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“When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad.”
That lyric from the song My Favorite Things (Mary Poppins), has a whole new meaning for me. Recently, I reached across my daughter’s small sleeping dog, a Chihuahua mix, and grabbed my cell phone. Her sweet adorable little head was resting near to it, in fact, was slightly touching it.
As I reached I must have grazed her face and she bit me. She did not snarl at me, she did not nip me, she did not growl a warning shot. Nope, she jerked awake and went for the bone. I have a photo I took the next day when I changed my bandage and it depicts a perfect impression of her teeth. There are two deep gouges from her canine daggers in addition to a perfect row of her tiny teeth. It looks like a vampire bite. Don't worry--I am not sharing the gruesome photo in this blog.
I’m not a newbie with dogs. I’ve had dogs almost my entire life with very short periods in between dog ownership. I’ve had all kinds of dogs including a Great Dane we rescued from the pound in Detroit. I am in tune with dogs and their various behaviors and have been lucky to have had dogs that live long, healthy lives. I’m good to them, they live in my house with me as little furry sub humans, they go most places I go, I never ever leave them in the car, not even for a moment, I walk them every day unless it pours, I take them to the vet regularly for exams and vaccines, I’m careful when they meet strangers, I never allow them off leash when we walk, I pick up their droppings, I keep them clean and maintained (fur, nails, ears, anal glands), I wear out vacuums every couple of years, and I love them deeply. A friend of mine in Arizona has said many times that when she dies she wants to come back as a dog but only with owners like us. Our dogs are treated better than many people treat their children.
And so I am devastated.
I spend a great deal of time researching information on a variety of topics for my blogs and for my books. In fact, I recently finished my second book and I’m in the process of fact-checking and editing. Not my favorite part of writing but absolutely necessary. Didn’t do that the day after the bite, however. No, that day I was online all day reading about dog bites. More than half of the information is about stray dogs that bite and legal issues. The subsequent problems involved with medical care and a stray dog bite are unpleasant. Still, it’s not a walk in the park for one’s own dog to bite its beloved owner.
When I walk my dogs I carry a little fanny pack with poop bags, tissue, my cell phone, house key, water, iPod, Band-Aids, and a fondue fork. Fondue forks are very long and crazy sharp on one end. I carry that fork because it fits in my fanny pack if I need it to ward off a stray dog with a desire to bite me.
Once when walking a cute little dog I had years ago a giant Rot came after us. His owner screamed bloody murder and ran after his errant Rot while waving a leash over his head as a warning to me. But he needn’t have wasted his energy. I knew that dog wasn’t on a leash. He ran like the wind.
Just as the dog got to us my dog tried to climb inside my rib cage. I have scars to this day where she dug in through my blouse to my skin. My blouse didn’t survive. The Rot was only interested in my dog and not me so I had the advantage, sort of, to use my feet and I just stood still and kicked him in the head as hard as I could. I felt teeth at one point but no bite and no broken skin. The man reached us and wrapped the leash around the dog like a lasso and pulled with all his might. I used bad words.
After that incident I spent the next two days looking for a fanny pack sized weapon. I have a pocketknife but I don't want to kill a dog, I just want to keep it from eating me. So when I got around to my kitchen utensil drawer, after eliminating many nasty looking tools in my garage, I saw the fondue fork and I knew it would be perfect. I haven’t had to use it, thankfully, but I know it would hurt with just a few pokes. I know that because I poked myself with it a few times when removing poop bags from the fanny pack and had to put a small piece of cork over the prongs. (Hence, the Band-Aids.) A friend once used some kind of spray in a small can (pepper spray or Mace) and it didn’t work at all. In fact, the dog attacking her became even more agitated when sprayed. I’ve heard an air horn works well and can be purchased in pocket-sized cans.
