Siloh
Well-Known Member
I'm such a bad mommy. I've been reading some lately but not posting. But I thought I'd ask you all about this/share a quick story from just now.
I was just walking Hamlet around the block to my mother-in-law's to walk her dog. On the way, very close to my property (like 70 ft), a man was walking and came into view after passing some bushes. Ham was already geared up from another unfamiliar man walking past our house a minute earlier, and this new man startled him and he barked once and gave a low growl.
The man, also startled, leapt across the street and asked, "Does your dog bite? Hey does that dog bite, man?"
Apparently Ham didn't like him talking to me, because he growled again and hit the end of his leash. I had to grab him by the collar to bring him back to my side. I know he was feeding off me in large part. The man who had passed my house earlier was moving really slowly and staring through my windows until the dogs started barking.
I looked down at Ham and said, "Well, he's certainly defensive of me."
The man hurried on his way without another word, and I went my way.
So, first, good on Hamlet. He is pretty much never like this during daylight unless I am obviously distressed by someone, and he was picking up on my feelings at the time and trying to do his job.
But my question is this: wth is up with unfamiliar able-bodied men asking me, a 130# girl, at night, in a deserted street, whether or not my giant dog bites? This is not the first time.
First of all, of course, any dog bites under the right conditions. But second of all, who in their right mind in such a situation would say, "Oh, no, never!"
I don't live in a rural neighborhood, but the streets are dead at night, and when unfamiliar loners are walking around an area that is exclusively residential at night--yeah, in my neighborhood that pretty much automatically qualifies as "unusual" and even "suspicious."
Of course I'll tell you my dog is 100% capable of using his teeth should he need to! I didn't get a huge athletic dog to dress him up and model him.
"Nothing is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."
Hamlet Prince of Denmark
I was just walking Hamlet around the block to my mother-in-law's to walk her dog. On the way, very close to my property (like 70 ft), a man was walking and came into view after passing some bushes. Ham was already geared up from another unfamiliar man walking past our house a minute earlier, and this new man startled him and he barked once and gave a low growl.
The man, also startled, leapt across the street and asked, "Does your dog bite? Hey does that dog bite, man?"
Apparently Ham didn't like him talking to me, because he growled again and hit the end of his leash. I had to grab him by the collar to bring him back to my side. I know he was feeding off me in large part. The man who had passed my house earlier was moving really slowly and staring through my windows until the dogs started barking.
I looked down at Ham and said, "Well, he's certainly defensive of me."
The man hurried on his way without another word, and I went my way.
So, first, good on Hamlet. He is pretty much never like this during daylight unless I am obviously distressed by someone, and he was picking up on my feelings at the time and trying to do his job.
But my question is this: wth is up with unfamiliar able-bodied men asking me, a 130# girl, at night, in a deserted street, whether or not my giant dog bites? This is not the first time.
First of all, of course, any dog bites under the right conditions. But second of all, who in their right mind in such a situation would say, "Oh, no, never!"
I don't live in a rural neighborhood, but the streets are dead at night, and when unfamiliar loners are walking around an area that is exclusively residential at night--yeah, in my neighborhood that pretty much automatically qualifies as "unusual" and even "suspicious."
Of course I'll tell you my dog is 100% capable of using his teeth should he need to! I didn't get a huge athletic dog to dress him up and model him.
"Nothing is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."
Hamlet Prince of Denmark
