Fucking dog...

After dinner tonight we wanted to get outside since the kids have all been sick and are starting to feel better. We needed the fresh air, it was still daylight (finally), so we opted to head for a walk. We bundled the kids up and put Evan in the sleigh and Connor walked with us. It was so nice to breathe in some fresh air. We rounded the sidewalk at the walkway, and were greeted by a white lab cross. It had to have been crossed with another large dog, because for a pup he was big. The dog comes up and sniffs us and Matt and I take a look around for the owners. We walked about halfway down the walkway and the dog is still with us playing and bounding around us through the snow. Then the dog started jumping up on us. Matt scooped up Connor and as I bent down to pick Evan up out of the sleigh the dog nipped and ripped off Evan's mitt that was dangling as I was lifting him. The mitt was not on Evan's hand, thank God. It was one of those useless ones that come attached to the snowsuit but don't actually ever stay on. I had put on an extra pair in addition to those and in addition to his other pair of knit mittens on idiot strings. They were not going to be warm enough tonight, so I put on an old pair of Connor's warmer ones. So now, the stupid dog has Evan's mitt and is running around taunting us with it and chewing on it. We started walking back towards the walkway entrance to see if the owners were around. They were not. The dog is now jumping up on us, nipping at my fingers and Connors boots. Matt is swearing a blue streak at the dog. Finally, we hear, "Shaaadow". This lady comes out and trie to wrangle her dog who clearly was not trained and kept running away from her and at us. So he drops the first mitten and jumps up on me and snaps Evan's knit mitten off...Matt is losing it. "You can't have your fucking dog off leash for fuck sakes!" "Get your fucking dog under control now!" "I swear to fucking God!" The owner says, "I am really sorry." Now under normal circumstances, I say, "it is ok...shit happens." I couldn't say anything to her cause I was so pissed. Matt is kicking at the dog as it is jumping up and nipping at Connor. I didn't care about the mitts, I just wanted the hell out of there. We got back into the walk way and the dog got on the other side of the fence. About half way down we stopped as the dog was still following us but on the other side of the fence. We grabbed our sled and by then the owners had gone back to get dog treats in an attempt to lure the dog back home. Somehow Matt had got the other mitten back in all of the chaos...nice and chewed up. As we are walking home, Connor says, "fucking dog, fucking dog!!" Great, not only do we almost get bit by a fucking dog, now Connor is saying it over and over.

We were able to find the humour in the situation after the fact, but in all seriousness, something terrible could have happened. I feel the dog knew who to "pick on." The youngest, the weakest and that is what he did. It was in his nature and although he was just playing it was in no way safe. Matt and I were definitely feeling threatened by the dog and went into protection mode. It brings up some questions. Why was the dog loose in the first place? They didn't have a fenced yard so why was the dog out without a leash? As a dog owner, you have responsibilities and she is lucky that this ended the way it did. All I can hope now is that Connor doesn't continue saying, "FUCKING DOG!"