Another time when walking by myself on a bright sunny day, three young people approached and hassled me for money and the contents of my fanny pack (I now keep my cell and iPod in my pockets and I have an old cell in my fanny pack as a decoy. Somewhere around the house I think I have an old MP3 player that I need to place in the pack as my iPod decoy).
They encircled me and I explained I didn’t bring money when walking. One asked where I lived. (Yeah, come back to my house and I’ll serve tea while you rob me.) It was broad daylight on a fairly busy street. I pushed my way to the middle of the street and started running and waving my arms and they took off. This occurred pre-fondue fork. Now I have the fondue fork and I’m ready for all comers.
Some counties require that doctors report all dog bites (so I didn’t go to the doctor). The culprit is then placed on a list. In the case of our little biter it would be a “watch” list and not a “three strikes you’re out” list. Her bite was involuntary. Sort of like when the doctor whacks your knee with his little knee whacking tool and you involuntarily kick his gut with your foot.
She did not bite me because I took her toy, or ate her food, or disciplined her, or a myriad of other slights. She was asleep. She bit me coming out of a deep sleep. And touching a dog around the head when they are asleep is considered by dog experts an unwise thing to do.
I have a large lab mix and he has the most incredible dreams of any dog I’ve ever owned. When he dreams he can rock the house with the snarling and leg twitching. I usually just give him a shove in the hindquarters and he blinks and rolls over. Though I do not ever recall tapping him on the head while he’s dreaming I certainly will never ever never do that never ever never in the future. If he had bitten me instead of the little Chihuahua I would be without a hand today. They do not know what they are doing if startled from a deep sleep with a human hand/arm hovering over their face. Do they even know it’s a hand/arm? If I awakened in the middle of the night with someone’s hand/arm hovering over my face what would I do? Start punching? Wet the bed? (Both.)
Having this bite is heartbreaking because I’m feeling a loss of trust with both dogs. It’s sort of like having one’s husband cheat. Can we ever really trust them (or a new husband) again? I know she loves me in her doggie way and I know that in her waking hours she would never hurt me. She’s young so we play many times a day. In fact, one of our games is tug-of-war with her toys. As I tug she growls. Sometimes I win, sometimes she wins. Her tail wags the entire time. However, a friend told me her trainer advised never to play tug-of-war with a dog, even a friendly dog. It’s all about the alpha thing and power and control. They cannot rationalize situations quite like we can. They are animals. They are our beloved sweet pets, but first and foremost, they are animals.
I’ve watched various animal shows where people have trained grizzlies and tigers and chimps and dogs and other animals and we know that sometimes they bite, or worse. My little Chihuahua granddog’s bite cannot be compared to a tiger bite. I have new compassion and empathy for Roy of Siegfried & Roy. Not only did he almost die but he was completely heartbroken. Many animal experts have since declared it was an accident. The tiger wasn’t angry but something tweaked his animal instincts. Steve Irwin, The [late] Crocodile Hunter, remarked often about treating pets or semi-tame creatures with care because they are first and foremost animals. Even his expertise couldn’t protect him and he paid the ultimate price for his love of animals.
Part of dog ownership is protecting them from their own potential bad behavior. I have always done that. When my dogs are around children, depending on the dog, (and mostly depending on the children) I may or may not allow the dog to visit with them. Sometimes I put my dog or dogs in my bedroom when I have certain guests. Some people behave inappropriately or incorrectly around dogs and I don't want an accident that would send my guest to the hospital and my dog to the pound. I’m 65 and it has never happened. I don't let strangers approach quickly and start petting the dogs until I size up the stranger. All dogs need the human protection barrier to keep everything nice and friendly.
As I completed this post I looked around to find both dogs sleeping peacefully at my feet. They are always here when I work on my computer and I often bend down and give them each a little pat on the head as they sleep. They always wake up and produce eager tail wags and ask the silent question “can we go for a walk now?” Sadly, I will never ever pat them on the head when they are sleeping. I will forever follow the wise idiom: let sleeping dogs lie.
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
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[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
