When we got there we found one dog walker with about 15 dogs running wild. There was one black midsized dog, which kept bothering Happy, but did not get to him, since Happy is quite fast.
An Asian woman joined us with her Newfoundland male, un-neutered dog (just over one year old). I'm sure he weighed more than she did.
Usually there are two dog walkers with about 20 dogs, but one of their vans broke down, so the other woman was out collecting the rest of the gang. The one there at the dog park was busy looking for a lost booty from one of t he dogs, and did not pay attention to what the dogs did.
There was a gang of three Huskies, showing serious signs of pack behavior, as well as growling at everybody, and their dogs. They made me quite uncomfortable. Two of them charged at Biko, who barked at them, which stopped them in their tracks.
The Asian woman was standing beside me, when one of the Huskies started bothering me. He had a low growl, and kept pushing me. What made me roll my eyes (and wanting to flick her forehead) was, that she said laughing, "Oh, I think he likes you!" Did she NOT see how rude his behavior was, and how dominant? I guess not, because at that moment her Newfoundlander jumped up on her from behind, and she almost fell over. She just said, "That's not nice." I guess he really likes her.
We left as soon as we collected our pups. I don't need to stay there to wait for trouble. In the future we'll not be going there when we see the dog walkers.
By the way, on our way out, the black midsized dog nipped Biko in the butt, which was mean, since she was on leash and could not defend herself. Such a rude punch today!
***
And on the knitting front: I've got another pair of mittens. It's the last one I made last year, before Christmas. I wanted to make more, but decided to do a shawl for my mom instead.
This pair I made for my son. I used Nanette Blanchard's basic mitten pattern again, like the ones from my last post, but I substituted the colorwork for my own. He wanted it to be simple, and I wanted something geometrical.
specs:
pattern: Embudito Canyon mittens, by Nanette Blanchard; with a different colorwork pattern
yarn: elann's Peruvian Highland wool
needles: cuff 3.5mm, hand 3mm
size: large, mens
start-finish: November 5-7, 2009
***
Happy is 8 month today. He looks so grown up in this photograph, but he's still smaller than Biko.
He's just so darn cute! These photos are from a week ago, when we still had nice crunchy snow in our backyard. After yesterdays rain, it's just ice now.
***
23 comments:
It's amazing how many dog owners really have no basic understanding of dogs. We have the same dog walker thing at our local park but I stopped going there quite some time ago due to an abundance of ignorant dog owners so it doesn't affect us anymore. Hope Happy is alright after his run in! And nice mittens. :-)
I wish I had dogs now. I miss having one SO MUCH. Alas, I don't want to subject a pup to a NYC apartment. Plus, we're not home all that much, and it just wouldn't be fair.
And I completely understand about people not getting doggie behavior. I once rescued a puppy from a woman who was upset that he kept biting. We brought the dog home, and he would hold our hands in his mouth and whimper. That was what she considered biting? He was OBVIOUSLY in pain. So we took the poor guy off to the vet and discovered that he had horrendous hip displaysia. $15,000 in surgery later (thank you, mom and dad), he did fine, and lived to be 15 years old. And was a TOTAL sweetheart all 15 years too. ARGH. Drives me nuts. STILL.
I am always amazed with how some owners act. I live in a townhouse with no fences between the yards, and our doors are side by side. My neighbour, who has a beautiful little huskie mix, couldn't understand why I got so upset that she let her dog have such a long lead outside (long enough that it could almost reach the far side of my lawn). We also share a walkway, so every time I brought groceries home I got jumped on, and the dog used my lawn as a toilet. I love dogs, but this was a little much. I had our landlord put up a fence down the centre of the walkway between our properties and now my neighbour won't speak to me... not really a big loss, but I feel sorry for the dog having such an owner.
Happy and Biko look like they were enjoying the snow!
Too bad about the dog park experience. Hopefully next time will be better! Now you'll know what to look for.
A lot of our snow melted today. It's gone down to about -1C tonight, so it has gotten slippery. It rained last night and today, so everything is wet.
Irresponsible human companions are the bane of my life. They are at fault when their dogs misbehave. Poor Biko, what a rude dog to bite her bottom.
Happy is so big alone, but when I see him with Biko he is small!!!
There really are some stupid dog owners out there! It's remarkable.
There's a dog park across the street from my job and one big dog kept running over and tripping, then stepping on a smaller dog. The owners weren't even watching and the little dog was whimpering.
I felt like going over there and smacking the owners in the head. I had to leave the park because all that activity was stressing me out.
Some people just have no common sense!
Lovely mittens, by the way. David's hands will be very warm.
I don't even bother going to our dog park. I don't want to take chances with my small dogs. Most people have no idea how dogs think and react. They should have to take a course before they get a dog. But don't even get me started about how people should have to take a course before having kids...
Happy looks so grown up now. And another gorgeous pair of mittens.
ja, manche Hundebesitzer haben ihre Hunde einfach nicht im Griff.
