At least two forum members have recently lost their canine companions. 
It got me thinking about my two little dogs and how much I will miss them when they're gone, and now I'm sad, and I was hoping to read some dog stories from happier times.
How about it? Your favorite adventure with any dog - I would love to read all about it.
I have had many wonderful experiences with Greta and Afreet. They're 10.5 years old and I actually found them after my next-door neighbor moved and abandoned them in his back yard - they were only around 6 weeks old at the time.
Once, when they were about 3 years old, we were out for a walk and as we rounded a corner, three stray/feral dogs came charging out of nowhere and confronted us aggressively. The three strays were all large breeds - the one I really remember looked like a Chow mix, and probably didn't weigh much less than 100 pounds. The other two dogs were of similar size.
Greta is teeny, she weighs about 12 pounds, and Afreet isn't much bigger - 14 pounds or so.
My usual tactic when I see a loose dog is just to scoop G&A up and get out of there as fast as possible, but this all happened so suddenly I didn't have time. These three dogs were snarling and barking, and I was pretty freaked out. Greta and Afreet actually rushed them (terriers!) and kept up the attack, trying to keep these strange dogs from getting anywhere near me!
The Chow mix kept jumping at me and snapping, and Afreet ran between us and bit at his legs, which drove him back a little. He then focused on Afreet - he lunged forward and grabbed Afreet and started shaking her back and forth. As soon as that happened, I actually leaped onto him and tackled him, and had to pry open his jaws to get him to release Afreet. I managed to grab her and keep hold of her.
The Chow mix then attacked me, and somehow during that struggle I broke my foot. The dog did bite my foot, but I'm not sure if he broke it by chomping on it or if I broke it trying to kick it free.
I managed to kick my way out of my scrap with the Chow mix. I got back up and turned to find Greta holding off the other two dogs just by barking and growling at them. I will never forget the sight of my tiny little dog facing down two dogs - each at least 5 times her size - with nothing but her own ferocious terrier disposition.
I managed to chase off the three stray dogs, collect G&A, and limp back to my car. We immediately went to the emergency vet, because Afreet had been bitten pretty badly and she was bleeding.
I limped into the vet's office, covered in blood (mine & Afreet's), and after Afreet had been whisked off to surgery, the vet actually x-rayed my foot for me. She told me that if I were a dog, she might put a cast on it, but since she doubted that I would worry at it too much, she suggested that I stay off it and it would get better on its own in 6-8 weeks.
Poor Afreet had to have the dog bites cut open to allow them to drain properly, and then she had to have stitches, but she recovered very nicely - no damage to her organs, just flesh wounds (we were VERY, VERY lucky). While they were investigating her injuries, I was in tears, afraid that she might be more seriously hurt - but I think her least favorite part was having to wear a onesie so she couldn't pull out the stitches.
Whenever someone tells me that small dogs aren't as good as larger breeds, or that dogs only hang around with us for the food, I think of this series of events. I feel awful that I put my dogs in such a dangerous position (even inadvertently), but I feel very privileged to have such valiant little defenders! They don't care that they're small - they threw themselves into the fight with total conviction and deported themselves very bravely (I think).
It was a terrifying and very disturbing experience, and I now carry pepper spray, just in case, but our walks have been drama-free (at least, by comparison) ever since.
Well, that's my dog story. Hoping to read some more!
It got me thinking about my two little dogs and how much I will miss them when they're gone, and now I'm sad, and I was hoping to read some dog stories from happier times. How about it? Your favorite adventure with any dog - I would love to read all about it.
I have had many wonderful experiences with Greta and Afreet. They're 10.5 years old and I actually found them after my next-door neighbor moved and abandoned them in his back yard - they were only around 6 weeks old at the time.
Once, when they were about 3 years old, we were out for a walk and as we rounded a corner, three stray/feral dogs came charging out of nowhere and confronted us aggressively. The three strays were all large breeds - the one I really remember looked like a Chow mix, and probably didn't weigh much less than 100 pounds. The other two dogs were of similar size.
Greta is teeny, she weighs about 12 pounds, and Afreet isn't much bigger - 14 pounds or so.
My usual tactic when I see a loose dog is just to scoop G&A up and get out of there as fast as possible, but this all happened so suddenly I didn't have time. These three dogs were snarling and barking, and I was pretty freaked out. Greta and Afreet actually rushed them (terriers!) and kept up the attack, trying to keep these strange dogs from getting anywhere near me!
The Chow mix kept jumping at me and snapping, and Afreet ran between us and bit at his legs, which drove him back a little. He then focused on Afreet - he lunged forward and grabbed Afreet and started shaking her back and forth. As soon as that happened, I actually leaped onto him and tackled him, and had to pry open his jaws to get him to release Afreet. I managed to grab her and keep hold of her.
The Chow mix then attacked me, and somehow during that struggle I broke my foot. The dog did bite my foot, but I'm not sure if he broke it by chomping on it or if I broke it trying to kick it free.
I managed to kick my way out of my scrap with the Chow mix. I got back up and turned to find Greta holding off the other two dogs just by barking and growling at them. I will never forget the sight of my tiny little dog facing down two dogs - each at least 5 times her size - with nothing but her own ferocious terrier disposition.
I managed to chase off the three stray dogs, collect G&A, and limp back to my car. We immediately went to the emergency vet, because Afreet had been bitten pretty badly and she was bleeding.
I limped into the vet's office, covered in blood (mine & Afreet's), and after Afreet had been whisked off to surgery, the vet actually x-rayed my foot for me. She told me that if I were a dog, she might put a cast on it, but since she doubted that I would worry at it too much, she suggested that I stay off it and it would get better on its own in 6-8 weeks.
Poor Afreet had to have the dog bites cut open to allow them to drain properly, and then she had to have stitches, but she recovered very nicely - no damage to her organs, just flesh wounds (we were VERY, VERY lucky). While they were investigating her injuries, I was in tears, afraid that she might be more seriously hurt - but I think her least favorite part was having to wear a onesie so she couldn't pull out the stitches.
Whenever someone tells me that small dogs aren't as good as larger breeds, or that dogs only hang around with us for the food, I think of this series of events. I feel awful that I put my dogs in such a dangerous position (even inadvertently), but I feel very privileged to have such valiant little defenders! They don't care that they're small - they threw themselves into the fight with total conviction and deported themselves very bravely (I think).
It was a terrifying and very disturbing experience, and I now carry pepper spray, just in case, but our walks have been drama-free (at least, by comparison) ever since.
Well, that's my dog story. Hoping to read some more!
