Long Time No Blog; Walk the Dog

Maybe I'll write about some of the things that have gone on with me since the last time I blogged here. But suffice it to say I just haven't felt like blogging.

Tonight, I walked Pearl, the less trained of my two dogs. She and Ruby are both very skittish about walking. Ruby,after doing dog obedience training has become moreso. Oh, she's become more OBEDIENT. She sits, she stays, she shakes hands. Just likes going out less. I think the three incidents that happened at dog obedience school might among the reasons.

First Event: One night, about the 5th meeting, some guy who had to switch classes brought his schnauzer, a little bitch who tried to pick a fight with other dogs before she even got inside the building where we had class. Once in class, this little shit of a dog would not stop barking and growling at the other dogs. Now ALL of the dogs had some sort of barking behavior, but most of it was playful. This dog was being very aggressive. Ruby is shy enough, but this dog just made her very uncomfortable. So, for about the first half of the night, Ruby would do what I told her, but wasto upset to take treats.

Second Event: Same guy, different schnauzer. The Schnauzer was ok at first, when all of the others hadn't arrived yet. But she went crazy when the bigger dogs started showing up. Again, non-stop aggressive barking. This dog also got into a fight and bit one of the other dogs on the nose. No blood drawn, but it freaked Ruby out.

Third event: As we got out of the car, a big Ralph's delivery truck pulled up in the parking lot and, as it bounced over the speed bumps, made a huge racket that spooked Ruby.

Anyway, she passed the class, but is still a little jittery.

Back to tonight's walk, as Pearl and I left the house, I was surprised with the relative ease with which we hit the sidewalk. But, just as we got going, two strange dogs ran up to us, having escaped from their yard. I could tell by their behavior they were very friendly dogs--but my two dogs don't like to make friends very much. So I tested how Pearl might react and kept an eye on her body language and facial expressions and listened for that low rumbling growl that signals a dog's intentions.

Pearl tensed up a little, but didn't make any suspicious moves. So I tried walking a ways and the two dogs followed. Pearl was a little uncomfortable at first, but soon walked pretty freely.

Soon, they were like a dog pack, running as a herd, with me as their leader.

Every house I passed told me who the dogs belonged to, but they were wrong every time. This one kid told me he thought one of the was his dog, but couldn't tell me its name. He told me his brother who was playing down the street would know his name. His brother down the street didn't seem to know for sure whether he had a brother--let alone whether one of the dogs was his.

One guy said that the dog belonged to his next-door neighbor, but the next-door neighbor didn't recognize them.

None of this bothered me too much, because the dogs were clean, well-groomed, and very well-behaved. So we just all four of us had a very nice walk. When I got home, the neighbors across the street told me that the two dogs belonged to the house next door to them. The gate was open, the neighbors not home, so we got the two dogs back in and closed the gate.