Thursday, April 1, 2010

Day 70 - Fetchin' Balls

Here's one piece of practical advise for dog parks that you don't normally get: When you see more dog balls then dogs, get the fudge out of there. Case in point, today, at the dog park, within a five-minute window:

Dog A, a whopper of a canine cresting around 70 pounds, came up to sniff me I sat working in the park-supplied plastic chairs. Dogs do that all the time at the dog park. You either pet them or ignore them. THEN, the f***** peed on my leg. Observations:  
  1. Dog A was free balling in a big way. Most likely, many puppy urinaters (not to be confused with Terminators) will sustain his blood line.
  2. Upon hearing my (loud) curses, someone asked, "Oh, did a dog bite you?" (My response, worthy of Joe Biden, used a hierarchy of George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television including p***, f*** and sh*t but was not agile enough to pull in c*** or m*****f*****.) Basically, "That damn dog peed on me." 
  3. No owner in sight (or one that fessed up.)
  4. Bathing feet and legs in city tap water in the middle of a dust park - not top 10.
Dog B (85 pounds) and Dog C (15 pounds), a mere three feet from my bathing station, began innocent play that quickly devolved into an epic, snarling struggle. Observations:
  1. Both dogs were neuter-free. Go go gadget Testosterone! 
  2. Again, I was 3 feet away. Not optimal. I couldn't even summon my inner superhero and break the fight up. Those bastards were going at it. 
  3. My 20-lb dog was two feet away looking unconcerned. (This is her normal SOP. She outsources her worrying to me. And before you go all Dog Whisperer on me, yes I know that humans can overreact. But with 100 pounds of dog teeth, balls and claws coming at you, sometimes the initial reaction isn't, "Let's sit down and discuss how this conflict makes you feel. I have some lovely vegan snacks we can share afterwards. Hot tea, anyone?") 
  4. The fight was so fierce I couldn't tell which dog would win. The little one may have been quasi-pinned, but not so much that he wasn't putting his needle-sharp teeth to work - like a rabid rat but bigger and with more jaw power. I would have put the odds in favor of that little bastard if I were a bookie.
  5. The owners, upon finally arriving at the scene after sending a text, combing their hair and solving world peace, basically watched before one commented: "Oh, does yours still have balls?"
The visit was over after that. It only took 170 canine pounds, six balls, three feet and one wet leg to help me make this decision.  Never, ever, go to the park where un-neutered dogs outnumber all the others.

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