November 04, 2003
She's not happy about the bath...
8:30 p.m.
We had a terrible evening with dog parks.
As always, we went to the Small Dog Park around 5:30 p.m. Lately, a few VERY big dogs have been 'crashing our party' and one of them was there tonight - this big, rambunctious Golden Poo (Golden Retriever/Poodle Mix). I'm not fond of him because he jumps up on me. Well tonight, he decided that my mit was a dog toy - except my hand was still in the mit. Ouch. He didn't break skin, but I was pretty ticked off.
Then, on the way home, I walked through the 'big dog park' and a dog came at us and started hassling Dusty. I picked Dusty up and kept going, but then this really obnoxious Weimaraner (who is VERY poorly trained) came over and jumped up on me. I turned and kept going, but she kept going after me. Finally, I used my leg to nudge her away and I heard her owner (who was just watching this whole thing) say: "You stupid freak! Don't kick my dog, if you want to kick a dog, kick your own damned dog."
I was speechless and furious. I yelled at her to call off her dog and she kept calling me a freak. I yelled a bit more, then got a hold of myself and went to the other end of the park to calm down.
When I was calm, I went back and confronted her. Boy, was she surprised and she wasn't quite as blustery when I was standing there looking her in the face! First, I very sincerely apologised to her. This put her totally off guard - I guess she had expected me to drop the gloves, but I just kept it really civil. She didn't say anything - she would have looked really petty had she been nasty at that point. Then I told her that I wasn't a freak, I didn't kick her dog, and she needed to control her dog in the park. She muttered, "Well, she's not very well-trained..." After a moment of silence (About ten people were standing around listening to this exchange), she said "I'm sorry."
And I went home to assess the damage. Well, my coat is COVERED in mud. I'm half-tempted to present her with the drycleaning bill, but I really never want to talk to her again. By the way, her dog is one of the reasons that the Small Dog Park was founded. We were all sick of that stupid weimaraner - she's *always* been a problem. I think people who can't bother to train their dogs should have the 'Procreation Licences' revoked because they certainly shouldn't be raising children!
I just took a long bath and read for awhile and I'm feeling better. Dusty took a long nap. It's a shame all of that had to happen because we were really having a good time in the park up until the mit incident. Dusty is exhausted - a bit too much excitment, I guess.