Random Thought Thread

Sorry to read about your encounter, Elliott. I'm happy that Skyler is ok though.

I have had the displeasure of being on the other side of such a conflict, being the owner of a dog that attacked my neighbor's a number of years ago. At the time, I had three dogs, one of them being a rescue - some sort of mutt that we invested a lot of time and money in nursing back to good health. We take dog ownership very seriously and they are always secured. My neighbor, however, lets their dogs roam free and they are often on my property or elsewhere.

The first time my dogs escaped (due to my oldest not minding the gate), the conflict was minimal. I took responsibility and did my best to ensure that it didn't happen again. The second time it happened (again, due to my oldest), the damage was far more severe and I paid their vet bill and then had Phoenix put to rest. She was a constant ball of anxiety and had gotten pretty obsessed with the neighbor's dogs so I take comfort in the notion that I at least gave her peace at the end.

I have 5 dogs currently and I have very strict routines in place to prevent any chance of future interactions. I cannot control what my neighbor does with their hounds but I can at least keep a pretty tight reign on my own and I've been able to avoid any further issues these past few years. If your neighbors truly do not wish to see their dog pay the ultimate price, they will take the necessary measures themselves. Dogs aren't toys, nor are they kids, they can be a nuisance and outright dangerous and it falls on their owners to ensure that they don't have the opportunity to become either.
 
I heard from the Animal Control agent today and he told me that he met with the neighbor yesterday and he felt that the matter was in hand and that I should reach out if anything further should arise.

This afternoon I got a text from the neighbor, (her husband is away, he pilots yachts for a company), and we met up and had a long talk. I aired my grievances, she was extremely apologetic and accepted full responsibility and offered to pay any bills. (I told her that it wouldn't be necessary if there were any.)

Also, she told me she's been distraught all weekend and that this was about the worst thing that ever happened to her. (Guess she's been lucky.)
In any case, she apparently has sent off both their dogs, a Pit and a Lab, to a training facility for a month. (She said the place works with private individuals as well law enforcement.)

I explained what my issues were and then we hugged it out like a couple of bitches after she asked if she could. (She's Italian, what did you expect?)

We're gonna do some drinks when her husband gets home and move on.

(She also knows and understands now about the likely consequences of failing to protect others from a dog with an over aggressive temperament toward other dogs or people.)

So, barring further incident, it's all good.

(Dogs will be gone for a month, it'll be interesting to see how they respond to their training (and e-collars.)
 
Blues said:
I heard from the Animal Control agent today and he told me that he met with the neighbor yesterday and he felt that the matter was in hand and that I should reach out if anything further should arise.

This afternoon I got a text from the neighbor, (her husband is away, he pilots yachts for a company), and we met up and had a long talk. I aired my grievances, she was extremely apologetic and accepted full responsibility and offered to pay any bills. (I told her that it wouldn't be necessary if there were any.)

Also, she told me she's been distraught all weekend and that this was about the worst thing that ever happened to her. (Guess she's been lucky.)
In any case, she apparently has sent off both their dogs, a Pit and a Lab, to a training facility for a month. (She said the place works with private individuals as well law enforcement.)

I explained what my issues were and then we hugged it out like a couple of bitches after she asked if she could. (She's Italian, what did you expect?)

We're gonna do some drinks when her husband gets home and move on.

(She also knows and understands now about the likely consequences of failing to protect others from a dog with an over aggressive temperament toward other dogs or people.)

So, barring further incident, it's all good.

(Dogs will be gone for a month, it'll be interesting to see how they respond to their training (and e-collars.)
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Wow, I didn’t expect that, but it’s a real pleasure hearing how that was handled so quickly. Yep, no mistaking those Italian hugs either.
 
bluemax_1 said:
Interested to hear how this goes.

One of the things I've always thought about training rowdy/aggressive dogs, was that half of it was training the owner.

Curious to know how just training the dogs, works out.
Click to expand...
I don't know any details regarding whether they will be working with the dogs while they are at the facility or not. It's only about a half hour away or so, so it's doable.

Anyway, that's not something I'm going to pursue unless she or her husband want to talk about it.
 
I have a 5.5 yr old mini Aussie (28lbs) that gets anxious and aggressive barking while on her leash, but she's fine when she is loose at the dog park - she doesn't bark at any dogs, is not aggressive, and feels safe to run away if she feels threatened.

On our property inside the house, she will bark and claw at the inside of the front windows when any delivery truck stops by, or a dog walks by on the sidewalk with it's owner.

