We have one of our own (the vicious Bok above), and regularly welcome several of his friends who come to visit. They are a very nice bunch who are all extremely well behaved.
On Sunday a strange dog turned-up as I was working at Haddock's; it was a dog I'd not seen before. She looked hungry and thirsty, so I gave her some water and a couple of biscuits. She was an odd looking creature who obviously had some German Shepherd in her parentage, but with the other half having rather short legs. However, she was friendly.
She and Bok seemed OK together; he's always pleasant to females. Then suddenly, totally out of the blue, she turned on him, and a really vicious fight broke out. Lady M bravely tried to separate them, whilst I gave the beast a bloody good whack with a stick; and she ran off. Luckily Bok was fine; if a little understandably shocked.
Then early yesterday morning, whilst cleaning the pool, a small black French Bulldog (from the same home as Marley) started barking at me in a really unpleasant way. It was baring its teeth and coming forwards, showing no signs of fear. A really nasty, almost cartoon-like, creature. Again I grabbed a stick and showed him that I meant business; he reluctantly backed-off. In my 'dog book' it says that French Bulldogs are gentle and peace-loving, they are also described as good-natured, affectionate, and courageous.
Well, courageous maybe, but as for the rest I'm not sure. His house-mate Marley could hardly be more different.
Little episodes such as these are unpleasant, and luckily very rare. It won't change my attitude towards Boks visiting friends, but if I see either of the above two again (especially if the children are around) they'll be shown the door (and a big stick) pretty darned quick.
I don't suffer human fools gladly, nor do I tolerate canine ones.
Today: Bok and his girlfriend Izzy. Now she really is the perfect visitor.
38 comments:
(One typo is acceptable. Two indicates carelessness) Take two: Yeah, problem. It rarely the dogs fault but the animal bears the punishment for its anti social behaviour and there is no other way for a stranger to deal with such an animal than showing who is the boss.
Sadly that was the case. I didn't enjoy showing my authority, but it was the only way.
Maybe that bulldog was Tom in disguise. He too snarls at me for no reason.
It is interesting though - and obviously we can't ask them - why some animals show hostility (or fear) with no obvious reason. One of my cats, a big albeit neutered Tom, the biggest softie of softies, had some irrational fear of men. Doesn't make sense as there was no "history" because he was the youngest of a litter born in our house; adored and cherished. He was dead affectionate with my son (the midwife) who was about nine or so at the time. Yet, any electrician, plumber, delivery man, male friend, entering the house and Bouncer was off.
Hope both Bok and you are less bewildered by unwarranted (albeit human) hostility than I am this morning.
U
That sounds frightening. Do you know the owners of those dogs. I hope the dog that attacked Bok is vaccinated.
Greetings Maria x
I've heard of animals having a fear of men; but never women. It must be some look (or smell) about us. Women obviously look friendlier.
For a few seconds it was quite frightening. It all happened so suddenly. Luckily there was a stick very handy. We know the owners of the Bulldog, and I'm sure their dog is vaccinated. The one who attacked Bok is not from around here, so we have no idea. Luckily no blood was drawn.
Talk about bite the best mate of the hand that feeds you. Strange creatures dogs, nothing like as nasty as so many humans though.
LX
I certainly agree with you about the humans; I'd take dogs any day!
You need to operate here the same as at pool side.
The one thing you never see in England now is wandering dogs so unpleasant dogs are normelly met on the lead. Female dogs can normally be nasty with males because they don't like unwanted attention.
Wot? Glass of rouge and some pork scratchings?
Here in the deepest of deep countrysides, it's normal for dogs to wander about. Any dog thought to be 'difficult' would automatically be chained-up; probably for life.
She wouldn't bow to his woof?
Hierarchy or Jealousy; not sure which. The result was the same.
Interesting Cro. Tess had rarely been on a lead when I moved here and seen very few other dogs because she just went round the farm with the farmer. Now she is always on the lead sadly and meets dozens of other dogs as almost everyone on my estate seems to have one. I am amazed how quickly she has become used to them and is now amiable and interested. A couple of tail wags, a sniff fore and aft and they seem to be mates for life.
Perhaps the bitch was almost in season , that makes them unpredictable
That's usually the case with most dogs. The bad ones give all the others a bad reputation.
Who knows! There must have been something going on. It was all so sudden.
When dogs begin a fight, it happens so quickly that it is impossible to gauge which one started it, let alone the cause of the upset.
Bok isn't a fighter. We were right with them when it started so saw exactly what happened. It was quite shocking to see the sudden change from calm to riot.
That sort of thing is very scary and could have had a much worse ending .... hopefully you ( and Bok ) won’t see that particular dog again. All part of living in the country I guess.the weather here is amazing ..... this is when I want your pool !!! 🏊♂️ XXXX
This was a scary thing to happen, Cro. Here in South Africa, when a dog, especially a "stray" would be suspected of being rabid. But I don't suppose animals contract this in your part of the world? Not sure. Pat Bok for me. Jo
I meant to say, when a stray or even domestic dog acted like these two, especially the French Bull, it would be suspected of having rabies.
Our neighbor’s pit bull got out and charged my standard poodle yesterday. Luckily, no harm done, but frightening all the same
If she turns up here again there won't be any biscuits and water; just a big stick. I only give one chance.
Yes, the pool is essential; we see it as another outside room.
They are always saying that rabies is 'nearby' or 'on the way', but it never seems to arrive; thank goodness. I hope it stays that way.
Lisa, if I had my way such dogs would be eliminated. They are so unpredictable; at the very least they should be permanently muzzled.
That's awful and something you hate to see. We have areas that are off leash but otherwise dogs are on leashes. My daughter has 2 french bull dogs (the Juvies}and they are friendly.
Dog fights usually sound much worse than they actually are.
This one is horrible. I can't think why he should be so bad tempered. His owners have been informed (not by me).
That was the conclusion we came to, although Bok's collar took a good chewing.
It was good that you were close by when the scuffle happened. Thankfully neither dogs or man were injured but the shock of it all gives one pause about another possible visit.
Dogs are required to be on leash or indoors at all times in our little compound. I think it's terrible unfair to dogs to be so confined, but the safety of children and adults must be considered. Long gone my childhood days when we were taught how to act with dogs and vice versa. Of course, there no longer is the poo problem.
It's difficult to explain how rural we are here; we regularly see Deer and Hares on our early morning walks. A little 10 year old girl has just been to visit; she pops over when she can just to say hello and see Bok. It's all very friendly.
We've had a lot of trouble recently with tiny dogs attacking us when we're out for walks with Ginger and George. Several small dog owners around here are really careless about letting them run around outside off leash. I don't know what makes tiny dogs want to charge giant dogs like ours, but we're afraid it's going to end badly one day. I've considered printing out copies of the city ordinance involving leash laws and leaving them in the offending owners' mailboxes.
And take a good strong stick with you too. There's nothing worse than small yappy dogs.
I so miss having a dog. This is the first time in 43 years that we have not had a dog. Actually we usually had two or three at a time. It is nice traveling and not having any of the responsibilities of dogs.
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