As I was talking to her I saw something trotting down the street which I first assumed was a cat because there are tons of cats around here. Then it was coming closer and I thought it might be a fox I see on a regular basis. Then, it didn't cross the street away from me and came to the recycling bin across the driveway and I realized it was a dog.
I promptly relaxed (my first thought at the fox not running from me didn't make me feel good) and I turned around to walk back up the driveway and go inside. Well, the dog came right up the driveway and jumped on my leg and proceeded to "hump." I had to let Sandra go, it DID scare me up a bit.
I noticed that it had a long cable attached to it so I assumed (correctly) that the dog had gotten away from it's yard. So, I grabbed the cable and quick release knotted it to a tree. If it were my dog, I would hope that someone would do the same instead of it getting lost further or hit by a car (I live in a suburban area). Originally, as I was securing him, I thought he was some kind of bull dog (although my first thought it the dark before he jumped on me was that he was a cocker spaniel - we have a lot of those around here).
Now this was just after 10:00 at night. Turning on the light and seeing this in my front yard was also a little bit of a shocker:
He was barking his head off.Actually the dog looked more like this (but better bred, the dog in my yard was a very expensive animal - no doubt about it):
It is AMAZING how the whole head of a pit bull is all mouth. To me, it is just weird looking, like a cartoon or packman or something:
I got back on the phone with Sandra who's owned tons of dogs. I have never owned a dog. I plan to someday and look forward to it, but I have never had a living situation where I was allowed a dog. Growing up, my mother was (and is) extremely allergic plus she has severe asthma. So she literally cannot breathe in a house with a dog.
Anyway, I like dogs, I've babysat dogs, I've successfully manuvered around less than happy dogs but I am not the dog person Sandra is and do not claim any expertise.
I wanted to check it's tag, but it was such a poorly mannered AND upset dog that it was hard to do. So, I got some cheese (Sandra's suggestion) and checked...no tags.
The dog was actually quite nice, but so excited and unruly that I chose not to "hang out" with it. It just wanted to keep jumping on me. I do not have a fear of dogs per se, but I have a respect for what a bite could do and I didn't know the dog from Adam.
So, I called the police non-emergency number (twice) to come for the dog. He couldn't stay in the front lawn. The garage was full, the house is not an option, the Humane Society is closed and I hate to drop off an un-neutered (oh did I mention he was intact?) pit bull there.
The HS close to me is right next to Minneapolis and most of the pit bulls they receive are dogs that were used for fighting. (I know this because my friend is the kennel director.) So it would be a process for the dog's owner to get him back. This was not (as far as I could tell) an animal that has ever been in a fight.
The police came and just as he was taking down information (the officer stayed well away from the dog) the owner came running up!
I was so happy she came! Actually the dog belongs to her cousin, who is apparently a Denver Bronco. Go figure, football and un-neutered pit bulls.
The officer left, the dog went home, I called Sandra one last time to let her know how it all went and then went to bed.
One thing I found interesting is that pit bulls do a funny thing with their ears. They can flop them:
They can stand them up:
But they can also fold them over their heads:
What the heck does that mean? I wasn't sure how to read him when he did that. He was perpetually wagging his tail at me so that's good. But I did know a dog once that would wag his tail and bite, he had problems and was probably more the exception but he also happened to be 1/2 pit.
Anywho, any takers on this question? Calsidyrose from We Don't Rent Puppies - do you have any insight?
