Hindsight

Don't you hate it when you realize what you should have done in a situation when it is now too late?

Yesterday I was driving home from the vet when I decided to take a detour through a neighborhood that connects to ours since they are doing construction on the main road. I was driving south on Sarah Jane, across from Beehive Elementary, and I saw two teenagers walking the opposite direction (towards me) on the sidewalk.

All of a sudden, a big dog (a boxer, which surprised me) came tearing down a nearby driveway, in full attack mode. The teens jumped back, and the girl was able to beat him off with her bag until the owner came ambling down the drive to call the dog off.

It was so scary! I drove by really slowly to make sure everything was okay, and it looked like no real harm was done. The teens kept walking, and the owner watched them go, looking pretty worried.

I should NOT have just driven home. I should have stopped and talked to the teens. I should have called the police to report an aggressive dog. If I had any cahones, I would have had words with the owner. This was in the middle of a residential neighborhood ACROSS FROM THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! It kills me that people keep aggressive dogs, and it is just unconscienable to keep them loose!

I thought about it all day. It wasn't just a dog being territorial. The dog was in attack mode. He was in the "red zone", as Cesar Milan would say. I was almost certain I was going to have to stop the car and interfere somehow. I WISH I had called the police! I told Jeremy when he got home, and we drove by the area last night, but I couldn't remember exactly which house it was. It may have been the turquoise one with the chain link fence that surrounds the entire yard (obviously the fence was open at the time), or it may have been the one south of it. I really couldn't say. So, to my local readers, beware if you decide to take a stroll down Sarah Jane. I'm really sorry I didn't act differently.

I'm a dog lover. I love our big dumb yellow dog. He's very much a part of our family. He has a kind, gentle soul. Still, we NEVER let him loose unless we're at an offleash park or walking through the field near our house. He would never hurt anyone, but it's what responsible pet owners do! Why do people keep dogs if they are just going to neglect/mistreat them into becoming BEASTS?

Our neighbors across the street have a scary-looking, un-neutered pit bull named Max. The dog looks tough, but he isn't. I don't worry about Max because you can tell his owners are RESPONSIBLE and take good care of him. I'm not against pit bulls or other dogs with bad reputations. I'm against owners who have no sense!