A few days ago, Noon and I came home early from work to take Sam and Rosie out to the park for a walk. We hadn't done that in a while and felt that we were neglecting their exercise (especially when they've been eating burgers and cake and ice-cream!).
So off we went, Noon had Rosie on leash while I had Sam. We brought along Rosie's favourite squeaky toy as well - one of those balls with a whistle-like hole that squeaks loudly when squeezed. Rosie loves nothing better than playing fetch with it, especially in the park where we can throw it as far as it would go and she'll rush headlong to catch it, squeaking all the way back.
We were in the middle of doing just that when this burly, bare-chested guy came into the park with his rottweiler in tow.
Sam and Rosie caught sight of them, and as always when they see another dog, they bolted and rushed over to have a sniff and hopefully to play.
Guess what happened when they got there? Mr I-am-so-macho-
I-have-my-shirt-off-and-I-have-an-awesome-dog baulked, and his rottweiler cowered. I was already off to get Sam and Rosie back on leash but quite obviously could not match them for speed. Before I managed to get to them, Mr Macho was squirting Sam and Rosie in their faces with his drink bottle in an attempt to get them away from him and his dog. It was a hot day so Sam and Rosie happily lapped up the water, it didn't prove a deterrent to them in any way.
I finally got there and got Sam to sit while I slipped his leash back on, and Noon was doing the same with Rosie. Mr Macho walked past and said snidely, "No need to apologise, just keeping being rude!" Took me by surprise... of course I was going to apologise, especially seeing how Sam and Rosie caused the guy so much distress. But I thought the first priority was to get our dogs away from him. Not like he or his dog were in any danger, Sam's tail was wagging so much it looked like it was about to fall off and Rosie was squeaking her toy the entire time!
Anyway, I did apologise and asked him nicely if he wanted to let his dog off to play with ours, reassuring him that ours were only playful and not aggressive in anyway. His response: "No, my dog doesn't play well with others". Well no wonder, I thought to myself, with an owner as anti-social as that!
I really don't get it. Here's this guy who was obviously trying to act macho, and who was quite burly I thought, walking a rottweiler. And he was afraid of labradors? Even one with a squeaky toy in its mouth? Can you see anything wrong with this??
Noon was quite upset at the whole incident, and I can understand. There was no need for sarcasm from Mr Macho, even if we were wrong to let Sam and Rosie off in a park that wasn’t a designated off-leash area. Funnily enough, we’ve even encountered such anti-social behaviour even at designated off-leash areas! Although to be fair, we’ve met many more dog owners who are happy to let their dogs romp around with ours at such places. People like Mr Macho are in the minority, I’m happy to say.
Anyway, here are some photos of them that we took before we cleaned up their faces…
Rosie with her favourite squeaky toy...
...and Sammy with his face all wet
3 comments:
some people are just so sad...dont let it bother you, you and noon have beautiful souls and would do well just to stay away from someone like that.
Thanks for your comments, Chase. No it's not bothering us in the least, Noon's over it now. And Sam and Rosie are happy as ever :)
Hmm, that's an obscene title...for minds like mine. Heh! :P
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