Poor Lucy

[kastle]

I recently had hip surgery and have not been able to take Lucy for a walk in a while. We usually walk down the local rail trail and she absolutely loves it because she gets to see a lot of other people and dogs. My husband prefers to walk around the neighbor and avoid the rail trail all together. She has defintely missed our walks together. Well, today, I finally got the o.k. to take small walks with her as long as she refrains from pulling me. Even though I had to break out the pinch collar just to be on the safe side, she was definitely excited to see me holding the leash. She walked perfectly for me all the way to the trail and on the trail. We met up with a friend of mine and her 2 shih tzu's. As we all walked together, 2 men walked towards us with their 2 dachshunds. About 10 feet before they got to Lucy, they picked up the dogs and walked past us and said "we're just being safe". Once they got past us, they put the dogs down and allowed them to go visit the shih tzu's. Poor Lucy looked so sad. She never even tried to walk towards them so I don't know why they felt they needed to be safe. She just layed down and waited for her 2 friends to finish playing so that we could continue our walk. I guess it's just that ignorant big black dog mentality. On our way back home, 3 school buses past us. Lucy associates school buses with my daughter. She knows that she gets to see Madison very soon after she starts to see school buses. She immediately layed down in the middle of the trail and proceed to wait for Madison. It was not an easy thing trying to get her to move and I wasn't able to really pull her. About 30 minutes later, she finally got distracted by some kids on bikes and started moving again but I could tell she was concerned that she hadn't seen Madison yet. My short walk turned into over an hour. I'm not quite sure if that's what my doctor was expecting when I asked for his permission. Luckily I don't see him again for another 2 weeks. I may just wait another week or so before I try another walk with Lucy.

 

[lapage24]

Don't you just hate the discrimination against our sweet pups. That's really sweet though about the school buses.

 

[DAWNMERIE]

Sweet girl. When people pick up their dogs as we walk by I usually say that's just a snack for these guys, they prefer a meal!

 

[blaue_augen]

I was with my sister once, walking her dane, when a man walking toward us picked up his boxer for the same reason. A boxer?! ... not a tiny dog. But not everyone likes big dogs and is comfortable around them.

I hope your hip is ok and not to sore from your "little" walk.

 

[baloobear2]

Your Lucy sounds like a honey I know what it is like not to be able to walk your newf like you should or would like too...It makes me so sad sometimes. I hope your hip heals good as new and that your summer is filled with nice long walks with friendly, smart dog owners lol...

 

[kdwbellea]

Hmmmm, sometimes little dogs are worse in actuality then any assumed stereotype about big dogs. Maybe we should all decide to pick up our big dogs when a "little" dog is near by. Just to even the playing field. ha ha

Now seriously, wants to help me hoist Monty over my shoulder the next I walk him?

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

Ugh. I can understand the fear, but it's still annoying. I find it personally insulting when people do that, it's essentially as though they're calling my dog dangerous. Irks me to no end. Poor Lucy is right!

In my neighborhood, the meanest dogs all live in the same house...a pack of 4 Chihuahuas. As we walk past their house they come flying out of the house, run up to the fence snarling, hair on end, barking (well, screeching is more accurate a description). Mila, meanwhile, just stands there, tail softly wagging as these litte buggers snap at her through the fence. The last time this happened, the owner came out of the house and started saying something to me but I couldn't hear over the din. So I shouted "Sorry, I can't hear you! Cute dogs!" (trying to be nice) and he shouts back "You like 'em? You can take a couple of the little buggers with you." (he didn't say bugger, he used another b-word tho). Evidently, he doesn't like them very much either!

 

[TerriW]

Thought: can Madison go with you on your walks?


And....chihuahuas?? Mean?? How could you think one of these angels is mean??

 

[padkins]

Poor Lucy! At least she got to spend some quality walking time with you. :bear:

 

[lacey9875]

Lucy sounds like a sweetheart!! Glad you're well enough to walk with her again, although you might want to take it easy, you don't want to go backwards in your rehab.

And we get the big black dog fear. We have a daucshund next door who breaks his electric fence at least twice a week to go after Maggie. She just stands there and looks down at him. And people avoid us like the plauge on walks, and she doesn't lunge or pull towards them, so I don't get it.

There are a few people who do run towards us, and want to pet her and talk about her, and they make up for the "others."

 

[2Paws]

Ah....your Lucy sounds like such a sweetheart. I hope your healing continues so the two of you can take those nice long walks again.

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

Thought: can Madison go with you on your walks?


And....chihuahuas?? Mean?? How could you think one of these angels is mean??

I'm sure yours is a doll, but these guys (I think they're all males)...wowee! I should videotape it sometime and post it on NN! Their level of aggression is unreal! LOL!

 

[heather pluciennik]

Been there done that. Usually when a little dog is coming toward us Morgan lays down and I think it makes others feel a little safer to visit. I don't know why she started doing it but think it's because her big buddy Murphy does it when she comes up to him since he is twice her size. It is cute to see a 5 lb dog next to my 90 lb puppy.

 

[TerriW]

I'm sure yours is a doll, but these guys (I think they're all males)...wowee! I should videotape it sometime and post it on NN! Their level of aggression is unreal! LOL!

Oh I know. It helps to know that Chihuahuas were bred (or evolved) to 'wake up' bigger breeds to do their fighting. They get their little selves riled up shrieking and biting at the heels of the big guard dogs to get them going. Daisy (above) literally nips at the heels of Ben to get him going outside if there is a danger, squirrel, leaf falling, unknown noise, whatever. She yelps higher and higher, louder and louder, snipping at him (not actually touching or biting but I bet she wants to) until he rouses his big heavy self and lumbers out the door. Then she strolls back looking self-satisfied.

No doubt those chi-chis are just sending the alarm: "Something big is coming! omg omg omg OMG OMG YIPE YIPE YIPE YIPE'' until they're in an insane little frenzied ball that you just want to squirt with a hose! JK! :lol:

 

[sendchocolate]

You would have to know my easy-going, mild-mannered husband to appreciate how funny this really is... But Poppy had something of the same happen at the dog park, woman picked up her toy breed and walked away quickly from us when she saw Poppy. Jon was nonplussed! he said, loud enough for her to hear, "it's ok Poppy, you have had poops bigger than that! let's find you another dog to play with!"
OMG! I KNEW he was bonding with her while I am recuperating with my arm, but tha was just rude. AND hilarious. :shocker:
Also, we have a small dog area at our dog park, we were in the big dog area...the woman was out of her league.