Brave with My Hollerin’

I just got home from walking the dogs, and my heart is still racing. While walking down the sidewalk, FOUR little dogs ran up to us from a few houses away and attacked. The biggest of the four was a Shiba Inu (Basenji-sized), a Chinese Crested (rat-sized), and two little fuzzy dogs (loaf-of-bread-sized). Do I have to even say that my four were leashed? Nah, you knew that already.

The Shiba ran to Ike and immediately started fighting, while the other three tried to get in on the action. My neighbor was right behind them, so I yelled, “GET YOUR DOGS!” over the sounds of Ike and the Shiba trying to kill each other. My neighbor had the balls to walk up to me, stop, and tell me to calm down while I was trying to separate Ike and the Shiba. I yelled again, “GET YOUR DOGS!” He shoo-ed away the Shiba then picked up one of the terriers. He apologized, and I told him that he can’t let his dogs run off-leash, even if the thinks they’re going to stay in his yard. He said, “I was only walking from the front door to the car!” I said, “Your dogs can never be out of your control! Clearly you don’t have control of these dogs!”

Once things calmed down and I saw that no one was hurt, I started to detangle my legs (and the dogs’ legs) from the four leashes that had us bound together. This guy had the nerve to say, “Ma’am! Move it along now!” I stopped, looked him in the eye, and said, “Dude. Do NOT tell me what to do. I’m trying to straighten out this mess you caused.” Again, “Ma’am! Move it along!” I said, “Do not say another single word until I can get myself detangled. Shut the f*ck up for 30 more seconds.”

He could not shut the eff up, and he continued to tell me to “move it along”. I did my best to ignore him, finished detangling, and finally got moving. He yelled, “God bless you, ma’am! God bless you! Have a nice day!” Really?

Luckily, my dogs are fine. Even three-legged Pona is fine after being totally tangled in the leashes.

You might be wondering why, as a single woman walking dogs, I’m so brave with my hollerin’. Four reasons:
1. pepper spray at the ready
2. I towered over this man in height
3. I knew I was in-the-right
4. I have a secret weapon named Ike, who can be scary and protective

Whew. I need to finish my coffee and calm down. The day can only get better from here.

IMG_9245

33 comments on “Brave with My Hollerin’

  1. Ok so those assholes ARE universal. Arrrrrgh! Here’s what I don’t understand, it’s not just other people’s dogs they need to worry about, but their own. Even if they think their dogs are well trained, they don’t know the behavior of other dogs they approach. Are these people not worried about other dogs getting the better of theirs? I mean seriously!! When Bailey was attacked a little while ago, I lost my mind. I saw all the lights going on in the neighbourhood I was screaming that loudly. Ike is no joke, I mean he could have seriously hurt one of those dogs, and then what? Who can they blame but themselves?

    Thank god none of the dogs were hurt. How I wish people would be more responsible with their pets, it just drives me bananas.

  2. Tammy – I notice a difference between the American a-holes and the Dutch a-holes. In the US, the people know they shouldn’t let their dogs run loose, even if they ignore the law. In Holland, I argued with so many people who insisted it was okay that their dogs were off-leash. They would actually yell at me for having violent dogs after their dog attacked us!

  3. This is total BS on his part. I would bet he was trying to irritate you and make it about personal conflict because that was probably more comfortable for him than having to acknowledge that his dogs were out of control and that he was in the wrong here. When I was reading this, I was really concerned about Pona in particular. I’m glad everyone is okay.

  4. Staci, you have my permission to soap his windows tonight and since he’s obviously has such a difficult time realizing that he’s wrong, you will be awarded with a special permit that allows you to place one flaming bag of dog doo on his doorstep.

  5. I’m afraid I would have pepper sprayed the owner anyway. Especially after the Ma’am. Nothing makes me more furious than an insincere Ma’am.
    I was afraid you didn’t take after me until you used the “F” bomb. That’s my girl.

  6. What a nut! That sounds so horrible. And, um, why was he telling you to move it along? Weren’t you on public property? And don’t dogs know not to mess with basenjis? Crazy! I bet your heart is still racing. Serenity now!

  7. Ugh, that happened to me once, too (except bigger dogs all around involved), and that owner also had the nerve to tell me to calm down! What IS it with these people?!

