Other People's Dogs

As I do every night, I took Brody on our daily walk. When we get to the path I see a dog walking off leash ahead of us with its owner on a bike. But they are ahead of us so, no problemo.

Well, the other dog is being pokey and is sniffing everything and since Brody and I are walking briskly, we catch up. Brody loves to play with other dogs and to meet new people. So Brody does his usual happy greeting to the dog and the owner. I call it his downward dog dance. The other dog is a pit bull mix - not as big as Brody but not a tiny dog - and seems to want to play. I even pet the other dog. (Can you tell where this is going?)

When all of a sudden, Brody is rolled and the other dog pins Brody to the ground and just stands over him. It was like a WWF championship match with out the tights and sequins. Hulk Hogan would have been impressed.

Of course I go into protective Dog Mom mode and try to get the dog off of Brody. Not panicking but I know the urgency of the situation. (I've been to the dog park a few times, as they say.)

The whole time the other dog's owner is saying "oh it's alright, she is just trying to tell him to calm down." She even said "like in the dog whisperer". Needless to say, I am NOT buying it. And it isn't as if the other owner could do anything anyways because she is 10 feet away on her bike. (There are leash laws for a reason people!!!)

As I am literally pulling the dog off of Brody I finally say "NO, it is not ok because my dog will attack your dog if she continues!!!" I think she could finally see that I was not happy about the situation at this point.

Brody is a happy go lucky kind of dog and has never attacked another dog but he doesn't take much crap from other dogs either and will protect himself if necessary. And he certainly doesn't take kindly with other dogs telling him to not be happy and playful.

Although she may have watched Cesar Millan on "The Dog Whisperer" a few times, the other owner clearly had no clue about dog behaviour since she had no appreciation of the danger her dog was in by being so aggressive. (Or the damage I would have done to her dog in my attempt to protect my Brody Baby. I am a Dog Mom after all!!)

A dog is a dog whether it is a pit bull or a brittany or a maltese and no one should underestimate the reaction of a dog you don't know. It's just common sense - which I guess some people just don't have.

Disappointing Weekend

Brody and I trudged up to Jackson Springs, North Carolina this weekend for another Hunt Test. (Jackson Springs is on the outskirts of Pinehurst.) It is a nice area but I wouldn't want to live there. It is in the sandhills of North Carolina, which is exactly what you get - sandy hills. And where you have sand, you have sand spurs. Generally this isn't a problem unless you are barefooted, but for a dog it is a significant problem. Besides, it gets really cold there. (More on the cold later.)

Brody is my wonderful brittany who loves to hunt. He is fondly known as a "bird finding machine" along with "Brody Baby", "cutie pie" and "sugar bug" among other things. Brody is often dismissed at first sight by many hunters who think he is just another cute pampered dog. Brody is in fact really cute and just about the happiest dog you have ever seen and a bit pampered if I do say so myself. He loves life! (And he is NOT as fat as he looks in the picture. Brody gets a fluffy winter coat that I don't like to trim during hunting season. If I trim his fur then he gets cuts on his belly and legs from all of the stickers and brush in the fields.) But once he gets in the bird field he makes all of those dismissive hunters eat their words. And I love to watch their amazement at my Brody Baby's skills. There isn't much better than proving someone wrong even if you can't gloat about it.

Sweet little Brody is working on getting his Master Hunter title. He has 2 of the 5 required qualifying legs. But this weekend did not bring any new qualifications. Here is how it went:

Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m., Brody had a good run until the gunner decided to shoot the quail in the back side from about 6 feet away. Although a good shot, it did nothing for the structural integrity of that poor bird. Brody held steady through the shot and went to retrieve the bird but was having no part of that messy bird. He picked it up and dropped it. His trainer/handler Scott gave him the command to fetch and Brody obliged him by picking the bird up again and promptly dropped it again. As you can imagine, the birds innards were not intact and Brody was having no part of that. (I imagine that bird entrails don't taste all that good.) While I commend him on being particular since I am at heart a girly girl, the hunt test rules state that this is a disqualifying event. Oh well, c'est la vie, que sera sera, and all that good stuff.

Sunday morning was just a disaster waiting to happen. The clocks sprung ahead an hour early this morning for daylight savings time so it was actually 7 a.m. in doggie time. Brody is like his mama and does not do mornings. And given that the hotel alarm clock went off but the radio station was not broadcasting on Sunday morning, I overslept giving us just enough time to frantically speed our way to the bird field but no time to prepare Brody for his brace. It was also about 28 degrees outside and Brody loves him some cold weather. There was a good frost on the ground so the only thing Brody could smell was QUAIL!!!! Sunday mornings are typically a problem for the early braces at a hunt test because all of the birds from the day before are hiding around the fields. This means there are a lot more temptations for a frisky, cold loving, non-morning, bird finding machine of a dog. At least the other dogs working on their master hunter titles thought it was a good morning to do their own thing also. :)

So, Brody and I will most likely make our way to Walhalla, South Carolina for another test in a few weeks. We may not though and just call our hunting season over. All these early mornings are just about to kill me!!!!!