Narrow Escape (Pit Bull)
In my neck of the woods, two breeds dominant the neighborhood. If it's not a Chihuahua, it is a Pit Bull. My adult fifty-pound female Doberman is just a sissy, with the exception of chasing cats. Our morning walks on leash are 30 minutes through the dirt roads of this quiet residential area. I have never seen another person in this area walking their dog on a leash.
A few months ago, a white Pit Bull that runs loose in the fenced front yard and barks at us like crazy was out on the street and the gate to the front yard was wide open. The dog trotted over, and I froze while it began to sniff my Doberman. A man walks over from the house right away to recover the Pit Bull and assures me I have nothing to worry about.
A couple of mornings ago, the gate to the front yard is closed, but the same Pit Bull is running loose on the street and nobody else is around. I move as far away as I can from the dog and try to continue down the street, but it approaches us anyway. It barks and starts to circle around my Doberman while I yell and holler and try to pull my dog to safety. The Pit Bull decides to retreat and I breathe a sigh of relief, but the scare took all of the fun out of my morning walk. The next couple of days the dog is closed up in the front yard, so he only barks as we pass by him on the opposite side of the street.
Today, from a distance, I spot the white Pit Bull, sitting on the opposite side of the street in front of a neighbor's house along with a second Pit Bull (brown). You see, this other neighbor has THREE Pit Bulls--two are always tied up with chains in the front yard while the brown one is free to run around in the front yard loose, while the double gate to the street is normally closed. But this morning, for some reason, the gate that retains the brown dog is wide open and no one there to watch the brown dog.
So I stop with my leashed Doberman a long way before reaching the immediate vicinity of the two Pit Bulls. I see the gate of the white Pit Bull is wide open, but there is a lady out front raking leaves. From a distance still, I have to holler pretty loud to ask the lady if the white Pit is hers. She looks toward me, says nothing, and continues to rake. I holler one or two more times and it seems she shakes her head in the affirmative and then goes back to raking.
I stand there in the middle of the street, still a safe distance away, and the lady keeps raking. Now I ask her to put the dog away: yelling once-no response, yelling twice-no reaction, yelling a third time-she puts the rake against the cyclone fence and walks inside toward the house.
By now the white Pit Bull is alerted and begins to stalk us, while the brown Pit Bull stays seated to watch the action. When the white dog is almost within striking distance, I see a teen-age boy walk out from the front gate with the stupid lady standing there behind him. The kid starts walking toward us at a snail's pace while I begin to holler and ask him to pull his dog away from us.
Now the dog is chasing my Doberman in circles, while I holler and try to pull my dog away (with the leash) each time the Pit Bull lunges toward her. Finally, I pull so hard that my dog's leash and collar slide clear off. Now the Pit Bull has it's jaws around the neck of my dog. The dumb-***, slow-as-mud teen kid finally arrives on the scene and pulls the damn dog away.
My Doberman's neck is now covered in slobber from the white Pit Bull, but I don't see any blood. But can you imagine the scene if the second Pit Bull (brown) had decided to join the ruckus?
After I calm my dog down, I continue up the street. The white Pit Bull and kid are nowhere to be seen. The lady continues to rake leaves in the street in front of the house with her back to me, not a word, no apology, nothing. I'm guessing she is a maid or housekeeper or something.
In my neck of the woods, two breeds dominant the neighborhood. If it's not a Chihuahua, it is a Pit Bull. My adult fifty-pound female Doberman is just a sissy, with the exception of chasing cats. Our morning walks on leash are 30 minutes through the dirt roads of this quiet residential area. I have never seen another person in this area walking their dog on a leash.
A few months ago, a white Pit Bull that runs loose in the fenced front yard and barks at us like crazy was out on the street and the gate to the front yard was wide open. The dog trotted over, and I froze while it began to sniff my Doberman. A man walks over from the house right away to recover the Pit Bull and assures me I have nothing to worry about.
A couple of mornings ago, the gate to the front yard is closed, but the same Pit Bull is running loose on the street and nobody else is around. I move as far away as I can from the dog and try to continue down the street, but it approaches us anyway. It barks and starts to circle around my Doberman while I yell and holler and try to pull my dog to safety. The Pit Bull decides to retreat and I breathe a sigh of relief, but the scare took all of the fun out of my morning walk. The next couple of days the dog is closed up in the front yard, so he only barks as we pass by him on the opposite side of the street.
Today, from a distance, I spot the white Pit Bull, sitting on the opposite side of the street in front of a neighbor's house along with a second Pit Bull (brown). You see, this other neighbor has THREE Pit Bulls--two are always tied up with chains in the front yard while the brown one is free to run around in the front yard loose, while the double gate to the street is normally closed. But this morning, for some reason, the gate that retains the brown dog is wide open and no one there to watch the brown dog.
So I stop with my leashed Doberman a long way before reaching the immediate vicinity of the two Pit Bulls. I see the gate of the white Pit Bull is wide open, but there is a lady out front raking leaves. From a distance still, I have to holler pretty loud to ask the lady if the white Pit is hers. She looks toward me, says nothing, and continues to rake. I holler one or two more times and it seems she shakes her head in the affirmative and then goes back to raking.
I stand there in the middle of the street, still a safe distance away, and the lady keeps raking. Now I ask her to put the dog away: yelling once-no response, yelling twice-no reaction, yelling a third time-she puts the rake against the cyclone fence and walks inside toward the house.
By now the white Pit Bull is alerted and begins to stalk us, while the brown Pit Bull stays seated to watch the action. When the white dog is almost within striking distance, I see a teen-age boy walk out from the front gate with the stupid lady standing there behind him. The kid starts walking toward us at a snail's pace while I begin to holler and ask him to pull his dog away from us.
Now the dog is chasing my Doberman in circles, while I holler and try to pull my dog away (with the leash) each time the Pit Bull lunges toward her. Finally, I pull so hard that my dog's leash and collar slide clear off. Now the Pit Bull has it's jaws around the neck of my dog. The dumb-***, slow-as-mud teen kid finally arrives on the scene and pulls the damn dog away.
My Doberman's neck is now covered in slobber from the white Pit Bull, but I don't see any blood. But can you imagine the scene if the second Pit Bull (brown) had decided to join the ruckus?
After I calm my dog down, I continue up the street. The white Pit Bull and kid are nowhere to be seen. The lady continues to rake leaves in the street in front of the house with her back to me, not a word, no apology, nothing. I'm guessing she is a maid or housekeeper or something.
