My Little Man is a BIG DOG

[SunDance]

There's a big (BIG!) yellow dog (yellow Lab/shepherd, maybe Anatolian, mix is my guess) that's been coming around for a few months....crapping on our lawn and driving our two crazy through the windows. When I first saw the dog, I figured it for a stray, called it, and it ran. I noticed a collar and the fact that it darted between the houses of my two next-in-line neighbors. I started seeing it every day and figured its owners were of the sort to let their dog out to do its business anywhere but on their own lawn. It comes and goes by the same route. I started yelling at it....go home, get out of here....every time I saw it....maybe it would at least stay off our grass.

I usually see it at either end of the day....not during the day.

So.....today is a business-as-usual day....I let Dan out with me when I fetch the mail....usually Sunnie, too, if she's interested....and he/they do some fur-sunning while I open the mail in the garage. I got a bunch of small packages today so I was out for a good while. Dan was soaking up the rays. I looked out at him a few times just to make sure he hadn't moved. He "never" does.

And then I hear him start barking and I just knew he'd taken off. Up the driveway I go in my "not for public consumption" one-size-fits-all (i.e., fits nobody at all well) oversized T-shirt thingy that's oh so comfortable for around the house, housecleaning, mild exercising, etc. It's almost to my knees, though, so it's not like I'm naked. Anyway.....I'm yelling Dan's name and "come"....a couple of times....by the time I get to the top of the driveway. He'd stopped on our property....on the other side of the hedge where I hadn't been able to see him from the driveway. And there....on our neighbor's lawn....is the big yellow dog. Danny chased this....100?....105?...110?....lb. beast off our property. I put him on a sit/stay and marched off after the dog....yelling at him to go home. Dan wanted to make sure the dog did what I told him to do but made himself focus on the stay. Good Dog, Danny!!!!

My no-nonsense little man then peed at the top of the driveway, against the little plants around the mailbox (which is probably what that dog was doing when Dan noticed him for the first time), and followed me into the house......ahhhhh......air conditioning. My little man was a warm dog.

I'm just so pleased with him. He chased....knew to stop at our property line (not sure why/how...it's not something we've ever worked on because he's never out there by himself)(or maybe he just listened to my "come" and stopped)....instantly obeyed the sit/stay and then maintained the stay even though he wanted to lend muscle to my words.

He's zonked out in front of the air vent.

And I'm just so happy that that BIG dog didn't turn out to be one that wanted to fight. And glad Sunnie wasn't out there to complete the pack.

Not gonna turn my back on him/them again...just in case....especially now that I know that dog might be around mid-day. Danny's proven himself with other critters but he really hates this dog.

[smartrock]

I like how he reclaimed his property rights after chasing off the big creepey intruder. Take that!

[POPTOP]

Good boy Danny! Though the vision of you running down the road in your "outfit" makes me giggle.

Time to find out who that dog belongs to before he becomes more brazen.

[SunDance]

Good boy Danny! Though the vision of you running down the road in your "outfit" makes me giggle.

Time to find out who that dog belongs to before he becomes more brazen.

I have no idea who he belongs to....someone who lives in the neighborhood behind us, that's for sure. I don't tend to walk in that neighborhood...up our street, right on the busier street ours is off, another right on a street down from there....and then doubling-back to where the houses are close to ours. All in all, there are about 100 houses, give or take, in that general neighborhood...the only reason I'd be walking there is to see if I could coincidentally spot the dog (who probably wouldn't be on his own property anyhow since he likes to travel around).

I really wish he'd have let me get close enough to check his collar (I think there are tags on it but I'm not sure I noticed) before I just started chasing him. I'd tried a couple of times without success. And a big dog that seems to be afraid of people isn't one I really want to get close to in the first place. I'm glad he's afraid of me now....I just wish he'd associate me with the property I'm on when I yell at him and give us a wide berth. Maybe now that he knows I have a secret weapon he will.

And Dan just hurled up the wee bit of food he still had in his system from his 10 a.m. meal (about 4 hours before this happened).....overheating and stress, no doubt. Good thing my carpeting is the color of dog/cat barf (although I do have a good cleaner that gets up any color). One of these days I'm going to replace that carpeting (it's the original stuff) and I have no idea what color I'll go with.....barf seems so versatile.

[Snowshoe]

What a brave boy. Good boy Danny, you protect your Mom and your yard.

[4Thelove]

Nice job Danny-you the man!