Monday, October 20, 2008

This Is Not A Post About My Shed

My mother seems tired of my shed updates so I will write about something else. Hmmm....I don't know, what could be more exciting than my shed? I was talking to a guy at work today who heard that I told someone I was going to live in my shed. He asked if I was kidding. I said maybe someday I would live in my shed. He wanted to know how big it was and I said 120 sqft. He said that when he was a student in Japan he lived in a room that was 4 1/2 tatani mats. That's how they measure them, by tatani mat. We figured out that it was roughly 78 sqft. Now that's small. He didn't have a bathroom though, it was down the hall.

Wait, I said I wasn't going to talk about the shed. Well, in other news, this lovable looking pit bull who belongs to the neighbors has decided that it is fun to play with me. "Playing" involves jumping on me and biting my hands and arms. I am not amused. He leaves scratches and bruises not to mention doggy slobber. The people at work suggested everything from dog biscuits to a shot gun. I went over to the neighbor's house this evening to suggest a little doggy obedience training. They promised they would try to keep him home and that they are working on building an electric fence. They better build it fast because if I feel threatened they won't need a fence. Is it my fault if he eats a poisoned pack rat on my property? I say no.

I don't think my mother will like that topic either. Oh, well, perhaps I'll think of a more cheery post tomorrow.

12 comments:

Amy said...

I sure hope you are kidding about hurting the dog.

The Executioner said...

It's not your fault if the dog gets onto your property and comes across a natural hazard which causes him harm, but if you intentionally leave poison in places where he can find it, then I say you are squarely to blame.

However, I am guessing that when you wrote this entry, you were simply frustrated and needed to vent a bit. I don't think you'd really be so malicious as to knowingly harm somebody's pet.

There are a bunch of other things you can do to help the dog situation. You've already done the most important thing, which is to notify the neighbors of the problem. If it continues, I suggest you talk to them again, and let them know you expect the dog to be restrained by X date, and if not, you'll have to take additional steps, which could include (but are not limited to) calling animal control, calling the police, and (if you sustain injury) a personal injury lawyer who specializes in dog bites. As a dog owner myself, I'd definitely take someone seriously if they laid out that course of action. It's a bit tricky with neighbors to deliver a message like this in such a tone that you are being assertive but not overly confrontational. After all, you don't want to start a long-running feud with your neighbor. I don't envy your situation.

You can also work directly with the dog. Most likely the dog IS simply playing, and hasn't been taught that rough playing and biting is unacceptable. After all, dogs are animals. He will play roughly, as if he was playing with another dog, until someone trains him otherwise. The real responsibility for its training belongs to your neighbors.

One good technique to use with young and over-energetic dogs is to bring your knee swiftly up into the dog's chest as soon as he jumps up on you. With large dogs you can use as much force as you'd use if you were defending yourself from an adult male (human) attacker. With smaller dogs you should tone it down a bit. While the dog will definitely feel the impact of your knee and recoil from the pain, it shouldn't cause him any long-term injury. This method can be very effective in teaching dogs not to jump up. Also be sure to use a stern voice and let him know you are not pleased with his behavior. Most dogs do not like being scolded. The tone (strong, forceful, angry) is more important than the words.

Good luck!

Lizzie @ her homeworld said...

Water pistol!

Actually I dont know if it works with dogs but it does with cats & when my sister camped in the forest once she was told to use a water pistol on the ponies that tried to get into the tent with you.

However I am all for befriending and training what has potentially become a free guard dog.

Way to go Daizy, more freebies!

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

Pit Bulls scare me to death.

Daizy said...

Hello amy, of course I wouldn't hurt the doggy (unless he forced his way in to my RV and had my cat in his mouth...then all bets are off!) I will call animal control if he does not respond to other kinder deterents. No sign of him tonight though. Perhaps his owners will be more vigilent now. I am sorry they don't have more time for him.

Daizy said...

Hello executioner, thanks for all of the great suggestions! I think I will try your advice about the knee to the chest combined with a stick to steady myself. He gets me so off balanced with all the rocks around here and there's nothing to hold on to but cactus. Maybe he will chew on the stick instead of my arm too. If I had a dog for him to play with like the other neighbors do, he would play with the dog instead of me. But it would be illegal for me to let my dog run free so I won't be getting a dog just for his amusement.

I have already caught him chewing on a poisoned pack rat (before I knew he would be a regular visitor) didn't seem to have much affect but I will wait before I put out more rat poison to make sure he is not around.

No sign of him tonight so maybe they bring him in before 5pm now. The real test will be this weekend.

Daizy said...

lizzie, where is this magical forest where ponies try to get in your tent??? I want a pony!

I have used my spray bottle on my cat. I can just see me walking aroung my property with a whole arsenal of weapons: water guns, pepper spray, sticks, shields, armour...

Daizy said...

over the cubicle wall, when that dog first started jumping and had my arm in his mouth last Friday, I could just picture myself bleeding to death on my garage floor and no one would miss me until Monday...except my Mom because I couldn't post anything :) Very frightening. Luckily he stopped and I only have scratches and bruises.

Anonymous said...

Hee hee, you just posted that part about the poisoned rat packs to get more comments to your post. Muah ha ha. And how do you know mom is tired of your shed updates? Does she leave invisible comments? Call you and complain? Too funny.

Daizy said...

Well hello sis, the cute doggy tried to poison himself by eating a pack rat. Really...when that rat died in my car a few months ago I threw it in to a cactus thinking that nothing would be stupid enough to walk in to cactus to get it...wrong. When I came back from my walk, there was the neighbor dog chewing on something, then he came over and licked me and I realised what he had been chewing on...ewwwwwwwww.

I can hear the rats under the mobile home scratching around at night mocking me but I know the doggy might eat them so I will wait. Too bad he's too big to catch them himself. I need Zipper! (except she would impale herself on a cactus)

And yes, mom called and wanted to know what ELSE was happening besides shed stuff. What else is there? The shed is fascinating! :)

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

i'd probably notice something was up because my blog wouldn't be getting any comments. Either the dog got her, or her extension cord isn't long enough to reach the shed...

Daizy said...

Ha ha, over the cubicle wall. It was nice of you to start your blog just for me. There aren't any pesky other comments to crowd mine. I don't like crowds anyway.