May 15, 2010

Today Cinn and I went to the dog park early in the morning. We played together for about fifteen minutes, and then another dog owner came along with a pair of dogs-- a collie and a beagle cross by the looks. He walked in with both dogs off leash while I was trying to put Cinn on hers.

"Don't worry," he assured me loudly from across the park, "They're friendly."

Cinn ducked out of my grip before sprinting across the field with the speed of a pup half her age. As she bounded up, the smaller dog shyed away. She started sniffing butts with both of the other pups, as I hurried after her. Almost instantly, the Collie snarled. I told Cinn to back off, and she did. The other owner again repeated his assurances that the collie was a friendly dog, nothing to worry about. He told me that her name was Meadow, and that she just needed to have a minute to acclimatize.

Cinn walked over to the smaller dog, and the two of them got acquainted for a moment. Suddenly Meadow lunged at Cinn, snapping and snarling. Cinn is not a fighter, but it was too much for her. She lunged back at the dog, snapping back and bowling her over with superior size and weight.

Getting between the two combatants, I yelled and snarled. I shouted,"Stop it!"

Cinn backed away and Meadow was startled enough to hop back too. I put the leash over her head. Meadow's human did not grab his dog, but rather kept assuring me that she was a farm dog that was not aggressive. He made a nipping motion with his hand and said that she was only pinching, and it was not a problem.

Uninterested, I looked around to see his smaller dog running outside of the park. I told him that it was getting away, and he responded with, "Damn, that's the last time that I take a friend's dog to the park when I don't know him."

I offered him a treat to try to lure the smaller dog back, but the dog would have none of it. It ran down the street and away. Both of us loaded our dogs into our cars to give chase. We followed the dog down the street in front of the public works yard, but were not able to catch it. I stopped at the insurance office, where Trace had been purchasing insurance. He continued down the street, eventually catching his dog in front of the gym.

I checked Cinn from head to toe, and found that she was not injured in any way. Relieved, we returned home after her adventure. It was a good reminder to be cautious when dealing with other people's dogs.

May 9, 2010

Cinn had a good week. It was cold and wet, so there were a limited number of trips to the dog park. I tried to play with her a lot ot make up the difference. She loves snuggling and wrestling nearly as much as walks and the park. Her biggest issue this week was the cat stealing her bed from her while she laid in it. Apparently, he continuously walked up, meowed, and even climbed in to push her out at one point. He wouldn't even stop when Trace picked him up to let Cinny keep sleeping in peace one day. He's a very stubborn animal.

Today, we went to the park for a picnic. She met a small dog who was quite a bit younger than her. She was fairly hyper, but enjoyed playing with the little guy. The little dog's owners were amazed by how active our eleven year old was. It was a good day all in all, with lots of play and a quarter of a roast beef sandwich for the girl.