I am more protective than when I first got Couver. When he was a puppy, I would take him to the all dog park and he walked around with the big dogs like he ran the place. I let him play with all sorts of dogs and I cringe now, thinking about what could have happened to him.
We now occasionally visit the small dog park, but it's not as big of a deal to me because he has his sister to play with and some of my friends have small friendly dogs they can play with.
I had an experience about a year ago with Khloe that changed my view. We were walking out of my grandparents' garage into the driveway to hop in the truck that was parked. I had not leashed the dogs and we weren't even out of the garage before I heard the neighbor dogs come running across the cul-de-sac at us. I was able to pick up Couver and my mom was able to pick up her dog, but Khloe was too far away for me to reach. The two large dogs (pit bull and lab mixes) came running and both were chasing her around in circles as she was screaming her head off. The owner was shouting "They are friendly!" from across the cul-de-sac as we were chasing and trying to catch her. She ran around the entire cul-de-sac, leading the dogs on a wild goose chase. I was frantic and my grandfather grabbed a small strip of wood and in an attempt to stop the dogs, swatted at the dogs. Eventually Khloe saw that the front door of the house was open and she darted inside. One of the dogs followed her, but she was able to hide under some furniture and the dog ran back out. It was the most frightening minute of my lifetime and I am lucky that Khloe survived. Those dogs were not friendly and they were after her like they would be a squirrel. After that experience, I am more aware of my surroundings. I don't let them out of my arms unless they are in a fenced area or where I can see for a long distance to ensure that I can get to them before a dog or other predator can.
It's just not worth it. |