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I suppose I am lucky. I do not see too much stupid pet ownership round here. There's just been the odd one that really boggles my mind - like the people with the free-range black-and-tan terrier (probably now deceased; I've not seen him around in a long time) the idiot who occasionally cycles down Woodbury Avenue with his offleash German Shepherd running behind his bike - on the main road, not the pavement, you understand - and the other idiot who does something similar with a big blond bully breed and got shirty with me for my dogs barking at his fucking loose dog.
And there's Yellow Labrador Guy, whose dog and mine play in the same park. Now the labrador half of the equation is a pretty nice dog - happy, friendly, playful, reasonable dog-dog interaction skills and manners. It's not her fault she has minimal training and an owner who thinks recall is for sissies.
This guy seems to care about his dog. She's shiny, in good condition, not fat and dull like so many Labs you see. He's evidently willing to put some effort into her. I don't understand why he apparently thinks it's OK for her to be several hundred yards out in front of him, out of sight for fifteen minutes at a stretch (this park is L-shaped) and, for all he knows, getting torn to pieces by those vicious insane black and white dogs with the wild eyes and the locking jaws.
...Well, all right, no one was torn to pieces. Not even a little bit. I had Spike offleash and Squish on his longleash when Yellow Lab ambled into view. (Sidenote: I'm always a bit boggled when I see dogs ambling, whether offleash or on. It seems so wrong to me, whose dog only has two speeds - full-on and having just hit the end of the leash full-on. Squish, to be fair, occasionally ambles if he can, but he's usually scrambling to keep up with Spike.)
Lab's owner was nowhere in sight, but I recognised the dog and I didn't really expect the owner. He never does appear until quite some time after the dog, if at all. I was alert to the possibility of trouble, but I know the Lab is dog-friendly, I had hold of Squish and offleash!Spike isn't inclined to fuck with other dogs that aren't GSDs and don't fuck with him first. So I didn't worry much.
Lab saw us throwing balls and her tail started wagging, and she came trundling up to join in the fun. Squish looked like he was about to start barking at her - I told him it was all right and distracted him with a ball throw and he calmed down. Spike gave Lab a quick stink-eye and then ignored her.
Lab decided she wanted to be Squish's friend, so she came up to sniff noses, all tailwaggy and happy. Squish stood there, a bit stiff and unsure, hackling a bit but his tail was wagging and he looked willing, so I stood by. Then Spike barrelled up to her, with his hackles up and his "Are you fucking with my friend?" expression on. Unhelpful. There was snarling, and Squish's nerve broke and he yapped. I told Spike to pack it the fuck in and get his ball, which he and Squish both did. We moved in one direction and the Lab ambled off in the other, and we carried on playing ball - the Lab remained in view, but all three dogs had decided to ignore each other and all was peace and tranquillity again.
It wasn't till a good five minutes after that that Lab's owner came into view. He, too, was moving at a slow amble with no apparent sense of urgency, though he was looking around in a vague way for his dog - who could, if she had wanted to, have been maybe two miles away by this time. In fact she was just out of his sight behind some trees.
"You looking for a yellow Lab? She's over there." I said, and pointed. He grunted at me and started yelling for the Lab, who didn't entirely ignore him - she looked pleased to see him and sort of frolicked around not quite in his reach. He gave up his half-hearted effort to catch her and the pair of them strolled off out of the park together with her still offleash.
People are just really fucking odd sometimes.
And there's Yellow Labrador Guy, whose dog and mine play in the same park. Now the labrador half of the equation is a pretty nice dog - happy, friendly, playful, reasonable dog-dog interaction skills and manners. It's not her fault she has minimal training and an owner who thinks recall is for sissies.
This guy seems to care about his dog. She's shiny, in good condition, not fat and dull like so many Labs you see. He's evidently willing to put some effort into her. I don't understand why he apparently thinks it's OK for her to be several hundred yards out in front of him, out of sight for fifteen minutes at a stretch (this park is L-shaped) and, for all he knows, getting torn to pieces by those vicious insane black and white dogs with the wild eyes and the locking jaws.
...Well, all right, no one was torn to pieces. Not even a little bit. I had Spike offleash and Squish on his longleash when Yellow Lab ambled into view. (Sidenote: I'm always a bit boggled when I see dogs ambling, whether offleash or on. It seems so wrong to me, whose dog only has two speeds - full-on and having just hit the end of the leash full-on. Squish, to be fair, occasionally ambles if he can, but he's usually scrambling to keep up with Spike.)
Lab's owner was nowhere in sight, but I recognised the dog and I didn't really expect the owner. He never does appear until quite some time after the dog, if at all. I was alert to the possibility of trouble, but I know the Lab is dog-friendly, I had hold of Squish and offleash!Spike isn't inclined to fuck with other dogs that aren't GSDs and don't fuck with him first. So I didn't worry much.
Lab saw us throwing balls and her tail started wagging, and she came trundling up to join in the fun. Squish looked like he was about to start barking at her - I told him it was all right and distracted him with a ball throw and he calmed down. Spike gave Lab a quick stink-eye and then ignored her.
Lab decided she wanted to be Squish's friend, so she came up to sniff noses, all tailwaggy and happy. Squish stood there, a bit stiff and unsure, hackling a bit but his tail was wagging and he looked willing, so I stood by. Then Spike barrelled up to her, with his hackles up and his "Are you fucking with my friend?" expression on. Unhelpful. There was snarling, and Squish's nerve broke and he yapped. I told Spike to pack it the fuck in and get his ball, which he and Squish both did. We moved in one direction and the Lab ambled off in the other, and we carried on playing ball - the Lab remained in view, but all three dogs had decided to ignore each other and all was peace and tranquillity again.
It wasn't till a good five minutes after that that Lab's owner came into view. He, too, was moving at a slow amble with no apparent sense of urgency, though he was looking around in a vague way for his dog - who could, if she had wanted to, have been maybe two miles away by this time. In fact she was just out of his sight behind some trees.
"You looking for a yellow Lab? She's over there." I said, and pointed. He grunted at me and started yelling for the Lab, who didn't entirely ignore him - she looked pleased to see him and sort of frolicked around not quite in his reach. He gave up his half-hearted effort to catch her and the pair of them strolled off out of the park together with her still offleash.
People are just really fucking odd sometimes.