British Horse Society’s video on good manners when driving past horses in the road.
Tag: Pets
Drive By Petting
BG: We adopted a rescue dog about 8 or so months ago. She was estimated to be five at the time, and the shelter said she had been abused. Her behavior and quirks definitely seemed to verify that. She’s a dachshund mix, a strange-looking adorable dog who weighs 35 or so pounds. She’s very, very long, but not tall at all. When she is on the go, no part of her but her wagging tail is more than 10 inches off the ground. The first 2 weeks were a nightmare. She loved us immediately, but barked at every stranger, even if they dared walk passed the house from across the street. With time and much effort, she is amazing. She walks by our side, doesn’t pay attention to strangers anymore, and is calm and collected with other dogs (and cats!) — even excited puppies that chew on her ears. When it comes to new people interacting with her, it has to be on her own terms. She is still skittish and has to be around them at least several minutes before she decides they’re okay. She will give them a little drive-by lick (her stamp of approval) and then we’re good to go. When encountering interested strangers on the street, I’d say about 75% ask if they can pet her (I politely decline and let them know she’s still getting used to strangers), and the other 25% who start to engage me in conversation about the dog and appear like they are about to pet her without asking, I always am able to head them off and briefly explain her story. /end BG
I was walking her one morning and we were passing a man who was full-speed-ahead in the opposite direction and showed no apparent interest in the dog. Right as he came next to the dog, he swooped down to try to place his hand on her head. She barked at him (she’s got big dog bark) and sprinted to the other side of me, terrified. He proceeded to scold me: “If you know your dog is like that, you should have pulled her away!” I was shocked. There was no time to pull her away from a stranger’s hand because he gave no indication he was going to make a move towards her. I think I stared at him for about 5 full seconds before I basically stuttered, “You should have asked before you try and pet a strange dog.” He walked off, that was it. I’m not sure what the polite or proper response should have been. There was absolutely no indication that he was going to lean down to pet her. I am hyper-aware of surroundings since we got her because of the way she used to be. She does so well on walks and shown so much improvement, I’m not going to not walk her. Is there any better way to deal with this kind of stuff? 1127-15
Bad Parent Award or “The Horse That Kicks You Has Warned You First”
The video below, despite being several years old, is making the rounds of Facebook and a few web sites devoted to “cute”, “precious” videos. One web site described the video as follows:
Her parents surprised this one-year-old girl with a tiny horse. The two playmates instantly hit it off and went frolicking in the grassy field.
Both were extremely excited and joyful, while her parents looking on in the background to ensure safety. Such a great memory for this young girl, surely one she will never forget!
There is nothing cute about this video. Those of us who own equines just about can’t watch this because of the very imminent danger the toddler is in. Equines, regardless of the size, have a very definitive etiquette which is communicated via non-verbal behavior. The toddler is understandably ignorant of the signals the pony is giving but there is no excuse for the parents who have placed their child in extreme danger. It’s cringe worthy, not cute.
When the pony chases the girl in the first few seconds, this is a dominance action, as in, “he who gets the other to move away is the leader”. My dominant pony “herds” her subordinates every day.
At .40 seconds the toddler squeals and waves her arms at the pony who interprets the behavior as a challenge to the pony’s perception of who is herd dominant and turns her butt towards the child. At .44 the toddler runs after the pony who aims her back end at the toddler again. At 1:24 the chase is on again, 1:32 the pony momentarily had her butt in target range, 1:36 the pony is swerving her butt towards the child again. At 1:42 the pony squeals and lashes out at the toddler…there is nothing playful about this, it’s all dominance and turns her butt towards the toddler again. 1:56 the pony yet again turns her butt towards the child as she approaches and at 2:03 the child is in perfect target range to get her head or chest kicked.
Had the child been kicked, the pony would have been destroyed as dangerous when in reality it was just being an equine, doing what equines do and giving plenty of warnings. Had I been witness to this, there would have been no polite or civil discussion with the parents as to why this was dangerous because tragedy can happen within seconds. Repeat, there is nothing cute about this video. It is child endangerment because the ignorant parents did not understand equine manners and behavior. The horse that kicks you has politely warned you first.
SusieQ, Where Do You Doo Doo?
