Since the subtitle of Bocci's Beefs is "One Dog's Musings on Life with Humans and Other Animals", we thought we'd spend at least part of every Monday ruminating about something that happened over the weekend, and let you help us figure out if our thinking on the matter is as "spot on" as we (or at least I) tend to believe it is. Sometimes it takes a village, or in our case, the entire blogosphere, to figure something out, don't you think?
Photo of me by Rachel Lauren Photography
So here goes... Parental Unit and I went to what our little neighborhood calls an "Art Crawl" this past Saturday night. They shut down one street for several blocks and people open up their garages to local artists who display their creations, amid much friendly chatter and the sharing of food and drink from local restaurants. (And let me tell ya, we were almost literally "crawling" because of the heat!)
Now, this is a very dog-friendly neighborhood, so lots of dogs were sharing in the fun on this steamy night. And this "street" is basically an alley, so the quarters were close. One of the artists or friends of an artist was sitting outside of a garage with two, unleashed (really big) dogs, who got up and started coming towards us. When she saw that Parental Unit and I pulled away, she held the dogs by their collars and said something like: "Oh, poor so and so, they don't want to play with you."
(Please keep in mind that I've been attacked twice by large dogs, and now Parental Unit is totally paranoid).
What did we (or should we) have said to the obviously well-meaning woman. Please choose from among the following or make up your own response:
1. Smiles, and with a nervous laugh says "Oh, Bocci is afraid of large dogs and he puts out 'bad vibes'", and continues walking."
2. When a safe distance away, shout over our shoulders, "Hey, keep your big, fat dogs on a leash, will ya!"
3. Blaming herself for hurting the owner and her dogs' feelings, returns home and immediately makes an appointment with her therapist to discuss her "abandonment issues".
4. Instantly swivels around and shaking her fist, screams, "Play? You want my one small dog to 'play' with your two humongous dogs in this heat, in a packed alley?" "I'll give you play!"
Please let us know in your comment which of the responses you think that Parental Unit and I chose, by picking one of the above numbers or just letting us know a different, perhaps more appropriate response.
And check back on Wednesday when we'll tally the responses and let you know the one most frequently chosen...and what we really did. We're looking forward to hearing what you think!
So here goes... Parental Unit and I went to what our little neighborhood calls an "Art Crawl" this past Saturday night. They shut down one street for several blocks and people open up their garages to local artists who display their creations, amid much friendly chatter and the sharing of food and drink from local restaurants. (And let me tell ya, we were almost literally "crawling" because of the heat!)
Now, this is a very dog-friendly neighborhood, so lots of dogs were sharing in the fun on this steamy night. And this "street" is basically an alley, so the quarters were close. One of the artists or friends of an artist was sitting outside of a garage with two, unleashed (really big) dogs, who got up and started coming towards us. When she saw that Parental Unit and I pulled away, she held the dogs by their collars and said something like: "Oh, poor so and so, they don't want to play with you."
(Please keep in mind that I've been attacked twice by large dogs, and now Parental Unit is totally paranoid).
What did we (or should we) have said to the obviously well-meaning woman. Please choose from among the following or make up your own response:
1. Smiles, and with a nervous laugh says "Oh, Bocci is afraid of large dogs and he puts out 'bad vibes'", and continues walking."
2. When a safe distance away, shout over our shoulders, "Hey, keep your big, fat dogs on a leash, will ya!"
3. Blaming herself for hurting the owner and her dogs' feelings, returns home and immediately makes an appointment with her therapist to discuss her "abandonment issues".
4. Instantly swivels around and shaking her fist, screams, "Play? You want my one small dog to 'play' with your two humongous dogs in this heat, in a packed alley?" "I'll give you play!"
Please let us know in your comment which of the responses you think that Parental Unit and I chose, by picking one of the above numbers or just letting us know a different, perhaps more appropriate response.
And check back on Wednesday when we'll tally the responses and let you know the one most frequently chosen...and what we really did. We're looking forward to hearing what you think!
9 comments:
Our Mom loves 4, but knowing her, we're sure she'd go with 1. But here is where the owner of the humungous dogs is pretty stupid -- leashed dog with two unleashed dogs -- recipe for trouble in any case. And if we're any example, when we have an opportunity to "play" with another dog what do we do? We snarl and attack each other over who gets to do it! So were those two dogs to do rock scissors, paper????
Wirey woofs,
Jake and Just Harry
I'd have gone for number 1 definitely!!!! Heck----even if you could have stood underneath them and bitten (gently of course) their leg tendons--better to walk away and meet them under better circumstances!!
I am now following you on twitter and facebook--Networked blogs says I am following too many now and won't let me join any others--so I quess I will just go enter myself into your email--------(I am already a GFC follower)
Michele aka MikiHope
www.mikishope.com
After last week, I have to assume you chose #1.
I would have preferred you to 1) point out that your dog has been attacked in the past by large dogs and 2) "remind" the person that there are leash laws in every community.
Tank's Asst.
PeeS - My husband took (18 lb.) Tank for a walk last week and they came across a large dog... my husband said it took all the strength he had to hang onto Tank's leash. He was barking and carrying on like crazy. Have no idea what brought this on, but sometimes it's the little dogs you need to worry about:)
this time I truly am not sure what you did, but I am pretty sure you were too nice lol.
We have a slightly similar problem in the complex we live in. All dogs are supposed to be on a leash, everyone complies except for one woman. Her dog IS extremely nice but HUGE.
When you are outside all of a sudden it comes out of nowhere running over to you. As I said it is a super nice dog but if we have Dakota out and this dog appears it totally freaks him out (Dakota is on a leash)
My fear is that even the nicest dog can be bothered by a reaction of another dog and it makes our dog feel inferior and threatened when this dog comes charging up out of the blue, scaring him.
We saw this woman last week...did I say anything to her? Did my husband? Noooo...she is so nice and so is her dog that we just didn't have the nerve. I know deep in my gut that that was the wrong response!
I'd want to do #2, but I could see doing #1 instead to avoid a confrontation. Some people really don't get it...
Number 3 totally made us chuckle! We wouldn't do that, would we???
Knowing my mom (and me), we would probably make a joke of the situation something similar to #1. I am not saying it is funny, but that tends to be how we handle things ..in case you haven't noticed. I do think humor is a great way to get through to people - they let their guard down and maybe re-think their actions.
Your pal, Pip
Ha! Parental Unit is getting such a kick out of writing these-especially the options to choose from:-) Glad you liked #3-that's our personal favorite!
You'll see the final tally and explanation tomorrow...
Number 2 made us laugh, but we're guessing you and your parental unit chose number one. :)
Yes, I agree that 1) is the best option...reminding them that not ALL dogs have had good experiences with other dogs and may be scared (or, have paranoid PU's...)
I just can't stand it when people do not abide by the leash laws, either...ugh
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