Nuka vs. Shih Tzu

     Bah!  Bah, I say, to the random wandering dog!  As if Bailey Hackles wasn't enough, (and he was, oh, he was) this morning we ran into a random, wandering Shih Tzu, which will be henceforth known as Small Fry.
     It was a lovely spring morning, and around seven thirty am, as usual, I took my canine brood forth for their morning stroll.  All was well and we were progressing innocently enough.  It was the kind of walk that I like the most, the kind of walk where no one is out and about and my dogs and I tour the block uninterrupted.
     Alas, it was not to be.
     We went around a corner and started up a walkway between the back of some townhouses and a fence and what should I spy, but a gallivanting Shih Tzu heading straight for us, completely unattended.  Unlike Bailey Hackles, Small Fry did not appear threatening in the least, but also unlike the Bailey Hackles incident, this time, there was a Nuka.
     A big, giant, awful Nuka.
     Being a friendly sort, Small Fry ran right up to my three dogs without the least reservation and proceeded to strike up a friendship.  For two out of the three, this was fine.  For Nuka, it meant a berserker freak out of epic proportions during which I looked like the most incompetent dog handler of all time. 
     Maybe I am.
     That, is besides the point of this particular story.  For about five minutes that felt like five hours, I attempted to restrain my giant, awful dog and made enough of a ruckus doing so that the owner finally came to collect his dog without a word, apology or note of concern and to him I say, well, you can imagine what I say.  I sincerely thank the elderly woman who came over from a nearby parking lot to see if everything was all right.  Thank you, my good woman, for caring.
     One of the great mysteries of Nuka is her on leash behaviour.  When Nuka sees another dog on leash, it is difficult to determine whether she is so excited  by the dog that she literally can't control herself, or, adversely, she wants to eat the dog's face off.  I have yet to determine a test for this that won't potentially end in tragedy.  In any case, we came home and Nuka and I drove straight to PetSmart.  I thought we had moved passed the Gentle Leader, I was wrong.

Buzz Lightyear, Nuka and Nivek.  No small dogs were harmed in the taking of this photograph.

Dogs vs. Trail Walk

     Sometimes when I'm done work I take the dogs down a trail where they can be off leash.  This is an incredibly poor idea in many ways, but I am of the opinion that if I never give them the opportunity, they will never learn to be off leash.  My arms need a break.
     I have done this a few times before, but always in the winter when the trail is surrounded by high snowbanks on each side that kind of wall them in.  Monday I took them, and now that the snow is finally melting, the creek and fields are clearly visible and also more accessible.  I took them anyway.  It's a fairly isolated area, how much trouble could they possibly get into, those who are doomed to fail silently ask themselves?
     As usual, Nivek is not the problem.  He trots along, usually behind, breathing heavily and trying to keep up with his much younger brethren.  Duke does what he was bred to do and sniffs, sniffs, and sniffs, trying to keep up with Nuka on legs that are a quarter of the length.  It is Nuka that enjoys this time the most.  She's young and powerful and she rips up and down the trail with a muscular grace that I don't normally associate with her lanky, goofy body.
     Overall, they were pretty good.  Nuka took some liberties with distance she hasn't before, but she listened and didn't chase anything, she also lost her pretty pink collar, the only thing that lets anyone know that she isn't a boy.
     I learned three things on this particular off leash experience.  The first is that Nivek can't do the trail anymore.  He huffed and puffed and tried so hard to keep up that the next morning he could barely stand up.  His arthritis is just too much.
     The second is that Nuka really does look like a boy.  In lieu of the pink collar, I put on Nivek's old leather one, and yes, yes she does look like a boy.  I don't particularly care if people think she's a boy, but I don't want her to get a complex.  If no one treats her like a beautiful lady, she will never act like one.  Man, I couldn't keep a straight face while I typed that sentence.

Why can't anyone see that I am a beautiful lady?  WHY?

     Third, is that my pure bred education continues.  Even one quick google on Basset Hounds will lead you to believe that to let one off leash is about the same as picking them up and throwing them into oncoming traffic, so impaired is their ability to hear and respond to a human command.  Now, granted I have my own opinions about Duke's overall intelligence, but this was his second time on the trail and he was great.  Sometimes, he falls behind to sniff, shockingly enough, but he always runs to catch up.  Not to me, mind you, but to Nuka.  I can call him all day and he won't even flick a giant ear in my direction, but the minute Nuka is out of sight, those stubby legs really start to pump.  Maybe it's not so much that Bassets don't listen, they just don't listen all that well to people.  You can't blame them, really, I don't like listening to most people either.