Human Reactions and Canine Responses (Light-hearted reading)

[JMFS]

I had a laugh at the walking trail the other week. There was a lady with a little dog (why is it always the little guys?) and she was talking to someone else with a little dog. Gertie and I came rolling up and she Freaked out. She started saying, "oh oh oh!" and pulling her little pooch away. The poor pup was Fine until she started wigging out. Taking his cue from her he started making these keening sounds like he'd just been attacked. That wasn't the funny part, I felt for the poor guy. Who knows what's happened before, if anything. The part that made me chuckle and shake my head was how over-the-top this gal was with Gertie completely relaxed and not even looking at them. Gerts glanced over at them as we were passing (I thought the lady might faint) and then Gertie looked at me as if to ask, "what's that all about?"

 

There's a mother and daughter who walk their little dogs together at the trail. Daughter's dog is fine, Mom's dog flips out when she sees pretty much anything getting close to her. Again, Gertie ignores the meltdown. On one round Mom pulled off the trail and covered her dog's eyes with her hand. One more round goes by and then I hand off Gertie to the husband because that stinker (Gertie, not the husband) slows my time down. I pass them again and the daughter asks, "where's your dog?! Mom was ready this time." I laugh and tell her I handed her to my husband because Gertie was holding me back. I told her I'll bring her by again. I get to the parking lot, dying lol, and take the leash. I walk over to them and Mom is now Holding her dog and covering the dog's eyes. Oh boy. I engage them and ask Mom to put the pup down, but a couple with a stroller come by and that sets off the dog anew. They pass and I encourage Mom to set the dog down. I tell her I'll stay at a distance where her dog is comfortable and calm. "No, no, you just go," she says. "Are you suuuure? You were looking for us earlier and I think I can help. I promise, I'll move away as soon as she starts barking." Nope, Mom's not feeling it. So I turn around and start walking, slowly (:cool:), back to the parking lot. She puts the pup down and there's no barking. I let them get a bit closer and bark bark bark! So I move a little faster and it's quiet so I tell them, "I think we found her comfort zone. Do y'all want to walk with me at this distance to see if she can stay calm?" We were about 20 feet apart. We get all the way to the parking lot without incident. Good girl! I encourage them to try that in the future with others and to keep her in her comfort zone. She should build up confidence over time.

 

Her story is that she was bitten by a big dog 8 years ago. :( 8 years. The same number of years I'd been struggling with Momo's resource guarding. It resonated with me because I understand how miserable she's been all these years being unsure of how to handle the issue, and I feel bad for the dog for being fearful all those years. I have a Mentos gum container that I've washed out and filled with Zuke's minis (btw, most of the round plastic gum containers make excellent portable treat cases after being washed) and I'm going to take that with me next time in hopes that they're there. I have a 6 oz bag on the way as well and I might just hand that over to them because I recently received a 1 lb bag that I haven't opened, yet (Autoship with Chewy.com for 1 lb and subscribe and save with Amazon for 6 oz

 

And then there are the people who lack common sense. Momo and I were walking a trail when he was about 2 and he was walking on the left next to the "curb" which was the rule. This lady and her husband came jogging by and instead of going single file to my right for some reason she decided to pass us on the left. Momo was startled and he did a little lunge-growl-huff but I had him under control. The husband yelled at him, "hey!" and started moving towards us. Oh no, buddy, wrong gal. I put myself between him and Momo and told him his wife was in the wrong and it's asking for trouble to sneak up behind a dog. I also advised him of the rule that you're to call out warning to those in front if you're going to pass them. Passing on the right and calling out would have avoided that entire scenario. He wanted to continue arguing but I flipped my hair back, stuck my nose up in the air (well-practiced move from all the teasing my brothers did) and walked off leaving him stammering. :D His wife passed on the right on the next round, though they still didn't call out warning. What and ever.

 

My favorite. The lady who docked her kayak at the off-leash park and got upset when Momo approached her. He was 8 months and a tiny rug rat at that point, maybe 20 lbs. She pitched a fit, "come get your dog! Get this dog out of here!" I called him and thank goodness he came. I politely informed her she would want to row about half a mile down the lake as she was currently docked in the off leash park and was sure to be approached by several other dogs. She rolled her eyes and started to to gripe me out when another dog started making his way towards her. She shoved off the shore and paddled away, mumbling to herself. I Tried to warn her. BTW, if any of y'all ever go to Austin with your pooches, try Auditorium Shores. Just watch out for the poison oak, it itches like mad. There's water of several depths and loads of land for our furry friends to romp around. Stop by the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue and marvel that the flood waters were once past the base of said statue. Momo walked past Stevie, paused, backed up, sat down, and proceeded to rapidly bark at the poor guy. Personally, I'm a fan. Momo was doing his part to Keep Austin Weird.