Being a Doggy Mama - The yelp

 

There is nothing worse, to a parent, than hearing their child in pain.

I have been around babies and kids since I was 11.  My siblings are much older than me, so I have been Auntie to many a young thing.  In fact, a lot of them aren't that young anymore.

I've played games, run birthday parties, changed nappies - you name it (deciding to be childless was an informed decision).

I know that babies have different kinds of cries.  There's the hunger cry, the dirty nappy cry, the I'm-bored-I-don't-want-to-go-to-sleep cry.  They all sound different.

And then there's the I'm-in-real-pain cry.

This is why you'll be at a party with parents of young children and notice different scenarios. 

In the first, the child falls down, but isn't really injured.  The parent may wait for the child to toddle over to them and placate them with a high voiced "Did you go boom-si-daisy?  Aw.  Daddy kiss it better."

And then there's the second scenario, where you'll be chatting away, a cry rings out and suddenly, the person you were talking to is just, well, gone.  Parents responding to real cries can rival Olympic sprinters.  That cry is horrible, ear splitting and heart rending.

It's the same being a dog owner.

Nobody wants to hear their little poochie yelp.

And I've had two of those today.

We were walking in a local park, and Puppy Dog was off-leash.  Why was he off-leash? I hear you ask.  Well, because a lot of people walk their dogs off-leash in this park, even though it's illegal.  So I do, too.

We went into the park on-leash, and Puppy Dog smelt a dog around the corner.  I didn't see it.  First I knew was when the leash was tugged and my arm nearly came off.  I was dragged downhill and, thank God for the flash back to High School hurdles or I may never have made it over that log.

The dogs sniffed each other - the other dog was off-leash, and Puppy Dog moseyed on.  So I took him off-leash, for my own safety.  The trail is narrow and the sides are steep.

When we got to the part of the trail that crosses a road, I put him on leash again, and we went on our merry way.  Then along comes another dog, off-leash, and they become instant friends.  There follows much running and jumping and both of them get completely tied up in the leash.  So I took it off again.

We continued, and rounded another corner.

In front of us was a couple with a huge - massive - dog. 

The warning signs were there.  The horse-dog was on a tight leash, with one parent either side of it, both of them very close.

"Is he ok with other dogs?" I asked.

"No."

So I immediately told Puppy Dog to Come.

He ignored me, trotted up to the horse-dog and said hello.  Horse-dog lunged at him, Puppy Dog's Mohawk went up and it was on.  The poor guy was desperately hanging onto his dog and I was calling Puppy Dog frantically.

And then, the yelp.

Puppy Dog came running back to me and the couple quickly carried on past us.  I apologized to them, they did not apologize to me.  OK, so technically I am in the wrong with my dog off-leash, but a simple "Sorry" would've been nice.

We went home and everything seemed fine.

In case you are wondering, I put him back on-leash.

Flash forward to 8:30 pm when I get back from a networking event (yes, I'm still looking for a job...).  Puppy Dog greets me at the front door with his usual ebullience, and follows me through the house, where I open the back door so he can go out to pee.  I sit down and wait for him to come and greet me for real, and I rub his head.

Second yelp.

What a horrible sound.  It makes me shudder.

So I calm him, prod and poke and find blood in his ear. 

The annoying fact about furry things is that it can be very hard to find where the injury is.  I ran my fingers through his fur, cleaned out his ear, but I couldn't find the actual bite.

I put some ointment on where I think it was, and he licked me in gratitude.

Now he's playing the sick dog, lying on his cushion and not moving.

And I'm fretting.

I never ever want to hear that sound again.

But, considering he's such an active, crazy, energetic lump of brown fur, I probably will...