Hello everybudy !
How are you ? I'm so so sorry once again I did not leave many comments on your blogs, though I still read your blogposts quite often !
For me, life is quite good ! I'm well settled in our new place now, and I'm doing great with learning detachment with my human. No more bad suprises for my humans when they come back home since my last post ! No more destroying things - I'm pretty proud of myself !
My humans have put my bed in my room, and a baby gate at the door, so this is were I sleep now and I think I love it very much ! Good thing is that I even go in my room when my humans are here and I want some peace and quiet (they can be noisy sometimes!!).
About the others dogs and the pulling on the leash stuff - well ... it has improved a little. It depends on my mood.
My humans got really scared though because two weeks ago I had to go through a not-so-good experience and they thought I would start hating other dogs or being very scared of them. I explain ;
We were playing in the park just next to our place like we do every days, we were playing football (that's my favorite game!!!) and I had a long leash (because it was 1 pm and it's very busy at this time of the day - and also because dogs are meant to be on leash in this park).
Suddenly, a dog came (it was a husky), all alone, no leash, running towards me. My humans did not know what to do; either leave me free without the leash so I'd be able to meet the dog in a normal doggie way, or either keep me on leash and wait for someone to show up.
As we started to hear his human calling him and as the dog just didn't care for what his humans was yelling, and also because my humans did not know the dog and what reaction it could have because I'm so big, they decided to keep me on leash. They told me to sit, which I did, and the dog came and started sniffing me ( his human was still yelling and nowhere to be seen).
Laura was going to let me go off my leash, when the husky started to touch my nose and so I stood up, and did that thing with my paws trying to touch him - and I can tell you the dog did not like it at all that I stood up and raised my paws - I think he got scared, and by the second he was on me, trying to bite my neck and growling really HARD.
Laura said NO! and SIT ! so I sat but the dog came again and grabbed my neck - again. The dog's human arrived, picked his dog by the collar, looked at us and said to my humans (talking about me) : "Isn't your dog a bit TOO big ? Oh god... ". And he went away. No sorry. Nothing.
My humans say they should have said something to him but they were so shocked they did not even think about openning their mouth.
There was no blood - phewww. But it had made a lot of noise and it was really scary. I did not growl even once, actually, I looked quite like I thought it was a kind of game and reached my ball and started to ask my humans to play again.
Oh dear. My humans looked quite puzzled.
They don't really blame the dog that did that - but they do blame his owner. What's this thing with people - to leave their dog off leash when they're not even able to call their dog back ? Serioulsy ?
I am fine but what if I had answered to this dog ? What if I had growled too and bited him ? Because I am so big they would have said it was my fault, though I was the one sitting and on leash.
It happens all the time here. Out of control - off leash dogs. And I'm not even talking about all those dogs that always bark at me whenever I'm walking on the street - I think others unknown dogs just don't really like me :(
But there is a good news !!
I met a friend here, and guess what... ?!!! She's a great dane! Her name is Fabiola .. and she's very pretty. We are almost neighbours !!
Here is Fabiola. Isn't she pretty ?
That's it for today. Will try to come more often, promise ! My humans will have a week off Uni, so I'm gonna get some time to write to you all.
With lots of love,
Lincoln
Your situation with that stupid owner infuriates me. I cannot believe he actually said that... that's size discrimination! And, he can't even control his dog and he blames you because you are big and you've done nothing wrong - you behaved yourself, you listen to your humans and you never reacted to that dog!
ReplyDeleteIf something like this happen again (god forbid), here's a suggestion and I hope you will never need to use it -
Husky Owner: "Isn't your dog too big?"
You (Smiling at the owner): "Isn't your dog rude and ugly just like you?"
On a pawsitive note, Fabiola seems like a nice and pretty dane. You are a nice boy and I'm sure you'll have lots of play dates with her! :)
Love,
The Missus
Lincoln, we are so sorry that husky owner was so stupid and rude. We are embarrassed it was a husky too. Homer gave you some great advice.
ReplyDeleteWoos ~ Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
Ugh. That sounds like what happened to Darwin a few weeks ago. I hate rude owners like that. And like you I was too worried about making sure Darwin was okay than yelling/arguing with the owner.
ReplyDeleteAnd OMG Fabiola is SO CUTE! How old is she?!
I hope you have tons of fun with your new friend, and that you dont run into that dummy owner and his dog again.
Rude owners are the worst
ReplyDeleteKari
dogisgodinreverse.com
Awe, I'm sorry you have had bad experiences at the park. My owner is always careful to watch before taking me in and letting me loose. I am happy you are settling in your new place and having a quiet place for yourself. I am very glad you have a friend, one your size too! I hope you find more friends soon Lincoln.
ReplyDeleteYoko
www.yokonotono.blogspot.com
Hi Lincoln, great to hear from you. Well done on being a good boy for your mum and dad when they go out. Extra well done for being so good when the other doggie tried to fight you. As your mum says, its the owner not being responsible that has caused the problem.
ReplyDeleteSome people can be so rude. Its very frustrating at times. Try not to let it bother you if possible, just think of how well you and your family reacted at the time.
