Going to the Dogs

Locally, there is a news story about a woman who was jogging, three dogs ran up and surrounded her, and a neighbor chased the dogs off and shot two of them, one who will be OK and one that need to be put down.

What do you think about this? 

Are you a dog owner?  A jogger?  Have you ever been threatened by a dog?  Are you OK with people owning guns?  All of those questions will factor in to your response.

And then there is the question that, in my opinion, often puts people on one side or the other, regardless of the other questions....does it matter what breed it was?

I've been the jogger.  I've also been a dog owner and instinctively used what I know about dog behavior.....I stopped running, tried to block my fear response, and yelled "No, stay!"  I've blocked off more than one dog from coming after me with that, even with my in-case-of-emergency pepper spray in my hand. When they calmed, I backed off slowly, still looking at them, till THEY no longer felt threatened.

The thing is, not everyone is a dog owner.  Not everyone knows how to deal with an aggessive dog.  And not all aggressive dogs can be dealt with.  Above all, YOUR DOG SHOULD NOT BE IN THE POSITION TO BE THREATENING SOMEONE.  I can't fault the dogs.  I also can't fault the jogger or the neighbor.  I'm a bit concerned over an owner who would defend their dogs having the opportunity to surround and scare a stranger and not find any fault with that.

We have Chihuahaus.  The little boy across the street, every time he knocks on the door to see if my son can play, does not look at our faces, he looks at our ankles.  He's terrified of dogs.  Especially barky ones, which ours are.  Ours are actually terrified of my 6 pound cat, and are not a threat to anyone, but that little boy doesn't feel that.  We never let the dogs near him because of that.  Because we realize that the dogs will survive without barking at him, but the child might be traumatized...that is what makes us the supposedly superior human race, the ability to empathize.

The dogs in the article were Pit Bulls.  Which shouldn't make a difference...all dogs can bite.  But, it does.  People are scared of them.  As a human being, if you are a pit bull owner, you need to take MORE precaution that no one feels threatened by them.  You need to do that not only to be a good citizen, but for the sake of your dogs.

My Chihuahuas are driving me nuts right now barking at the Rottweiler next door (the main cause of the anxiety of my son's friend). The Rottweiler knows they are not a threat, but he likes barking back.  The noise just gets on my nerves.  That is why they have wine.