Monday, June 12, 2006

an 8 year old's diary

Dear Diary
What A day Iv'e had.
I was having trouble fixing my bike so I decided to take the wheel off and bring it to the Clown House two blocks from my house.
I don't know them, but I have seen them help all kinds of people so I invited myself into the compond proper.
I went up the driveway and immediatly saw two pit bull dogs, each as big as me running up and barking at me.
I thrust the bike wheel between myself and the two dogs.
I didn't know what to do at that point so I panicked, I lifted the wheel over my head and while screaming, clobbered the white dog on the head into the ground, then the black dog flanked me (I say "flanked? thats pretty sophisticated for a guy who still hates girls.) and I ran as fast as I could to the closest people I could see through teary eyes.
The clowns quickly surounded me and made sure I was alright, they told me never to just walk into someones yard, they told me that dogs are hard-wired to chase things that are moving and they ALWAYS run faster than me,
I was running around and playing with the dogs in no time, they fixed my bike wheel too. Next time I'm confronted with a dog I'm going to stop and wait for an adult, if there are no adults I will offer the dog my shirt or jacket to bite until I can find another bike wheel.
love
randomkid

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

kinda makes you wonder why a place which draws so much attention from the kids (i would classify a "clown house" as such, if not designed specifically to do so) would have dogs that attack running lose in the yard? seriously. a house that wants to "let all the neighbor kids come over & play"
seems like the wrong place to have anything but dogs who can control themselves around kids.

the original post makes no mention of a gate or warning to folks NOT to come in, and further, i find it in pretty bad taste that it was written from the point of view of the child, in the childs voice taking the blame. thats a pretty cheap shift of responsibility ... i think a dog owner should accept at least part (if not all) of the responsibility in such incidents. i see no such claim by the silent dog-owners in this "diary entry".

just my 2 cents. not really trying to be a nag... just trying to prevent a mangled up kid, i guess.

Anonymous said...

The dogs in question are incredibly well-trained. They are both circus dogs that jump through hoops, sit, stay, pull bikes, and obey well a number of commands (one is mine, and I trust her in traffic, with my kids in a trailer.).
And they are both Pit Bulls. Big and tough, with a bad reputation, Many a child (and adult, for that matter has run, hollering, at the sight of my dog, who thinks it's a game. She is trained not to leave her yard, is not allowed outside without supervision, and loves to greet people with many doggie licks. Anyone fearing her soon sees that she's obedient and sweet, including the boy in question. When he came over today (comes over every day since school got out... We've never met his folks...completely unsupervised...makes me worry), he said, "When I first saw those dogs, I was so scared, and the man told me not to be scared, and I could play with them, and I listened to him. Man, that was the smartest thing I ever did, listening." He played for awhile, although I need to meet his parents, cuz an unsupervised 8 yr old usually has landed in some major trouble by the end of the Summer.

I thought the posting was cute. Dingo had clearly talked w/ the kid, and was trying to represent it from the boy's perspective. I saw no blame, nor any mangled kids.
I get why you worry, though. Untrained &/or traumatized dogs are very dangerous, to themselves and others. The boy was right to be wary. But in defense of my dog, and myself, I'd ask you to come see the scene before you jump to conclusions.

Another note: Last Thursday, and the Alberta st. events, are hard on my dog, and my neighbors all report the same thing about their dogs. A huge flood of people is very challenging to the territorial animals' sense of well-being. Add loud music, shouting, fireballs, and wrestling, & my poor pooch thinks she needs to become a one-dog security system, as the rest of us have lost our minds. So we put her inside. Unfortunately, she sneaks back out every chance she gets.
So, as you are being cautious of strange dogs, and teaching your kids the same, remember to be especially careful in crowd-type situations, as many dogs can be very nervous, then. Mine just barks alot, but a poorly socialized or traumatized animal could bite, when nervous.

Anonymous said...

ah, those dogs don't attack. the kid walked into the front yard where the dogs were playing together, and freaked out (like started screaming and running) when they ran up to him. having seen that kid, this is pretty funny. heh. love, justa