First Encounter….at my friend’s property with adequate fence between my XL dog and the evil man’s pit in the ditch. [I’m not against all pits….but very against pit owners with something to prove THROUGH their dog] My dog is guarding my goats. His is running loose as he’s jogging way ahead and around the corner, out of sight. Dogs are literally exchanging spit thru the fence. My goats are trying to FLY on their leashes…terrified. Eventually Evil comes back to call off his dog. Says not one word to me.
Second Encounter….months later. Dog and I in our garden right by road. Along comes Evil and pit. As usual, pit waltzes right onto our land….usually we aren’t down there for encounter. I’m holding my dog [always] on leash and screaming at Evil “call your dog back – mine will fight!”
Naive me….I’m thinking Evil wants our dogs to play…friendly-like. {roll eyes} It is beyond my comprehension that Evil WANTED them to fight. …..old, disabled woman hanging on to my dog and you’re setting yours to go fight ON MY LAND? ARE YOU CRAZY? Thus….beyond my understanding…..so I keep screaming the same thing. Cuz…..his is SO GONNA DIE!!!!
Dogs are NOT barking at each other this time. Both are silent as pit approaches. Uh oh! I’m finally screaming “Get your dog off MY LAND!” and hanging onto the leash expecting mayhem. Weakly, Evil calls his dog back. Event over.
Problem One: I did not approach on the same page as Evil. It took me WAY too long to adjust thinking from “he wants our dogs to play” to “that Evil person wants our dogs to fight …EVEN with me in the middle!”
Problem Two: Even more embarrassing…..I forgot I was wearing my handgun. It was on the side not facing the road. IF I had assessed the situation faster, I definitely would have drawn it and pointed CAREFULLY AND ONLY at the pit on my land, and demanded Evil get him out NOW!
Third Encounter: Next day, DH was down in barnyard doing chores. He’d heard part of my encounter and I told him the rest. Evil and dog come along on road. Pit trots right down onto our land and Evil does nothing to stop him. DH turns so his holstered handgun is visible and STARES at Evil. Evil immediately calls his dog back off our land. And every day after that, Evil put leash on his pit as he went past our land.
Yeah, that’s when you draw….and aim CAREFULLY AND ONLY at the threatening dog on your land. Being me, I’d fire a warning shot cuz owner is to blame for dog’s behavior. But I’d take the next shot and put down the dog.
OldMtWoman …haven’t seen that pair for years so guess he’s not a neighbor any more, thankfully!