Lately I feel like I could write a story of an off-leash dog that we’ve encountered every week.
Here’s the latest:
The end of last week Delilah (why the eff is it always Delilah?) and I were walking. Delilah (as she always is) had her nose glued to the ground, while I on the other hand was scanning the horizon and watching for obstacles (like I always am) that might need maneuvering around. Which is how I spotted the situation.
I saw a woman walking from one yard to another with a leash in her hand.
Ut oh, that’s a loose dog I said to myself and slowed my pace. I watched the woman go back into the other yard, still with an empty leash.
I had seen this woman before and I knew she had a new puppy, because I had commented to her on how well her puppy had stayed with her. She shared the puppy was new, still young and a hadn’t yet begun exploring.
Well two weeks later THAT situation had changed.
Delilah and I approached the yard on the opposite side of the street and as we did so, guess who decided to to come out from hiding in the bushes?
The puppy. It was a puppy!! A. PUPPY! Squeee I love puppies, BUT I’m not sure if Delilah does or not.
So the puppy starts coming towards the edge of the lawn, close to the street and here we are on the opposite side. The woman, leash still in hand is closing in on the puppy. I don’t know what if any commands this puppy knows, but I do my best and say, “Sit Puppy, SIT.”
Of course the puppy bounds out into the street as the woman looks on in horror. Thankfully there were no cars coming. I can’t even bear to think of it. I don’t want to run, because I know full well the puppy will follow us, so I loosen my grip on the leash and start telling Delilah, “easy, be nice, etc.”
The puppy runs over, play bows in front of Delilah and jumps up and pops her right in the face with her paws.
I am so proud of Delilah, she does get the hair on her back up, BUT she never growled or snapped at the puppy. They did some nose sniffing and by this time the woman had made it across the street and secured her puppy.
You think I’d hurt a puppy? I am disappointed in you Mama, I just don’t know about you sometimes.
She told me she was trying to get the dog to poop and the dog didn’t like pooping while on leash and she thought the dog would stay close with her. Thankfully it turned out fine, no dogs were hurt or scared and Delilah did amazing!! I however, think I earned a few more gray hairs.
I thought for sure she would have learned a lesson that night.
I thought wrong.
Last night the same thing happened, the puppy ran strait across the street when she saw Delilah. This time I was prepared and knew that Delilah would handle the situation well, so I relaxed my leash and after a few quick seconds, Roxy (as I found out the puppy’s name is) ran over to me and I reached down and grabbed hold of her collar. The woman thanked me and I heard her telling Roxy, “bad puppy.”
The husband on the other hand was standing in the yard all authoritative and yelled, “Enough. Roxy Come.”
‘Cause that will work. Honestly what do you expect from a 12 week old puppy?
Where have I been?
I wanted to let you all know that the reason I haven’t been around visiting like I normally do is I’ve been working once again on my book. I really want to try and get it finished this year….and it’s been calling me, so I’ve been listening. I do still read, but I don’t always comment.
This is Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog. Barks and Bytes is for any type of blog, we simply ask you to link up and make sure to give credit to your hosts.
Good luck with your book. I do wish other people would control their dogs. I have a week with BD coming up – yep the ex is on another holiday (seriously he hasn’t stopped partying since he broke my heart!) and so I have BD for a full 7 days – I am so excited. But also really scared. It’s been ages since I’ve had him properly one on one and I’m worried I have forgotten everything I knew.
You’d think they would have learned from the first incident wouldn’t you? Lucky both times there were no cars on the road and good job D for staying calm. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
Ugh! I earned a few grey hairs just reading this post! I like that your book is calling you. That does make writing easier….
A looses puppy isn’t so scary as far as meeting but that puppy is totally learning the running around as it pleases is just fine. Oh boy. Hopefully if the dogs become friends now they will stay friends when the puppy is a big dog. Mom and I were wondering what happened to your book. Good you are back at it. All we can say is the writing and putting together is the easy part. Marketing it is a bear of a challenge!
I worry for that puppy. It sounds like she got irresponsible owners. Good Delilah for putting up with a charging pup and good for you for working on your book.
Good luck with your book. Sadly, when the dog does get hit they’ll want to sue the driver even though they knew the dog wasn’t safe off leash. This kind of stuff is just stupid.
The thought of a puppy running into the street puts my gut in knots. I am glad the meeting between the puppy and Delilah went smoothly, though.
Good luck on your book!
We’ve had several off-leash encounters lately, too. Just yesterday two dogs came running at us–luckily, I said No loudly and one kept running by and the owner came around the corner of the house to get the other one. Barley was also surprisingly good–she had QUITE the mohawk, but it didn’t go farther than that!
I hope the puppy won’t suffer the consequences of having irresponsible owners, but I fear it might.
Good for you getting back to your book!! I was beginning to wonder where you were; but knew you would tell us soon.
Thank goodness dogs are more tolerant of puppies. Good girl Delilah.
And so happy to hear you’re back on track with your book. Good luck with it!
Sounds like they need lessons in puppy training. I’m so glad Delilah was a model citizen.
Good for Delilah! You would have thought that she would have learned a lesson the first time. It would have been terrible if the puppy had gotten run over. Makes me shudder 🙁 Good luck on the book!
Wow, twice in a row eh? People just don’t learn!!!! That could have been a horrible situation had that puppy been on the road when a car was coming!
People expect far to much from young puppies!
I wish you the best of luck with your book!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
GOOD fur YOU Delilah!! WE are proud of you girrrrrl.
Good girl, Delilah! Jodi, I’m sorry you had to go through this heart-stopping experience … twice. Here’s hoping your neighbors get a clue before that poor puppy ends up in traffic. And, good luck on your book! Follow your heart – life’s too short for anything else.
Ugh. That whole situation is one of my major peeves. Seriously people, puppies don’t make the rules. And they don’t learn boundaries without being taught boundaries. I see that puppy ending up getting hit by a car. So sad. 🙁
Good work Delilah. Sounds like you all provided a valuable socialization experience for that puppy, whose mom will hopefully keep her out of harm’s way!
Maybe you and Delilah will be a role model for people who don’t seem to have a basic understanding of what it means to raise a puppy. I’ve never heard of a puppy who wouldn’t poop on leash when it was time to poop.
Something for you at DogDaz http://dogdaz.com/2014/06/05/thankful-thursday-liebster-award/ Come and get it!
BTW – Since Louise is a reactive dog, and Sofie hates puppies, that situation would have caused me tremendous anxiety. OMG glad the puppy did not get run over, but some people should never be allowed to own animals.
Good job, Delilah! Good luck on the book, Jodi. 🙂
The lady should have been honest and said SHE is the one that doesn’t like holding onto the leash while the puppy finds the perfect place to poop. Roxy is a puppy – she’ll learn to ignore the leash and just poop when she has to. What a lame excuse for letting the puppy run all over the place with zero recall. Their actions (or lack thereof) put that puppy at risk time and again. It rankles me that they keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. Can you have “Moron Dog Owner” business sized cards made up for those people as well as others you seem to often encounter that list the criteria for earning such a title? I don’t think you’d have any trouble coming up with a list that make for a moron dog owner. They really provide the material for you easily enough.
And how has a 12 week old puppy gained an aversion to pooping on a leash?? That’s a first. Good luck with the book.
Good luck finishing up on your book, how exciting!
wow! Glad it worked out well!!!! Have no idea what Princess would have done, don’t even want to think about it! Best of luck with you book too!!!!