Shhh, Don't Jinx It!

I kind of don't want to write this post... If I say it out loud (or put it down in print) it'll turn back to a pumpkin. But on the other hand, the blog is here for a reason - and it's about exactly this... So... I probably should tell you, right?

Oh, would you just get on with it!

Here's what we'll do: I'll pretend I didn't write this, and you all don't look, OK? Also, no talking about fight club! Here goes...

Too late, I already fell asleep...

The past few days, Monster has been incredibly good on walks. It started with people, on one walk we encountered five different men, three of them complete strangers, all actively doing something, four of them looking at us and speaking to us, and two of them moving straight toward us. All close (the closest at leash length). And Monster didn't react! He didn't ignore them, but he didn't react badly. He was interested in them, he stuck his head out to get a better sniff of the closest ones, but no snarling, jumping, lunging, growling - not even tightened leash!

Are you still going on about that? Let's have some peace and quiet now...

And then it started happening with dogs... Today we suddenly met two dogs coming around a corner toward us, fairly close (about 8-10 meters maybe). Monster stopped, I turned around and tried to call him with me - well aware that that wasn't going to work. Only to look down and realize he hadn't even hesitated, he'd followed me right away! So we turn onto a side street, trying for a different route to where we were going. Unfortunately the two dogs follow us, and at the end of the road we have to squeeze by a fenced yard along a very narrow path, and in that yard were two rabidly insane terriers. Well, I tell a lie, one of them was rabidly insane, the other one was "just" a high level fence fighter. Still, complete chaos. Monster is very clearly disturbed by the dogs, especially the one who is actually attacking the fence, biting and pulling at it while just screaming rage, then running off to build some speed before launching himself at the fence... I was hoping the owners would turn up and call the dogs (that was a lot of noise, and this was in the morning), but no one turned up. I had to choose between forcing Monster to squeeze by the fence or turn back and have him meet and pass the two dogs following us. I chose the fence, at least the dogs were separated. Monster did pull toward these dogs, but he was also very clearly trying to communicate. He did some quick (and only half finished) play bows, he looked away, he sniffed, he turned to the side, etc - it was all on turbo speed, and he was clearly both uncomfortable and overexcited, but it wasn't lunging and snarling! All right, there may have been some lunging, but we're working our way up from a deep valley here people, so give me this one, OK? After we'd passed the fenced yard we took a little timeout at a distance, letting Monster look at the terriers if/when he wanted to (they were still barking/attacking the fence) and sniff around and pretend to ignore them if he felt like that. When he was calmer we moved on, turned a corner, and of course there were the two dogs from earlier, heading straight for us again. We were not going back to the terriers, but with the stress Monster had just been under there was absolutely no chance he'd be able to handle meeting and passing these dogs (I know, like he could have done that if he hadn't just been wound up - it's fun to pretend though). So, off to the side of the path we go - we can't get far, but by then I'm simply aiming for a distance where I'll be able to physically control Monster, and hopefully not frighten the other dogs (and owner) half to death. But again he surprises me! He takes a couple of steps toward the other dogs but keeps the leash slack, he looks at them interestedly (but not tense, not the "scare stare") as they move toward us (still calm...), draw even with us (still calm!), and move away from us (what the...?). Monster keeps looking at them as they walk away, while I stand there more or less stunned just looking at him until I come around from the shock and decide we shouldn't stand around in the bushes for the rest of the day. So, we move on. And walk not even two minutes, before we cross a bike path and I suddenly realize there's a woman right there, walking toward us with her two dogs. The group must have been about 4-5 meters away from us, walking directly toward us. Monster? No reaction. It's like he didn't see them, but he's a dog - he knew they were there, he just didn't want to acknowledge them. By then I was exhausted from all the excitement, even if Monster seemed to be doing fine, so I set the course for home. And come upon some small, fluffy, bouncy thing (poodle-something?), trying to walk backwards (his owner was moving away from us - thank you, universe!) while barking, bouncing, growling and just generally behaving like... well, like Monster. While Monster seemed confused more than anything else, and didn't respond in kind. Now, if I had written this, and if you in turn had read it, I'd ask you: how about that, people!?! But I didn't. And you didn't. So I won't.

Of course, when we were aaaaaaalmost home a cat ran past us, and there went our peace. But let's deal with cats some other day, OK?

Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate! There was a cat here...