Allerdings muss ich zugeben, dass die Hündin meiner Schwiegertochter in spe mir auch nicht zu 100% gehorcht. Deshalb muss sie leider an der Schleppleine bleiben, wenn ich (ausnahmsweise) mal mit ihr spatzierengehe. Malika hat mich gelehrt, dass ich kein Hundemensch bin. Ich bin einfach kein Rudelführer ;) - oder zumindest Malika meint, dass sie in der Rangordnung höher steht als ich.
Aber Gottseidank ist sie ne ganz liebe und würde keiner Fliege was zuleide tun. Nur, dass sie einer Gruppe, die auf der Wiese den Grill aufgestellt hatte, den Hühnerschlegel vom Tablett klaut, das war halt nicht eingeplant...
Das war mir zwar peinlich und ich hab mir Sorgen gemacht, ob der Hühnerknochen ihr schadet, aber die Leute habens mit Humor genommen und Malika den Knochen gut verdaut.
Schlimmer fand ich die Situation, als sie freudig bellend und schwanzwedelnd abgedüst ist, um zwei Pferde mit Reitern zu "begrüßen". Puh, was da hätte passieren können. Von da an durfte sie bei mir nie mehr ohne Leine gehen und ich reiß mich auch nicht drum, mit ihr Gassi zu gehen. Weil, an der Leine macht das überhaupt keinen Spaß wenn man weiß, wie der Hund sich freut über die Äcker zu sausen.
Ich bleib lieber bei meinen Katzen....
Hund vielleicht in der Rente irgendwann mal. Ob man es bei einem eigenen Hund besser hinbekommen würde, dass er zuverlässig folgt als bei einem geliehenen? Weil, bei ihren Besitzern gehorcht sie und macht keine solchen Ausreißer.
Grüßle, die Bea
P.S.: Fast vergessen: Die Handschuhe sind sehr schön.
he looks all grown up by himself, but next to Biko, he looks like a young man still. Such beautiful dogs.
Two dog "walkers" and 20 dogs ...stupid ! Some people just shouldn't have dogs. If you don't have time to walk your dog or you're at work or away for 10 hours a day don't get one, for heavens sake . They're companions , not possessions ...
Love your mittens , both sre absolutely gorgeous !
Monika, I agree with you. There are so many STUPID dog owners. I know not everyone spends as much time training their dogs and learning about dog behavior as I do, but Pulease! I hate stupid dog owners so badly I refuse to go to the dog park.....Ahhhhh!!!!! OK! I'll get off my soap box now. This is your blog not mine. LOL!
Although, I keep seeing the title of your post on my blog roll and cracking up because I keep misinterpreting it as:
"Owners of Stupid Dogs"
bahahaha.
It's unfortunate but all too common to see dog owners that let their animals behave like that. In my neighbourhood they are everywhere. The problem is that anyone can own a dog!!
Beautiful mittens:)
Mit 2 Leuten und 20 Hunden ist man definitiv überfordert. Wir waren heute zu 5 und hatten 9 Hunde bei uns. Das funktioniert. Alles andere ist zuviel.
Die Handschuhe sehen kuschelig aus. Du strickst echt wahnsinnig schnell.
LG Susi
I think you should have given that dog's walker a bite on the butt! It's so sad. Not a dog owner myself but my sister is and there is nothing liking seeing two dogs who have been taught manners interact. Such joy in the simple act of sniffing!
I feel your stupid dog owner pain. Kishka got jumped at the dog park last weekend. She's still a bit wobbly due to her arthritis and the other dog knocked her to the ground. It was only my shouting that kept her from being bit.
Those mittens are absolutely stunning. The colors and the geometric pattern work beautifully together. Plus it looks like a nice tight gauge which is essential for a good mitten. Kudos!
One of my neighbors has a Newfie. She told me they're not supposed to neuter them until they're a year old, which her dog is over a year now and at least 150 pounds. Not owning that breed or any large dogs I have no idea how much truth there is to that.
The funny thing is his name is Tucker, but when my friends came to visit with their large dog all he wanted to do was...well...they said his name should have started with F.
Beautiful mittens, Nanette's patterns are really something. I like your choice of colours, and just wish I had mittens as good looking as your son has.
Happy looks so big now! wow.
and I'm not going to get started on stupid dog owners- it would be pages long ;)
At least you are aware and able to remove your pack from a bad situation- good job.
That's a very handsome 8 month old I must say. Love his picture with snow on his face, must have been digging up some treasure there.
I'm beginning to think that only private dog parks are worth it--members tend to keep other members in line. At public dog parks it's just a free-for-all and can be very dangerous.
Happy is going to be a big boy! If you consider he'll keep filling out until he's two-ish (at least). Great picture of the two of them. :)
Beautiful mittens! Poor Biko getting nipped on the butt. You're right. Stupid people burn me up.
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