Also, your new friend is adorable. What a beautiful looking friend. Bet you just love having a playmate. Take care all. No worries, and love, Stella and Rory
You are so correct Lincoln - it was the humans fault and not the dogs. For one they need to teach their dog better manners, they need to be more in control of their dog and they - the humans need to learn some manners too - how rude was that! You were such a brave boy and I hope your Mom and Dad were very proud of you.
ReplyDeleteLincoln, You are growing up to be quite the gentleman. Your new friend is very pretty also. Thanks for sharing your days with us. Sorry you have to deal with stupid people issues, just part of life.
ReplyDeleteOh Lincoln,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to read about this scary adventure...
People can be so rude at times...
Problem is that something similar happens you are shocked and you are not ready to react, you just worry about your dog being safe...
I reacted similarly with Lucille once, but Mario told me off and at second thought I think he was right: free your dog in case of emergency... He will be free to move and present himself better in the situation...I mean he would use his body language in a better way and if the other dog is truly aggressive he can run away...
Anyway I hope you will NEVER ever again find yourself in this situation.
About the ugly owner.. I think he was used to the dog not responding and ... what best reaction than the attack to get out from an unpleasant situation? He probably does this quite offen... Ask around - you will see he is known...
Ciao Lucille
So glad that you are enjoying your own room and have not given your humans any surprises when they have left you home alone!
ReplyDeleteAbout your incidents with that not so friendly dog, tell your humans not to stress that incidents like that are going to make you bad/scared with other dogs. If we are nice stable dogs we can normally don't get effected by those sort of situations :) It is normally our humans fretting that cause those sort of problems :p
Licks and lots of slobber,
Lexi and Jasper the Danes
P.S. You sure have grown up in to a handsome fellow! :)
Fabiola is beautiful! We're so happy you've found at least one Dane to play with.
ReplyDeleteWe're so sorry about the jerk and his dog in the park. Lucille is right; bet he has a reputation among all the habitual park goers. Hope you don't encounter him again. If you do, for legal reasons you need to be the dog with a leash on, but it doesn't need to be a tight leash - you still have some room to manoeuvre. This is a good place for a 15-20 foot leash. If push comes to shove, your mom can drop the leash so you can defend yourself. Did you have puncture wounds in your neck from the aggressive dog's bites? Your mom needs to check, to be sure there's no infection or abscess. Puncture wounds may not bleed, but they can still be dangerous.
Sounds like having your own 'den' is working out very well for you and your pawrents. That's great. Glad you're getting more secure and are getting over the separation anxiety.
Jed & Abby
hi Lincoln – so sorry I am late – I am still trying to catch up with all my friends! My human has been so busy with househunting and stuff that she hasn't had much time to help me visit my blog friends!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am so sorry to hear about your terrible experience! I hate to say it but – "welcome to the club!" This kind of thing happens to me ALL the time and now my humans have become so wary of meeting other strange dogs outside – they usually avoid other dogs now unless they are very sure of their body language and also of the owner's body language. Because, as you say, if anything happens – we are always the ones being blamed because we are bigger. Plus you often meet these kinds of stupid people with this kind of attitude of thinking that we are "too big"… Too big for what??
My human gets this a lot because she is only a small woman – and a Chinese one too! You get a lot of white people who just look down on small Chinese women and think they are weak. They look at Hsin-Yi and just immediately think that she cannot possibly control me and can't cope with me and they usually say something very rude – even when they are the ones that cannot control their own tiny dog while I am very calmly and politely sitting next to Hsin-Yi!
We can understand how difficult it is to know how to react in those situations – we are always in the same dilemma as you, even having had this experience many times now! I think if you are in a leashed area legally then it's still a good idea for you to be on leash because of anything happens, that is your defence – you were following the law and the other dog was wrong. Whereas, if you are off then if the other owner wanted to make trouble, he could use that as an excuse. but if something happens like the other dog attacks you, then maybe Laura can drop your leash and give you more freedom that way.
It is awfully hard isn't it when other dogs can do terrible things to us but we still have to be calm and not react, because we have to always show the better behaviour. It is so unfair and my human thinks that it is one of the biggest negatives of being a Great Dane (and a Great Dane owner!)
But don't worry – we agree with Laura – we don't think your temperament will be affected too much by the incident if your human remains calm and doesn't make too big deal about it. She must be careful how she reacts the next time you are around dogs – if she gets to tense around them, then you will pick that up. I think she can just trust that you are very nice, calm, tolerant boy unless you have a very good reason – and you should be allowed to defend yourself!
But maybe also, your human should try to speak up more next time – if another dog is behaving aggressively to you, she should shout at it loudly so that the other owner knows that his dog is behaving badly. But we understand how difficult it is to do that sometimes – my human is always blaming herself for not reacting better because she's just like your humans: at the time it happens, she just cannot think of what to stay and then afterwards she always gets really angry with herself. Also because she has been brought up to be very polite and not challenge other people – but sometimes, I think us polite people get taken advantage of! :-)
Glad to hear that you are settling into your new home!
Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane