Get. Control. Of. Your. Damn. Dog.

[smeddley]

I'm not only mad because I felt like I was going to die before it was all said and done, but because I know, if something's not done, that dog is going to get hit and killed by a car.

Here's the deal (so if I do die, y'all will know why). I was walking Shadow, when suddenly there was a jangling behind me. Lo and behold a giant Lab-ish puppy is galloping towards me - and me somewhat anti-social pooch. I scoop her up, and start yelling at the dog to go away. It does not, and commences leaping on me. I twist and turn, trying to keep my (remarkably calm) dog away from her. I start working my way the half-block back to my house, carrying 28 pound of dog and alternately twisting, spinning, and yelling at this giant goof that's rather insistent on playing.

And then, oh thank you, the Lab is momentarily distracted by another dog in a fenced yard nearby (Snowball, I think - little white fluffy thing). And Snowball's owners are there! Standing in their driveway! And they see me yelling at this dog, and holding onto my dog! And they do... NOTHING. No, they couldn't grab that (very obviously friendly) slobbering mass to keep it off of me. So the dog continues to follow me until I manage to squeeze into our gate.

Then I take Shadow's leash off her, squeeze myself out of the backyard, and call the moose over. I snap the leash on her and we work our way back down the street. Her owners are glad, but all "There's nothing we can do, she just climbs the fence and she can get off her lead. We're thinking of getting a dog run with the top, you know?" Yeah. These are the same people who lost their Pomeranian not long ago. You could... oh, not leave her outside unsupervised? You live one house length from a *very* busy main street.

Then I trudge back to my house and retrieve my dog, and I'm about to walk her but I feel awful. I'm out of breath, my lungs feel like they're on fire, and I'm coughing. Obviously, I've overexerted myself. Between the stress and panic and carrying Shadow that far... So I take her back into the house and proceed to feel like I'm dying. Every breath hurts, the inside of my mouth and throat are on fire, and somehow my tongue feels like it's swelling. And my jaw hurts. And I'm coughing - great, hacking coughs like a 90-year-old five-pack-a-day smoker.

My theory (hypochondria aside) is that my allergies cause permanent post-nasal drip (that's not a theory, I'm pretty sure of that part). When I breath hard (even just from laughing) I pull mucus into my lungs. This creates coughing. Compounded with the cold, dry air (32°F currently) and the exertion of carrying the dog just did them (my lungs) in. It took about 10-15 minutes, but other than the occasional cough I'm feeling a whole lot better. Like I might even live!

But I'm going to try to take the dog again (obviously, I need the exercise). Wish me luck!

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

Oh, god. Your post brings me flashbacks. When I was a kid, I lived out in the country, with a dog and many cats. I went out one day and an unidentified dog was there and started jumping all over me. Not maliciously or attacking, but it completely overwhelmed me, and it took everything I had to not fall down, which terrified me. The dog had long, thick, sharp nails and I was being gouged as it jumped on me. I had a couple of scars on my chest that didn't go away until high school. It was so traumatizing, though, luckily it didn't make me an anti-dog person. I also felt guilty afterwards because the way I got away from it was that my mom flew out of the house and started smacking it with a broom, I knew it wasn't trying to hurt me, but I was bleeding by that point.

Anyway, you really ought to call animal control to come talk to them, for everyone's sake. I'd be so furious that they watched it without reacting. Not only your physical misery, but the potential for your dog getting hurt (and theirs) if you hadn't been able to scoop him up, or if it had been a kid instead, intentions of the dog aside, it's a scary situation.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Hrm, I don't know if I was clear, the people not helping weren't the loose dog's owners, just some other people. So that was just a not very nice thing. But I'm surprised the owners didn't hear me screaming at their dog, for heaven's sake!

Eh, the broom probably didn't hurt the dog, so I wouldn't feel bad. I was shoving the dog with my leg/foot, but I'd do anything to protect my pooch!

I've always felt a little bad that Shadow is anti-social, but we keep control of her - she's never off her leash or out of our fenced back yard. I honestly do not see what's so hard about keeping control of a dog. It's not like they have opposable thumbs!

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

Oh, I totally read it as the owners were watching all this!

No, now I don't feel guilty, but as a kid back then I did. :/

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I re-wrote it a bit to make it clearer. I was still a little shaky and hopped up when I first wrote it!

I don't know what a little kid would have done. Granted, I'm short, but that dog could get its nose in my face. It was a big dog. Now, it wouldn't have been able to knock me over, and once I had my dog tucked away I could control it, but I'm a lot sturdier and stornger than a little kid, too!

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

And... the fight or flight response can have quite a profound after effect too. I hope you feel better soon!

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it was a delayed panic attack in part, too. I had to keep it together while it was happening for the sake of all involved, but afterwards I just collapsed.

[gelsey.livejournal.com]

What horrid people. Even if it is friendly, people should control their dogs, and they should have at least come over to help.

There are things they can do to stop the dog. Sigh. I'm so sorry that happened.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I mean, I certainly didn't have to take time out and take the dog back to the owners, but how can you not? What happened to helping people out?

I know, I've never understood that 'I can't control my dog' thing. I love dogs to bits, but... they are dogs. It's not like they can work locks and stuff. They have limitations!

[crimsonlotus84.livejournal.com]

I have that. It's a hereditary thing in my family to have flem or mucus in our throats and breathing passages and there's little we can do about it. What was recommended (and has slightly worked for me) was doing breathing exercises everyday. The most effective exercise being breathing in a full lung amount of air holding it a second then letting it ALL out. Not just a short breath, but ALL the air out. You breath out until there's nothing in your lungs, then do it again. It apparently opens the air passages enough to let your body know that they're working and don't need the reaction of mucus and flem drip like something is broken. So when I get coughy at work I do that a couple times and it stops.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Well, that makes me feel better! Most people don't get what I'm talking about and thing it's in my head. Well, until I hack up a lung on them, at least.

I should do breathing exercises - yet another reason I should do yoga. I will try that, though, because I do tend to breath in tiny, shallow breaths most of the time!

[revoked-soul.livejournal.com]

I absolutely hate people who don't control their dogs. Especially big dogs! I mean, that was obviously unpleasant for you, and what if it had been a little kid or something? They'd probably be seriously traumatized (and possibly hurt, since it was a large dog).

Now, I like dogs. Especially big ones. But people who can't control them, shouldn't be allowed to have them. Bah.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I very much believe that a lot of people shouldn't own dogs. And I love dogs to bit, but they are work and it takes a special kind of person to be a good pet parent. And, really, it's not hard to keep control of your dog (though usually I will admit that bigger dogs do need to be more well-trained).

Yeah, this dog was getting up nose-to-nose with me, so if it'd been a kid they certainly would have been knocked down, and maybe even hurt (not intentionally, the dog was very friendly, just... exhuberant).