The Art of War

I was debating whether I should write about this but because it was my own experience I thought I’d share.

I made arrangements yesterday to meet with Rory’s owner Kathryn for a playdate. Kathryn also has Seth who takes no guff from the unruly young ‘uns (for unruly young ‘uns read Raimi). When Kathryn arrived I was about 50 feet away when the dogs actually met, Raimi got there first and said HELLO! to Seth who said ‘Back off suckah!’ and Raimi of course bounced backward. Halo shot into the fray thinking Seth needed a little tune up about who gets to snark at The Boy. Seth, being an old man demanding respect from the general populace, told Halo to get stuffed whereupon they got into a scrap.

They did back off for a moment and then both dogs decided that since no clear winner was named they’d start round two. It didn’t look like a serious fight and often if you give them a moment to work it out they will stop on their own. (You NEVER reach into a fight to grab a dog.) Since they were escalating the intensity I knew we had to get in there quick.

I ran toward them full speed and planted a well placed kick at Halo – I’m pretty sure I was also using some language my mother would not approve of. My kick knocked Halo off her game and Kathryn managed to get hold of Seth who I think was itching to finish the deal while Halo was down.

I won’t lie – I was screaming bloody murder at Halo and smacked the shit out of any part of her I could reach. She was laying on the ground and once I’d determined she was concentrating on saving her ass from me I turned my attention to Seth to make sure he was alright.

Halo, because she’s a bitch and didn’t think she’d done anything wrong, came back in to see if Seth was game on for round three. She didn’t get close because I saw her coming and it’s pretty safe to say that anyone watching might have been in fear for Halo’s life. After a stream of extremely foul language and more ass kicking I took Halo to the truck, still screaming at her, told her to get in, screamed at her some more, slammed the door and walked away.

I looked up to see a guy watching me with what can only be fear in his eyes. I suspect that if he’d tried to critisize my behaviour my head would have spun around and I’d be arrested.

I did notice blood on Halo’s head but since Seth had a cut under his jaw I assumed it was his. Kathryn asked if Halo had any wounds and I said ‘If she does she can bleed to death”. Kathryn put Seth in her truck, cleaned him up a bit and I went back and opened a window for Halo to make sure she didn’t actually die of heat stroke – bleeding notwithstanding.

We then continued our walk with the two very well behaved, mildly shell-shocked brothers. To their credit both stayed well out of the way of the fight – sometimes a dog fight can escalate because dogs are attracted to the excitement and you end up with a real gong show. I know of dog fights where you just had to wait til there was a clear loser before you could get in, break it up and patch holes.

After our walk Kathryn pointed out something I hadn’t noticed – we’d taken the brothers for their 45 minute blast through a busy park sporting obvious splashes of blood on our clothes. Maybe that’s why not many people stopped to talk …

When I put Raimi back in the truck I did notice that the quantity of blood on Halo had increased which could only mean she was leaking also. On the short trip home Raimi cleaned up Momma so by the time I had a look at her in the kitchen she was pretty clean.

Seth’s injuries: one minor tear under his jaw.

Halo’s injuries: puncture in right ear, large scrape on left ear, cut on edge of left ear, puncture right through left ear and large puncture on neck.

It’s pretty safe to say that Seth kicks it Old School. Youth and bravado yet again loses to age and experience. Apparently Seth honed his skills living with a bitch a few years ago and has not forgotten how to give ‘er.

Halo was in the wrong. She had absolutely no business getting involved. Raimi was not in danger, Seth did not discipline Raimi excessively and Raimi listened to him immediately by backing off. Even though it earned her my wrath she had NO IDEA why I was angry, I could see it on her face. Now we know what to expect and Halo will be on lead for walks – Kathryn was very understanding but I still feel very bad for the old man who deserves respect from the nogoodnicks of the world.

Some may say I over-reacted and was too hard on Halo. I tell you straight – there is absolutely no way I will ever tolerate that kind of behaviour and it earns whatever smackdown I can muster without actually causing more damage (unless I can’t get the dogs apart). When I see dogs in the park being bullies and starting shit I just itch to get in there and lay them out with a well placed boot. Bullying should not be tolerated and the social stigma of not disciplining in public does not apply to me. I will ensure that a clear example is made of my dog and you better hope like hell if your dog started it you are freaking out too because I’ll turn on you next to get the point across.

Suffice it to say Halo is very sore this morning and my sympathies are mute.