Monday, June 16th, 2008attack of the chi-wow-wows... Last week Mr. Shoo and I were walking our dogs. They're very friendly boys and like to say hi to everyone, especially other dogs. So, when we saw a little chi-wow-wow running in the road, I stopped so Clancy could say hi to him. The dog was yipping, but I figured it was out of excitement...boy, was I wrong. The dog bit at Clancy, so Mr. Shoo made some scary man noises at the dog while Clancy and I rushed away.
Early one morning last week I was out running. I saw the same dog in the road. It yipped at me and nipped at my ankles. It actually chased me down the road and around the corner. I was annoyed and slightly concerned, as there are a lot of small children and dogs in our neighborhood. But I ignored it...until this morning.
I was running again this morning. This time there wasn't just one dog, but two. And they were smart. One of the little buggers got in front of me and was running backwards nipping at me. The other was on my side. The little things cornered me and were going after me. I was actually contemplating kicking the darned things. They actually got my shoelace before the across the street neighbor came out and yelled at the dogs. He told me that he and his family have had a lot of problems with the dogs. They dogs are now frightened of them. I thanked him and kept running.
I decided to call animal control on these dogs. They aren't just yippers, but they actually bite. If their owners actually kept tabs on them and kept them on leashes, there wouldn't be a problem. But from what I've seen, they just put the dogs outside and leave them. I asked the man I talked to what would happen as a result of my phone call. He let me know that they'd go over to the house and let the owners know that there was a complaint about the dogs and that they'd need to keep their dogs on leashes. He told me to let them know if there were any other problems.
I'm going running tomorrow morning, and I'm really hoping I don't encounter these dogs. I could go a different way, but I know the distance for this route...and I'm getting good at running it. And I don't want to have to change my route because someone else can't play by the rules and be a good pet owner.
I'm slightly embarrassed that I'm scared of a couple of chi-wow-wows...but I promise, they're really vicious.
The other dog involved in our situation ended up being put down cause it attacked a neighbor kid (who ended up w/ stitches in leg).
LGrant, these dogs run several yards down and across the street, so they aren't simply protecting their yard. They're the chihuahuas from hell.
I'll be going tomorrow morning, and I won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get the things off me. (But hopefully I won't have to worry about it again.)
Now, there are a couple of dogs in our neighborhood that I recognize, but they aren't very social and when I've been in the situation to help them get back into their yards or on their tie outs, they've been uncooperative. Unfortunately, I've had to call the "dog catcher" on them, as well, even though we are friends with their owners - I just don't want to get bitten or let them sense my apprehension. However, I only call if I can't get ahold of their owners at work or on cel phones, but if you don't interact with these neighbors, I suppose you wouldn't have that information...
Good luck, and be careful!
Casey, your description is much more accurate.
"Yeah, there's a dog loose in my neighborhood running amuck and terrorizing some small kids... a description of the dog?.... well he's a chihuahua wearing a sweater."