I've been looking after the forester's big Bernese Mountain Dog Finn this weekend. Lovely, gentle old boy, about three times the size of Poppy, they get on very well. But it's interesting how a group dynamic can change everything. I took Poppy and Finn for a walk together with a friend and her Dalmatian. First, Poppy and Bella chased a cat - luckily they didn't catch it, but it was scary because they both ran straight onto the road (no cars, quiet residential road, thank goodness). It was shocking - poppy didn't hear my shout at all, and I couldn't get the whistle into my mouth fast enough. :-[ Then at the end of the walk, we have to pass along a little public footpath by the side of a house with two aggressive dogs, who were barking and going ballistic at their fence. On the path was a baby thrush. I put Poppy and Finn on the lead - but when Pops saw the baby bird, the red mist descended and she almost throttled herself trying to get it. Honestly, I was so shocked, I've never seen her like that before. And suddenly Finn (normally the most mild-mannered of dogs) decided he could no longer take the abuse from the Weimaraner and wire-haired pointer - and FLUNG all 50 kilos of his body weight against the fence, snarling and biting... Poppy dragging me one way, trying to get Finn off the fence - and to top it all, the bl**dy owner of the two dogs came out and shouted at me. My hip hurts, and I feel very shaken!!
Re: Bad day Oh how horrible I would feel exactly the same after an experience like that. Dogs can be such.....dogs! And no points to the stupid owner who came out and shouted. What a miserable experience. And painful too. I recommend a warm bath and a cup of tea.
Re: Bad day Oh heck Karen, that must have been awful for you , so sorry . I think we all have those days when our beloved dogs turn into monsters , and always at the worse possible time too , tomorrow is another day, take care x
Re: Bad day Oh,miserable for you.....and when you are doing a good turn too....you had 2 strong dogs there and coped really well,hope you feel better now and not too battered about x
Re: Bad day Oh dear Hope you are feeling a bit better now. Warm bath, couple of ibuprofen and a large glass of vino would be my presciption. jac x
Re: Bad day Oh dear -lots of sympathy from me as well. Things like that happen and it really rocks your confidence in your training and the dogs. But like you say, the group dynamics probably set things off. Good thing you weren't more badly hurt!
Re: Bad day Slow catching up today,hope you feel better today Karen?have you ebon able to have some nice quality time with Poppy and no surprises? Hope so x
Re: Bad day Hey thanks all, yes am feeling much better today - although the old witch gave me another earful this evening as I walked by, shrieking that she was going to take me to court for damage to her fence (there is no damage, except what her dogs have caused rampaging up and down and biting at it). Luckily, I am the one with the well-behaved (mostly!), popular little dog, and everyone in the street likes us. So I was able to smile pityingly at her and reply calmly. That drove her mad. ;D
Re: Bad day [quote author=Karen link=topic=1794.msg14157#msg14157 date=1372099345] So I was able to smile pityingly at her and reply calmly. That drove her mad. ;D [/quote] Ha! How satisfying