(Oh, and in case you're wondering: yeah, the leg's still broken. Working on it.)

Monstermom Makes A Mess Of Things, Monster Saves The Day

Oooof. Adrenaline overload.

Really? Why?

I took Monster out for a quickie-walk just on the small field right outside our house. I meant to do some light training and just a sniff'n'pee and then back home, so I just slipped the martingale collar on Monster, put some treats in my pocket, and off we went. Stupid. I know the martingale won't realistically hold him if he really struggles to break free (his head - although by many claimed to be the size of an ox's - is smaller than his neck, so even tightened it can be wriggled out of), but he's simply never gotten out of it. Never even tried to. I know that's a ridiculous excuse, but I've somehow managed to lull myself into comforting lies about how he
A) Doesn't even know he can back out of it - how would he since he's never tried, or done so accidentally after all
B) Doesn't want to get out - he's all show, bark worse than bite, and so on. He's big and brave with the leash holding him back, but free to do what he wants he's a big softy. Basically. Right?
C) If the world were to go completely topsy-turvy and points A and B were through some incomprehensible feat of supreme bad luck to become nullified, I'd at least get a bit of a warning - him backing, squirming, trying to fight free - and be able to secure him with my hands if it seemed like he'd figure out how to work the miracle of (unwanted!) freedom.
Yes. I am an idiot! However did you know?

It wasn't really a secret before now either, Mom...

I'm not saying I'd actually thought it through quite that thoroughly. But I think it sums up approximately what my half formed reasoning was. After all, when going out for a "real" walk Monster wears a harness and a choke collar attached to the harness (the collar is just a safety precaution in case the harness breaks or Monster manages to get out of it, it does nothing as long as the harness is on - and in fact I've never had to rely on it, since Monster just isn't a Houdini dog), showing that I do in fact consider the martingale unsafe. But we were just going across the road after all, why be unnecessarily cautious? That's just ridiculous. Right?

Exactly! You know you can trust me...

As soon as we crossed the road I saw there was a group approaching from down the hill. A couple, with a baby carriage, walking three small dogs. So I quickly crossed and headed for the far side of the field, not overly concerned - Monster might be triggered to react simply because I was moving quickly away from them, especially as we'd just come outside when he tends to be a bit more excited, but by now I'm fairly confident at the distance the width of the field provides, and I know that even if he does act out at that distance - which doesn't happen unless there is something aggravating the situation - his heart isn't really in it and he's quite easily managed.

Sure, sure. More than ten meters is nothing to get excited about after all...

Monster did show he wasn't quite interested in cooperating fully, finding the approaching group quite interesting. As we were moving away from them he wanted to bounce around and watch them rather than pay attention to me. I persisted, and we moved away - until, suddenly, something snapped. I don't know if the others made a sound, or if it was just Monster's control that ran out, but in just a fraction of a second I was standing there staring stupidly at the empty leash in my hand...

FREEEEEDOMMMMMMM!!!

Monster was running full tilt toward the people and dogs on the road, body low and hackles raised, and I screamed his name (more to alert the people than in any hope to successfully recall him, to be honest) and started after him. I was cold from fear. I know Monster has been very good with other dogs when he's off leash. But he was younger then. And last time (actually quite recently) he met a dog he was attacked and bitten. And these dogs were tiny, less than a tenth of Monster's size. And there was a baby carriage involved. (I want to be clear: I don't think Monster would be aggressive toward a baby - but I do think he could easily knock a baby carriage over without even noticing it or meaning any harm.) So, in short, I was terrified.

Huh... You just don't trust me, do you?

The man, who had the baby carriage and one of the dogs (as I understood it later this was a male dog) quickly lifted his dog off the ground when he saw Monster barreling straight for them - as it turns out this was perhaps slightly unnecessary (but still a good idea), considering Monster was going so fast he couldn't even stop when he reached them but slid to a halt several meters past (and scraped up his carpal pad something awful on the asphalt, I discovered when we got back home). By then he was closer to the woman and the two tiny dogs she was holding, so he went for them instead.

Hellooooo, ladies!