    Well, I’d certainly send him a neighborly note and enclose a copy of your local leash laws. And close it with, “Have a nice day, sir! God bless you!” Ha ha! (Don’t include your return address.) Or just report him to Animal Control. Maybe a little visit from the dog police will bring it home for him. Whatta creep!

  8. You rock. This happened to us once while walking our dog through a park. Everyone else in the neighborhood decided it would be an unofficial dog park, and there were 15 or 20 dogs running around unleashed. For some reason, seeing Silas started some sort of frenzy, and several dogs jumped him at once. He retaliated and several other dogs were the worse for wear, including a greyhound with a good-sized gash in his side. Several owners yelled at us for our “vicious” dog, but when I pointed out that the unleashed dog is always at fault, they backed down.

    I was pretty shaken, too, though. None of those dogs deserved to get hurt and none of that would have happened if the humans had been responsible.

    You’re my hero.

  9. I’m glad you were armed appropriately. I have the tendency to be ballsy without the proper back up! Nothing annoys me more than irresponsible pet owners, gets my fur up!

  10. “Ma’am” is just a thinly veiled customer service word that means “bitch”. I would definitely welcome Halloween fun at his expense. If vandalism weren’t fun, it wouldn’t be so popular 🙂

  11. Well fuck him!

    And I love your mom! My mom probably would have endorsed you calling him a fuck-face. It’s her fav insult.

  12. I’ve been in the very same situation. NOTHING makes me crazier than people abusing their dogs by letting them run off leash. When my girl Samantha was alive we were attacked by two dogs from across the street. From then on until she died 3 weeks ago, she would go crazy when she saw other dogs! That guy is a BAD dog owner. Bless you Staci for being such a good pet owner!

  13. Oh darlin’ I know what you’ve been through – in fact, I have had a couple of run-ins like that one guy called me a bitch multiple times (with other descriptives too) because his dog was out of control and since I wasn’t going to stand there and have my leashed dogs (totalling 110pounds on my left arm) be abused by this stupid loose dog, I kept walking and then he was super pissed that his stupid dog kept following me. After the event, I filed a complaint with the police saying ‘both the owner and the dogs were out of control’. And another neighbour confirmed that the cops did visit him. But big deal, right? Although shortly after that they allegedly turned the dog into the SPCA.

    I very much know what you went through and I absolutely HATE being ambushed like that – and so many owners are so ignorant and think there’s nothing wrong with their loose dog(s), many don’t even apologize! And that’s why I walk my dogs before 7am as those a**holes don’t get up that early!

    So glad that you (and the boys) were able to get out of the situation unharmed.

  14. Girl, I feel for you…
    I just don’t get how people can be so clueless!

    A week ago I encountered a lady with a Pomeranian that was dragging the lady down the street (literally!) on a flexi-leash, saw us, and the dog started barking and showing teeth as it came after us… and the lady yells out “Is your dog friendly?”.

    I said “yes, she is, but yours isn’t, so we are going to walk away now…” and she said “Oh, no, he just wants to play…” while still being drug by a 7 pound dog that is at the end of his flexi-leash standing on his hind legs, snarling.

    I said “No, ma’am, your dog is showing aggressive behavior” and the lady starts going off on me, yelling at me, but thank goodness I couldn’t hear her!

    All the while my Basenji is walking clamly beside me…

  15. ack, that sounds SO stressful, Staci! I’m so glad no one was hurt. Dogs off-leash is one of my biggest pet peeves – we get that a lot around my neighborhood too. 🙁

  16. I think whoever suggested the flaming bag of dog poop is right on target. What a fucking jerk! Nothing irritates me as much as someone who is patronizing when they are completely in the wrong. Call me “ma’am”, and my temper becomes a thing of the past.

    I’m glad everyone is ok! Excluding the jerky neighbor.

  17. So very glad that you and your pack came out on the other side without any physical harm.

    We’d be happy to provide any additional poop samples to flesh out that flaming bag for the fucking asshat neighbor. I know our cats would be pleased to help out. UGH! People that do not have control over their dogs really, really upset me. Especially when they try to pass blame to those who, like yourself, pride themselves on doing right by their dogs.

  18. Glad everyone is okay.

    The nerve of that man to be saying stuff to you. He deserved to get yelled at! Glad you told him a thing or two. I would’ve kicked him!

