Bygones

Went to walk Bibi at lunchtime and after patting her a bit, I got the leash – a snoot loop – and tried to put it on her and she bit me. Didn’t break the skin, but it left a deep dent. Hmph. I sat in Marta’s living room for several minutes thinking about it and calming down. I trained my dogs never to bite, but I had them when they were puppies when they’re easy to train. I also trained them to “give it” when they had something they weren’t supposed to have so I could take something like a chicken bone right out of their mouths. Marta got Bibi from a pound at roughly three years old, so while she’s generally very well behaved you just never know. I was amply warned to keep her away from small dogs (an incident of mauling one once). Otherwise she shows interest in other dogs, perks up and looks, but doesn’t behave aggressively.

Last week, I came across an older guy with two dogs on leashes walking in the adjacent neighborhood. Usually I just keep pulling Bibi past, but I thought these dogs might be playmates of hers from her other walks. So I stopped, several yards away, and looked at them to see if their barking and pulling moves were friendly or aggressive. Then I realized the guy was yelling at me: “…and why are you just standing there? Get your dog out of here!” Surprised, I said, “Sorry, I didn’t know your dogs weren’t friendly!” as I led Bibi away. He was still yelling after me, “Go walk your dog in your own neighborhood!” I said, “Hey, this is a public street, Buddy!” Jerk. At the other end of the spectrum were the people we ran into in front of their house one hot day a couple of weeks ago who came over and offered Bibi a bowl of water. There are all kinds out there, some well behaved and some who could have used better training. (I'm referring to people, of course.)

Anyway, back to today… After calming down some, I decided, “Bygones,” like that guy on Ally McBeal used to say. There was a brand new pack of Yummy Chummies in the kitchen and I lured her out with that. Then she was fine.

Only another week after this and my housemate will be back and probably pick up the Bibi walking again. I’m also house-sitting and taking care of my friend’s dog again the week of August 16th. But Siena is, as my friend calls her, “a love muffin” as well as a chien gentil.

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