Fortunately, all he wanted to do was play and greet - like the sweet guy he really is. OK, also sniff some ladies' behinds. And even more fortunately, the woman with the dogs - who had basically just watched Death racing toward them - was perfectly calm and reasonable! Unfortunately, I was in the grip of low grade panic and my brain had shut down completely (not that there was much activity to halt in the first place...), meaning all I was able to do was chase Monster around with the (useless) collar in one hand and a treat in the other. The woman was clearly (in retrospect) trying to talk me down, pointing out that her dogs were female (reducing the risk of a fight of course) and talking calmingly to Monster and even praising him. But still, all I could manage to do was pointlessly chase Monster round and round while simultaneously trying to shove a collar over his head and a treat in his mouth - of which he would have neither, naturally. He quickly abandoned the woman and her two dogs (since I was being a nuisance there) and went back to the man and his dog, by then back on the ground, but this dog wasn't overly amused with Monster and told him so in no uncertain terms, and the situation tensed up a little. Finally I found two bewildered braincells and managed to rub them together to form a tiny spark, and stopped in my tracks - never approach your dog if he's squaring off with another! (These braincells appear to have been old and experienced, praise the whatever.) So I started to back up a couple of steps, and called Monster away instead of chasing him. And he happily left the grumpy guy (his opinion, not mine - I happen to think the tiny little dog to be both entitled to protest and very tolerant) to return to the ladies. Encouraged by the success of the first couple of functioning brain cells a few others came back from their impromptu vacation, and made me - finally - try to just tell Monster what to do. A simple "sit" and he sat down. And looked a bit miffed while I slipped the collar on him (and shoved the treat in his mouth, mostly just to have somewhere to put it). But he sat. And he stayed. He really is a good boy. I'm not sure why I'm surprised...

Yeah, about that... Why are you surprised? Hmm?

I'm pretty sure I apologized - incoherently - a number of times, while the woman calmly praised Monster telling him he was such a good boy for sitting when told (by then she'd probably realized there was no point trying to talk to me, there was just Nobody Home). When she and her company moved away, Monster did protest and bark but even then the group didn't seem concerned. Well, if they didn't panic when a Corso ran loose and "attacked" I suppose panic wasn't really on the table for them. I'm glad someone managed to keep their head...

Yeah... You were kind of embarrassing...

I'm not sure why I freaked out so badly. I've had dogs get away from me before after all. And Monster has never shown any true aggression. But it was just... The dogs were so small. And the baby carriage! Oh, good lord. Scary. But Monster really is pretty good with other dogs - incongruously enough! I need to remember and rely on that more. Not in the sense that I shouldn't be more careful (no more martingale), just that if things do go wrong I need to keep calm so my frantic mistakes don't derail a situation which isn't such a disaster after all - at least not without my interference.

Yeah. Relax!

At least this has lead to a couple of pleasant realizations. Firstly, Monster really is just bark and no bite. Even though he's nearly three years old by now, and fully mature (biologically, at least). And secondly, he's become a lot more accepting of being physically handled lately. I've had to cut off pieces of skin from his carpal pad with a pair of scissors, clean out and bind the wound, and he hasn't objected to any of it. He persistently wants to lick it, but he lets me push him down, tip him over, mess with the scrape, etc, without protesting - or wanting to protest. He trusts the handling, which he's never been very good with. Interesting...

Don't tell her this, but I'm feeling sorry for her - she needs a bit of a pick-me-up.

Interesting day overall. I need to go lie down.

Barking Mad!

Monster is not a barking dog. Normally... But the manic crazy from yesterday has continued today,and he's been simply... Insane. He's run from window to window, barking at the outside world, at the walls, at the furniture, at me, at anything, everything and nothing. We've been unable to even leave the yard, as he would attack anything and anyone. Never mind people and dogs, he'd lunge at sounds, flying birds, the wind, absolutely anything. A bird flew over high overhead and Monster leapt straight up into the air, just *sproing* - like a Jack Russel - and kicked me in the head! I haven't been able to reach him at all, and whenever he's calmed himself enough to lie down he's kept a continuous whine under his breath until he had to get back up and start over again. Why? I don't know...

Eeeeeoooooeeeeoooooeeeeee! The mothership is landing! The voices told me!

And then. Suddenly. He looked at me again early evening. No longer were just the lights on, there was someone home again. He was still agitated, but I could reach him and communicate. We started doing some training exercises and some nose work, and he calmed down further. We've just been out for a late walk (finally!) and he was almost back to normal again, apart from pulling a bit much on the leash.

Alright, I'm focusing. What did you want?

What the hell was that?!