Me and Merlin went on our usual walk around the baseball field and football field in our neighborhood. People let their dogs loose and I am always watching for big dogs, and when I see one, I put the leash back on Merlin and go another way.
We were on our way back home, walking alongside the baseball field, when I saw this big brown dog, some kind of lab mix, about 90 pounds. Merlin is 6 pounds... So I put his leash back on. I made a big mistake. I figured the owner would have control of her dog and not let him come to me. But he started running towards us and he was so fast I didn't have time to pick Merlin up.
So I leaned against the dog, putting my weight on him to force him away from Merlin, who was making himself as small as he could on the ground. I managed to take him in my arms and the dog went away.
Then I told the owner, she was about 16, that she should have controlled her dog, because Mine is so small that he could have broken his bones just by stepping on him.
Merlin isn't afraid of dogs, but he was scared of my reaction. He sensed my fear and panic, I could see it in his posture afterwards. I hope I didn't make him afraid of big dogs...
I can't believe how careless people are. I mean, we all have a responsibility, don't we ? As a side note, A few yards past the dogs, there were these nice little boys who wanted to pet Merlin. My responsability, as a dog owner, was to say " no, he's not nice with little kids, he is too scared of them ". And that's just what I did.
We'll go back tomorrow so I can assess the damage I've done. Also tomorrow morning we're trying this new dog cafe. They have an interior dog park and you can sip a coffee while your dog plays with friends. Friday is reserved for dogs under 30 pounds, so we'll try that as well.
We were on our way back home, walking alongside the baseball field, when I saw this big brown dog, some kind of lab mix, about 90 pounds. Merlin is 6 pounds... So I put his leash back on. I made a big mistake. I figured the owner would have control of her dog and not let him come to me. But he started running towards us and he was so fast I didn't have time to pick Merlin up.
So I leaned against the dog, putting my weight on him to force him away from Merlin, who was making himself as small as he could on the ground. I managed to take him in my arms and the dog went away.
Then I told the owner, she was about 16, that she should have controlled her dog, because Mine is so small that he could have broken his bones just by stepping on him.
Merlin isn't afraid of dogs, but he was scared of my reaction. He sensed my fear and panic, I could see it in his posture afterwards. I hope I didn't make him afraid of big dogs...
I can't believe how careless people are. I mean, we all have a responsibility, don't we ? As a side note, A few yards past the dogs, there were these nice little boys who wanted to pet Merlin. My responsability, as a dog owner, was to say " no, he's not nice with little kids, he is too scared of them ". And that's just what I did.
We'll go back tomorrow so I can assess the damage I've done. Also tomorrow morning we're trying this new dog cafe. They have an interior dog park and you can sip a coffee while your dog plays with friends. Friday is reserved for dogs under 30 pounds, so we'll try that as well.