When on the leash and meeting other dogs on walks in our neighborhood, she needs to have a chance to sniff the other dog's butt first before she is fine, and if they sniff nose to nose for too long without the rear getting involved she will lunge at them and nip at them (not fast enough too get them though). When she goes nuts we have to grab her collar and make her sit, and try to direct her attention at us until the other dog (or mail truck) has passed us up.

But my wife will take our dog on 5 -10 mile hikes with a hiking group of women and their dogs on weekends in other neighborhoods, and when our dog is out in new territory she doesn't do this, nor get aggressive. She is great with our cat, our middle daughter's dogs, and our older daughter's dogs. They ran around and played together this weekend, in the house and on walks.

I worry about her, and I feel like she either needs a pill, or more training. We did 6 weeks of training when we first got her, and the first day we had to switch from group training to individual. That really helped, and by the end we were able to walk her through the pet store without her getting agitated by the time we graduated. But it seems to be coming back worse than before over time.

I think it's time to more actively seek a treatment for this leash anxiety/home invasion anxiety, even though she can be off leash at the large outdoor dog park and play with other dogs and their owners without any signs of mental instability. That part has never changed or ever become an issue, which is why we've delayed getting more help for when she is on a leash.

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Blues said:
I heard from the Animal Control agent today and he told me that he met with the neighbor yesterday and he felt that the matter was in hand and that I should reach out if anything further should arise.

This afternoon I got a text from the neighbor, (her husband is away, he pilots yachts for a company), and we met up and had a long talk. I aired my grievances, she was extremely apologetic and accepted full responsibility and offered to pay any bills. (I told her that it wouldn't be necessary if there were any.)

Also, she told me she's been distraught all weekend and that this was about the worst thing that ever happened to her. (Guess she's been lucky.)
In any case, she apparently has sent off both their dogs, a Pit and a Lab, to a training facility for a month. (She said the place works with private individuals as well law enforcement.)

I explained what my issues were and then we hugged it out like a couple of bitches after she asked if she could. (She's Italian, what did you expect?)

We're gonna do some drinks when her husband gets home and move on.

(She also knows and understands now about the likely consequences of failing to protect others from a dog with an over aggressive temperament toward other dogs or people.)

So, barring further incident, it's all good.

(Dogs will be gone for a month, it'll be interesting to see how they respond to their training (and e-collars.)
Click to expand...
I am very happy to read this! Training for aggression is not cheap, so for them yo commit to the dogs being trained says a lot. Hopefully it works out for everyone and for the dogs as well. I wish you all the best!

So frequently people will just take an aggressive dog to a shelter to become someone else’s problem.

A while back a coworker asked if I could check in on his newly rescued (less than a week) Tibetan Mastiff while he and family were out of town unexpectedly for a couple of days.

I have always loved dogs and was happy to do so. I went over to meet him and the dog never twitched, postured, snarled, moved ears/head/hair/tail or anything when he lunged forward biting my hand. He clamped down on me and thank goodness he did not shake. He just stared at me while clamped down on my left hand. I was so surprised with being bitten and no warning, but really hoping he would not ragdoll my hand off. I slowly put my right hand on my handgun that was holstered and said ‘it is ok’ trying to calm the dog, the owner, and myself. After some very tense moments, he let go and backed up. Blood was streaming out from 2 deep wounds. The dogs expression never changed! Was crazy. 170 lb dog with thick coat- beautiful beast. The owner was freaking out apologizing. I went and got the wounds irrigated and sutured and started prophylactic Augmentin.

The next day the owner called me and asked me if I would still consider watching the dog! I thought he was joking at first, but he wasn’t. I agreed to meet the dog on the street and took him for a walk. I felt like the dog could have easily taken my hand off, so I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He behaved fine. I went the next day to check on the dog and he was in the backyard. I opened the door and he had that same blank stare. I told the dog that I was coming out, but that I would shoot him if he bit me again. Obviously he didn’t understand me, but the craziest thing was that he did not understand what the treats I brought him were for. Turns out he had been beaten to become an ‘attack dog’ by the previous owners and the information was never passed on. To see him wagging and running around with a huge smoked bone and being a regular dog was pretty cool. The dog went through training and stayed with that family.

Long story but wanted share because we don’t always know the background of dogs we are exposed to, and there are many crappy people out there who turn them into potential time bombs.
 
I don't give inanimate objects people names.

I refer to the f-450 as the 450. I refer to the F-250 as the 250.

I also regularly refer to them both as the "g*dd*mn*d clapped out piece of f*ck!". But I use that name interchangeably between them.

Sometimes. When one is broken down. I will refer to the one that runs as "the one that runs".
 
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