with most other dogs. I like to have him meet other dogs regularly. On my terms. I don't like it when someone else assumes that he is fresh meat for their dog to jump on. I know Tierce and I know that he's a dominant little sumbitch. Therefore, I like to initiate how far and fast he gets into other dogs' faces because he will jump all over them and paw at their eyes and nibble on their ears. Not a good thing with the wrong dog.

Tierce also is figuring out that I will not allow him to dictate where we go and what he does. Because I'm the Alpha and I say whether he gets to meet that dog or run over to that person. Poor little guy never gets to have any fun.

Tierce and the bones

Fool that I am, I left some chicken wings alone long enough for Tierce to snag a couple. Agggh! So I phoned the vet and was somewhat reassured to know that most dogs weather accidents like this with no problems. Supervise him and bring him in if he seems lethargic or weird or if his stools are tarry. I fed the chicken hound a stomach full of the new potatoes that we had baked up and am crossing my fingers. Might feed him a can of dog food to further cushion any splinters working their way through his little body. Results will probably come out (har-de-har) in a couple of days.

Now: worst case scenario. The worst is if the bones actually pierce the intestine and cause peritonitis. From what my boyfriend experienced when Tierce chowed down on his dialysis line, this is not a comfy way to go. An operation can cost upwards of eight hundred dollars. I am not worried about the expense, as I have ensured that I have enough to take care of Tierce in the event of an emergency. But I am kicking myself for letting him anywhere near bones like that.

So, it looks like we're in for a couple of days of eagerly waiting for my dog to take the magic shit.

Keep your $#*^@ dogs under #*(&@! control

Yes, I'm talking to you, oh pornstached owner of the two Keeshonden that were barrelling down the trails of the Participark at 11 AM yesterday.

The Participark is a chunk of forest with clearly-defined running/walking trails, less clearly defined cowpaths and "fitness stations". It's also right across the road from the SPCA, but the SPCA dogs are always exercised on-lead and the walkers are instructed to pull off the trail at the approach of another dog. Of course, most of the people who walk/run with their dogs either have dogs on lead or dogs with reliable recalls.

I was out running (or trying to run) with Tierce. This was a process involving a lot of pulling on the lead, as Mr. Puppy has not comprehended the wisdom of keeping me in his sights so he knows when I'm going to turn or stop. We are working on this, but not for a day or two, as I managed to roll my left ankle a couple of times. So much for athleticism.

I've got my tunes in, because I'm running on the right side of a trail in a public park and my dog is securely attached to me. Simple, right? Wrong. Wrong-o. I was not prepared for the two gray-and-black bullets that shot towards us as we turned a corner. Not knowing what their intentions were, I scooped Tierce up as the owner strolled past. As he came towards us, he gave me that aren't-you-glad-to-meet-my-wonderful-dogs smile and cheerfully said, "They're okay."

They're okay?

Did he wait until I was close enough for him to inquire as to whether my dog was aggressive, fearful, stressed, injured, nervous when two bigger dogs reenact the running of the bulls in Madrid, or even whether I had some sort of philosophical objection to his dogs coming near me?

The answer is, of course, no. He did not. He, along with a whole host of other dog owners who should be beaten with canes and pilloried, cheerfully assumed that because he knew that his dogs were "okay", that I should assume likewise and that my dog should accept their abrupt intrusion into his personal space with equanimity.

The truth is that I love just about every dog I meet and Tierce is friendly towards other dogs. However, that doesn't mean that people should feel entitled to allow their dogs to run up to strangers without a specific invitation. If the gentleman had asked, I would have been happy to stop and have Tierce meet him and his dogs. However the blithe assumption that my dog and I were automatically overjoyed to make his dogs' abrupt acquaintance made me furious.

I think that instead of giving a ghastly grin as you pull your friendly/nervous/snarling/terrified dog away from a loose dog, that you should treat this like the invasion of personal space that it is. Tell these people exactly what they are doing wrong and why you are not simply thrilled that their dogs are jumping all over you and your dog.

In my case, I said only, "You don't know if my dog is 'okay'!" and swept on. Maybe next time I'll take the time to enumerate the many ways that an uncontrolled dog running up to a strange dog and its owner can result in multiple lawsuits.