pissed somebody off at the dog park the other day. & when i say pissed, i mean i thought the man's head was going to explode.
it was a lesson in just how ill equipped i am to deal w/the psychos of this world, how easily they can be set off, & how doing something out of character for me is not always in my best interest.
lesson learned? time will tell . . .
arrived at my usual a.m. time, large dog pen was empty as it often is by then, B & LC left their business cards around for me to file in the appropriate bins, which i did.
not long after, a large, beautifully fluffy white dog (F) arrived w/his owner; i don't think i'd met them before, but they both seemed pleasant enough, things were going smoothly, so the woman & i chatted.
then a nicely cared for pick-up truck drove up w/a familiar husky riding in the back ~ not one of my favorite dogs, but i like him better than his 'master'. we run into each other on a fairly regular basis, make small talk & our dogs get along fine, but his dog, C, can be quick to fuzz up around other non-neutered males, which is not uncommon in the doggie world. &, as it happened, he & F are both intact.
sooooo, they did the male hormonal thing as might be expected, but while F seemed satisfied w/an initial song & dance routine, C did not. he kept coming back for more, until things got physical between the two.
more than once.
F was wearing a strong harness which his mom used to keep him at her side as we sat together on the wooden deck, while the husky owner kept trying to distract his charge by throwing a tennis ball, which was only mildly successful. C would chase after the ball, then come back to the deck to instigate more unpleasant behavior. after about the 3rd fight sequence (which my happy-go-lucky neutered dog, B, foolishly jumped into & broke up), my mind told me it was time for this guy to leave. without a word, i walked over to the gate area where C's leash was hanging, & since he followed me along to get a drink of water, i took the opportunity to clip the leash to his collar.
he was in no way disturbed by this, & trotted happily along side me as we approached his dad. "is this your lead?" i questioned. well, that's when the fireworks started & if the man's head could have unscrewed & flown off into the universe i'm certain it would have.
the verbal explosion happened so quickly i can only recall bits & pieces, such as 'what are you doing w/my dog? you don't run this place/have authority over me/tell me when it's time for me to go, how would you like it if i did that to your dogs' etc. etc., to which i (lamely) replied "you wouldn't have to". . . but when i heard the word 'fuck' come out of my mouth re: the [fucking] rules & regulations posted on the gated entrance to the dog pen which make specific reference to how aggressive dogs should be handled, i knew i'd better shut up or soon i'd be calling him an asshole. unfortunately, name calling is my immature default reaction during a verbal confrontation. *sigh*
the man continued on & on about how i had no authority over him (much like a kid saying 'you're not the boss of me!'), to which i replied that at least i had sense (which, if you've read this story through, i have vividly proven otherwise by getting involved in something that was never my business in the first place!)
my dogs & i headed to the gate, as did the lady w/her beautiful (still pristine white) spitz dog, & while i tried to small talk about maybe running into her again i got the feeling she was, by then, about as impressed w/me as she was with C's owner.
oh well. it's a big world w/lots of people on short fuses to piss off ~ i too am becoming one.
why, just yesterday i found myself thinking it might be wise to start stashing bits of money aside to cover legal fees for the day i finally snap & punch somebody in the face.