As an over-protective pet parent, I’m very conscientious of where I bring my dog. If he’s not invited, I frequently don’t go places. (Seriously, he’s way more outgoing than I am.) So, because my little rescued dog is awesome, my sister allows dogs at her house. Seriously, my 2 year old nephew wants to be Mort and my 5 year old nephew is fine with him.
My sister just had to host her in-laws. Her step-father-in-law is okay, but her mother-in-law (Wendy) is not my favorite person. (This means I don’t get an invite to the bbq Sis hosts while they are in town. I have a total “I don’t have to go” party and have sushi and chocolate cake and Mort and I have a dance party in the living room. My poor parents have to go.)
Sis’s in-laws live in Spokane part of the year and Jacksonville the other part of the year. They drive across the country with their dog, SusieQ, and only stay at friends and family homes as they travel. (I can kind of understand that — my dog was fine in the hotel room if people in the hallway were quiet. That wasn’t a fun overnight when a drunken party came down the hall.) So, the in-laws and SusieQ arrive at my sister’s house. Sis has to host them two weeks a year as they cross the country. And did I mention the in-laws don’t like kids, or noise, or, well, anything? (I’m a single adult with no kids and wouldn’t try to stay at her house over night. Kids are loud and my sister believes that children should be less disciplined than I would prefer. They are her kids and it’s her house, so it’s her rules.)
Now, SusieQ, much like Mort, is a rescue. The story Wendy tells is that SusieQ was abused by children and can’t be left alone with them. Err, ok. My nephews are 5 and 2. They are a handful. They are all over their house and loud. This is the way Sis and BIL have raised them from day 1, so Wendy should know this by now. She constantly tells Sis to corral the boys for SusieQ’s sake. Remember, she’s getting free room and board for a week; either suck it up or stay elsewhere, right?
Well, this year brought an added twist : SusieQ is sick. How sick? Bloody diarrhea sick. Yep — poor SusieQ had bloody diarrhea in every room on the first floor of Sis’s house. Now, my heart is breaking for SusieQ as I write this. No one wants to be sick while travelling, least of all a pet. It’s just not fun. Now, I’ve mentioned I live two towns over and have an amazing vet. Sis offered to call and get his name. Her mother-in-law pooh-poohed that idea. “SusieQ will be fine”. Poor SusieQ was sick in at least three rooms as I type. My sister hadn’t analyzed the guest suite yet. You know how guest rooms are in modern houses these days — they have wall to wall beige carpet. Yikes!!!!
Sunday morning, her step-father-in-law had the car packed to drive to a friend’s house in Georgia by 6 AM. He and Sis’s Mom-in-law whined that Sis didn’t serve breakfast until 7:30 that morning. There is a 24 hour McDonald’s just down the street would have been my suggestion. (So, the in-laws are now taking the poor dog to another person’s home!!! Who does that?) I hope SusieQ makes it to her vet in Florida, but I feel badly for her and the homeowners’ carpet. 0626-15
I think this is another case of a story submitter being offended on the behalf of someone else with no evidence that the sister is similarly put out by her mother-in-law’s behavior. Dear OP, life is complicated enough without carrying the burden of being offended for someone else. In other words, MYOB.
Pee Pee Purse
My friend has organized a book club which meets once a month in her home to discuss the chosen book and to chose next month’s book. My friend has two small dogs, her daughter has one and brings it with her. There is no problem because all three of them get along fine and are adorable. One of her other friends has brought her small dog along two times and both times we have to deal with the upset dogs getting to know each other and the visiting dog urinates in the house. Last night, it urinated on my purse. The owner seemed undisturbed by this… “Oh naughty boy ha ha.” I cleaned my bag off the best I could and didn’t say anything not wanting to make my friend uncomfortable. If the woman brings that dog to another meeting should I say something, or just plead a headache and go home. How should I have handled it? 0130-15
If the hostess of the club meeting has no problems with visiting dogs in her home, there isn’t much you can do other than make sure your purse and any other belongings are stowed well above pee peeing levels. If the visiting dog is creating that much distraction from the club’s meetings, you could bring that topic up for discussion with the homeowner who happens to also be the club’s creator as well as hostess.