The first thing I do in the morning after I shut that damn alarm off is to check the weather.
Friday my phone said it was 7° out. After pulling on my jacket, boots and ski pants I asked Hubby if I could borrow his balaclava.
It was my first time wearing a balaclava and as Delilah and I strolled down the street I thought, No wonder he likes wearing it, the heat from your breath stays on the inside and warms your face. I made a mental note to try and find one that fit my head, not his.
Since it was so cold out I didn’t expect Delilah and I to encounter any yard dogs, but sure enough, one of her arch-enemies was out in his/her yard.
There are actually two dogs in this yard and while there is no sign indicating so, I assume they are on an invisible fence. Delilah’s arch-enemy likes to run back and forth along the property line and bark at us as we walk past.
I’ve worked really hard with Delilah on getting her past this house. Delilah has attitude and her attitude is, I’m all that and a bag of chips and if you mess with me, I will fuck you up. Without me redirecting her, she is looking for that dog and itching for it to challenge her so she can show that dog her bad ass self.
Delilah’s arch-enemy watches for dogs coming down the street, and Delilah watches for her arch-enemy. The minute I see this dog, I bring out my treats and tell Delilah, not your business.
Which is exactly what I did on Friday morning. So there we are walking down the left side of the street and Delilah is on my left. The arch-enemy’s house is on the right side of the street, giving us a distance of about 25 to 30 feet.
Delilah is attentively looking up at me as I’m breaking pieces of freeze-dried beef lung up and feeding them to her. As predicted, the dog is barking at us.
Delilah’s Arch Enemy
This is the hairy part.
We were about half-way past this house and I can hear this dog barking on my right. Suddenly I realize that the dog sounds pretty close to me. I turn my head to the right and there, in the middle of the road, is the damn dog, now only about 8 to 10 feet away from me.
What the actual fuck dog?
Delilah was still focused on me, which was a totally good thing, so I looked at that dog and I said, “Get over there! Get in your own yard!”
To my complete and utter surprise, the dog turned around and went into its yard, where it watched us as closely as I watched it. That is at least until I felt we’d reached a safe enough distance so I could drop my guard.
I don’t think Delilah ever saw that the dog was that close to me, and that was good. Because a dog sneaking up on her six, especially when food was involved would not have ended well.
No dog wants to surprise Delilah with a nose in her ass, because she will turn around and give you a face full of chocolate the likes of which will scare the Bejesus out of you.
My heart was pumping in my chest and I started to breathe a little harder and said, well THAT gets the heart rate up.
But Delilah was unfazed.
Of course I’m a rock star, Labs rock!
Now about that balaclava….just my observation… If you’re going to wear a balaclava and glasses, make sure it’s not covering your nose, especially if there’s a possibility that you might be breathing hard. 🙂
I love a happy ending, but holy milkbones- that story got my little doggie heart rate racing! Well done, D. Your good behavior saved the day. Oh yeah…. Your mom did OK, too.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I have a balaclava thing that I once wore for a bank robber look in a post, but Mom doesn’t wear stuff like that. She has a headband for her ears and that is it, no matter how cold it is. Glad that dog went back into its yard. We have two mean dogs on the corner behind us. They stopped wearing their fence collars at one point and would come out after us. Mom was not amused. Thankfully they finally got the collars back on and stay in their yard again. Scary stuff.
I do have a balaclava, but don’t wear it any more. Did before I had a car and took the bus. It gets cold here. I am glad the other dog listened to you. If the enemy didn’t, it could have been way scarier!
What a good girl!
Whoa! My heart rate would have been right up there, too! But you handled it great!! You should be proud of yourself! And glad that D-Dog was so focused on those treats!!
I just got one of those things for cold days, too–I can’t wear glasses with it because my breathing makes them fog up and then I can’t see a thing. If you still want one of your own, I found one for like $5 on Amazon and it has all kinds of adjustable things to make it fit better. I’m glad that Delilah was unfazed by the experience!
Holy cow. My heart would have been pumping too.
Aww is it wrong that I think the arch enemy is kinda sweet for doing as he was told? However I am right with you about that getting the heart going – well done Delilah on being so good (and yes distracted with food and completely oblivious does fit into the good category!)
I had to look up balaclava, and since it is going to be in the 70s here today I don’t see many of these around.
Your training skills with arch enemy dogs are excellent.
Close call!!
Good job with Delilah!!
Thank goodness that all turned out OK! It reminds me of the time the neighbor’s German shepherd came barreling across the street at me and Luke…scared the crap out of me because I had no idea how that was going to go! I think it took at least an hour for my heart rate to get back to normal.
Thank goodness that dog went home. What is wrong with people!! That lung must be amazing to keep Delilah’s attention. Well, you got your cardio in this morning, right!! Sometimes I think it must be so funny if anyone is watching me when I am out with Cocoa. We can get ourselves in some funny situations for sure.
That’s so awful! One of my biggest concerns with 10lb Nola is off leash dogs coming up to use. She’d be so easy to injury.
Glad there was a happy ending! I love the “not your business”. I may steal that!
1. I’m all that plus a bag of chips so don’t mess with me
a face full of chocolate
i get that it means she can be a badass but still had me laughing.
2. it’s 7 degrees out and you get out of a warm comfy bed to walk your dog–bless you and i mean that.
if i even considered taking lily out at any temp below 30 well it just would’nt happen. thats my excuse and I’m sticking with it. never mind screw the excuse i will only go as far as the door to let her out to pee. she is on a lead and stays in our yard. we walk in the afternoons.
3. thank goodness for doggie treats i think you handle the stition really well. so glad every thing work out.
just reading it had my heart racing. just the thought of turning and seeing that dog so close. OMG!!!! i do know that i would have been telling that dog what you did but praying at the same time.
4.your a brave badass mom. you go girl.:)
Had a dog do that once and the owner just stood in the door as I was trying to put myself between my dogs and the one approaching us as I am yelling at the dog to “GET” The dog seemed friendly but a strange dog approaching me with my two on leash may not have fared well. The part that made me mad was the owner just standing there watching and not calling her dog back, some people are clueless!
So glad that turned out well.
Oh boy, another heart raising day. gads