Thursday, February 19, 2009

Release the Hound!

"Cry Havoc!
And let slip the Dogs of War."

--William Shakespeare


So I was walking Murphy this morning and I got to the bottom of our road and made a left like I have before. It was so quiet (it was about 6.30 am) that it seemed nothing was moving when I heard a sudden noise. I looked up and a huge black Labrador was bounding toward us, barking. He came tearing through the early morning, straight at us, and Murphy tried to get behind me.

I waited until the dog got about 6 feet away then I puffed myself up and stepped toward it, really aggressively, and started yelling in a deep voice, "Go home! Get OUT OF HERE!" It must have freaked him out because he stopped dead in his tracks. He kept trying to get around me to Murphy and I kept stepping between them and yelling at the dog.

I looked up and saw a guy walking around where the dog had come from, and I asked if it was his dog. "Is it a black lab?"
"Yes!"
"Come here, Mojo," he called. "Come here."
The dog did an about face and ran toward the voice of his owner.
And then I let the owner have it. Suffice it to say the combination of fear, relief and adrenaline combined to create in me a most un-Christian sentiment, one that I voiced in a volume that ensured I was heard. I left him with no doubts about how displeased I was and sufficiently reinforced the need to tie one's dog up.

As I was walking Murphy home, I passed another lady who was CARRYING her dog. She had heard the commotion and asked if I had just had a run-in with the lab and I said I had. She said the owner lets them run loose in the neighborhood all the time, and the hound has been in her yard, after her dog.

I got home and called the animal-control-people of my hometown to report the owner. Stay tuned for updates, as they become available.

2 comments:

hard.rox said...

Good for you, Fish. I've been having issues with my adjacent neighbor for three years. She thinks nothing of letting her dogs roam loose for an hour or two each day. The animal control officer's response has been less than stellar and I'll be putting my thoughts on paper tomorrow for the Town officials to see. I hope you're efforts are more successful.

RedWifey said...

Years ago, I was walking with my friend who had her little fluffy dog on a leash. I don't remember exactly how it happened but before we knew it Houston (our fluffy charge) was in the mouth of this VERY VERY large dog and his companion canine friend. Once we seperated them we realized that there was an owner nearby. He got ahold on both of them and while he was hooking one back on the leash the other one came after Houston again. From somewhere, I jumped in front of the other dog with my hands out wide and yelled "NOOOO" and it startled him enough that he stopped long enough for his owner to hook him again. It was terrible, but I was proud of my instincts.

You did better than we did though. We were to shocked and afraid to say much to this man with two large dogs in Houston after dark. Glad you were able to give him a piece of your mind. People need that occasionally!