  19. I”m reminded of a popular COuntry Western song I heard recently “God is great, beer is good and peope are crazy.” Dont you just love how Texans use God Belss you have a nice day as a fuck you in those sitations? Hell man threaten me with the real deal! Let the swear words rip…

    Anyway I’m glad everyone turned out ok in the end. You rock!

  20. Man, some people have alot of nerve, and to bless you afterwards! I am always at my ready when I walk my tiny thing because people never think about anyone but themselves. Can’t we all just get along?

  21. Don’t you just LOVE it when assholes fall back on good ole bible thumping God BLESS YOU!
    And for the move alone bullshit, I would have parked my butt on the curb in front of his house!!
    PLEASE take your dogs down there to take a dump!!! PLEASE?????

  22. The guy was in the wrong and so were his dogs and in my opinion since the dogs are not going to listen to reason you should feel no shame in giving a dog a well placed kick. You typically won’t seriously injure them but you can cause enough pain that they’ll reconsider their actions. If the dog has not broken into a full attack a well placed NO! BAD DOG! GO HOME! in as deep a voice as you can muster and with a lot of volume may make a number of dogs remember that the deal with humans was they do roughly what we say and we don’t use our opposable thumbs against them.

    I make it clear to people who have their dogs offleash in public spaces that it is not acceptable behavior and against the law. I make it clear to dogs I see off leash that I’m watching them and they won’t like me if they decide to come toward me or my dog.

  23. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Cori once got attacked by two dogs (husky/akita mixes) that were off leash. The excuse? “They were her boyfriend’s dogs [and I’m a clueless idiot who’ll do anything to stay with him even though I’m clearly afraid of his dogs].” stuff in bracket my own words, of course.

    Cori required stitches and if she didn’t get along with dogs before this incident, she sure has hell doesn’t now and I can’t say I blame her one little bit. So I have no problems whatsover being the bitch whenever a dog is off leash and starts running towards Cori– better being a bitch than a $300 vet bill, animal control seizure of dog, and possible euthanasia and major grief for everyone involved (the first thing happened, the last three would have if we reported the incident to animal control, which we should have.)

    I’d say report to animal control if this happens again– there’s usually a huge fine that increases each time the dogs are found to be off leash, or the dogs get surrendered to the shelter (sad, but if they are aggressive, they should not be out like that).

  24. Eugh, I can’t believe this happened! You’re clearly much more in control than I am, I would have slapped him in the face for talking to me like that! I wish pepper spray was legal over here, I’d feel much safer if I had some in my bag.

  25. Why is it always the little “loaf-sized” dogs with the Napoleon complex that start things up? It’s not unusual when I walk my 75lb Aussie, who is always on a leash, for some little feisty fluffy dog to attack. The funny thing my dog just stares at these other dogs and doesn’t try to fight them. He could just sit on them to shut them up.

  26. Idiot stick is a good comeback to ma’am. What a jerk. This has happened to us so many times, I am always scooping up a LEASHED male basenji when morons have their dogs off leash in MY neighborhood. I wish that Animal Control would help us with this, the problem is that there is no money to help out the law abiders. I hate being to verbal, no wanting to put my dogs at risk from some psycho who lets them out or poisons them…yikes sounding paranoid…

  27. Isn’t it amazing, when someone, clearly at fault takes it upon themselves to make you the bad guy? COmplete Ass! My golden who only knows fun and happy and play got attacked by 3 dogs, mixed sizes, one an agitator. My golden trying to jump in my husband’s arms to escape, me holding my 16yr old big dog to keep him outta the mix, he’s always the referee, but old and no teeth and wanting to protect my younger dog. The mayhem leaves you shaking and incredulous! It was my husband hollering at the top of his lungs stop it and get your F’ing dogs that stopped the whole situation cold…the owner finally grabbing his 3 dogs and slinking away…Why dont people understand that they have to leash their dogs, if nothing else, for their own safety!

  28. pepper spray them the next time you have that happen. whenever i take cody for a walk, he’s ALWAYS leashed (i don’t even like the flexi-leash for him), and when we see other dogs, he gets pulled close to me. he just wants to play, but not everyone else is as friendly. i’m doing a courtesy to the other owner. if i get bit, i will sue. no second thoughts.

Comments are closed.