Funny For Me

As you know I've been working with the dog on not barking his fool head off at every suspicious thing he sees. With a few notable exceptions it's been going well. The last few days, however, have been more, er, exciting than I'd hoped.

Within two blocks of home on this evening's walk we got blind sided by a pitbull on a very short leash. The dog lost his head, the pit probably chuckled, and we crossed the street. Coming at us on that side was a small, wire haired terrier of some kind and it was already spoiling for a fight. I did all the things you're supposed to do by moving Ed into a parking space so there was some distance and getting a treat ready and keeping both eyes on him so I could react and reward swiftly.

I don't know if he tried or not but he did keep it together for a while. The other dog was being given more vague commands and went Full Metal Jacket first. I had shortened Ed's leash so when he broke it was spectacular in the amount of fury he was able to express with only about a foot of leash to work with.

I was exasperated and still furious about previous infractions so I was prepared to just stand there doing my own fuming while he spun out. Then, all of a sudden, someone a couple of cars away started up a vehicle that was running so rough it could have belonged to Teddy Roosevelt. I think Ed might have swallowed his own voice box. Immediate silence. Well, until I burst out laughing.

Thank you Mr. or Mrs. Shitty Muffler. Strangely enough you made my life more soothing.