Asshats - dog edition

People who are oblivious of their dogs, disregarding the rules, and then having the audacity to blame others for their bad behavior makes me angry

Cerberus - 72 pounds of Kauai Pig Hound

This morning, something shitty happened. I was walking my dog, and one of the usual routes cuts through a park. 99.9999% of the time this is not an issue. We walk through, and there are no issues whatsoever.

Sometimes, there are people with dogs in the park, and we avoid them. Mainly because my dog can be very reactive when on lead and other dogs approach.

And sometimes, there are people with their dogs off leash. I am extra cautious, and make sure we give a wide berth to these people, because my dog can be a major dickhead when an off leash dog approaches when he is on his lead. His instinct is to protect me, even though I am not in need of protection. But that is pack dynamics, and it is how it works.

So, when I began walking through the park, about a hundred meters away someone was playing fetch with their two dogs off leash. I was observant but not particularly concerned. Then one of his dogs took off and was running to approach my dog. The guy began calling his dog to return (called “recall” in the vernacular of canine obedience) but his dog kept coming. Finally he began to run to gain control of his dog. As this was happening, I was shortening my leash, and increasing the control of Cerberus¹ (my dog) because I knew this could get ugly. Really ugly.

Cerberus came to us via rescue, he was bred on the island of Kauai to hunt the burgeoning wild pig population on the island. These dogs are bred to be hunting dogs, to bring down wild boar that can weigh up to 500 pounds or more. To be successful, the breeders mix in breeds with a strong prey drive, a predisposition towards high levels of activity, and a general lack of concern for their safety, as long as they are on the hunt. Watching Cerberus go bonkers after a squirrel bolts across his path would tell you right away that these dogs are not ones you can safely ignore.

So of course the guy running up has the *usual* excuses. My dog’s friendly. My dog’s still a puppy and doesn’t know yet. Yada yada. I have heard them all. When I explain that my dog isn’t that friendly (actually, he can be a real asshole) and the fact that he was bred to hunt these very dangerous wild pigs, they *usually* get very contrite, and collect their dogs, and apologize profusely.

Not this asshole. He started with the usual bullshit excuses. But when he finally got his dogs under control, he hounded me for about 100 feet practically demanding that I accept his apology.

I turned to him and said that he shouldn’t have his dogs off leash (against the posted rules for this park) unless he could control them, and since he couldn’t control them, he shouldn’t be here. I explained to him that had he not gotten to his dogs, and if my dog truly went into his normal mode, he would have at least one dead dog, and one severely injured dog, and that I would sue him into oblivion for being a fuckwad about his dogs, and he decided that he wanted to follow me and argue this point.

Dude. You are in the wrong. Your dogs are not in your control. Your dogs are/were off leash. And I was rather restrained in my response.

Quit being a douche nozzle, control your dogs, perhaps you should stick to fenced in dog parks, and stay the fuck out of my way.

There was no way I was going to accept his apology.

Fortunately, most people I encounter while walking Cerbie are responsible.

1. Cerberus is named after the three headed dog that guarded the crossing of the river Styx. Cerberus is from the Greek “Kerberos”, which literally means “spotted”. Yes, Satan’s dog was named “Spot”

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