Good pets gone bad

When Good Pets Go Bad, Pets Behaving Badly, and My Cat from Hell are all titles of reality TV shows.   

I'm sure that any one of my pets, past and present, could fit into one of these categories occasionally, or in some cases, like my Siamese, all the time.    

Hence I did not get overly upset when a black and white Staffordshire terrier ran up and attacked our Australian shepherd, which was on leash at the time. We had just arrived at the Ellison Dog Park and were first-time, off leash park users. Hence, we thought it best initially to keep her on a lead. 

The aggressor dog had just been playing with another big dog, when it suddenly ran over and started biting our dog, and she defended herself. 

My husband separated them as I yelled at the assailant canine and the owners rushed over and called their dog off. Thankfully, it listened. However, when I complained that it was out of control, the woman said her dog was just a puppy. 

I replied that her puppy bites, and she just smirked and walked away, unapologetic, and left the park. I soon followed with my camera, but they had already disappeared into their car and my husband asked me to stand down. No harm, no foul, as our dog just had a superficial cut on its lip. 

It was more posturing than anything on the part of the Staffordshire terrier. Nonetheless, I beg to differ with the woman. Her pup was an aggressive breed of dog and exhibited its true colours.   

The owners also did not take responsibility. Their dog, in my opinion, is a ticking time bomb ready to go off, and likely will strike again. 

Moments later, we were confronted by yet another dog, this time a red and white pit bull cross. It came charging, with hackles up, while its owner in the far distance passively called back her Fido, and it reluctantly, after a time, did so. 

Doreen Zyderveld-Hagel, Kelowna