I've done my foolproof hearing test on Brams (playing How Much Is That Doggie in the Window very loudly from a different room) and can confirm that the big man is indeed mutton. Sad times. It's never failed to get him moving before, it's the only song that guarantees food.
Got home from a training day early, and took Candy out for a long walk. Most of the loop was away from the town centre, so she was off her lead, truffling about in the undergrowth. But, as we got back into town, and went further up river and through a park, I put her on a short lead. She’s not great with other dogs, so I need to keep her close by.
As we got maybe a quarter mile or so from home, a guy came around the corner with his dog. I stepped off the side of the path with Candy and shortened her lead, which most dog walkers recognise for what it is, and keep their own dog close by. Not this prick, even though I immediately recognised the change in gait in his own dog which means it wants to say hello to mine.
He told me not to worry, the dog is friendly. I responded that unfortunately mine was not, could he please keep his away. It’s not a problem he says, doing fuck all about it. I asked him to please put the dog on its lead, that’s why he’s got it with him (hanging around his neck at this point). He responded that you don’t necessarily need it on a lead on a pavement. By this point, his dog is nearly on us, so I have to scoop Candy up. Nothing will happen, he says. I pointed out that he wouldn’t like it if my dog reacted to his dog, and he should put his dog on a lead if anyone asks him to. He continues to saunter by, as his dog goes right up to another dog.
I fucking hate pricks like that. I wanted to punch the side of his fucking head as he went past. If it wasn’t for the fact that it would ultimately cause us grief, I’d love to leave Candy on the ground and let him see what happens to his dog when he lets it do whatever the fuck it pleases like the ignorant cunt he is.
Sorry for the language, which he deserved to have directed at him, but I withheld.
My dad is one of those types unfortunately, which puts his own dog at risk too. It's infuriating to watch and I wonder if a smack in the mouth somewhere along the line would've been beneficial in the long run. Which is an odd thing to think, but there you go. It doesn't happen often, but it's a thing. It's like he's deliberately pushing it cos his dog can handle itself or whatever, or people are over-reacting because they dont know how to own a dog if they don't socialise it willy nilly. Which is moronic because his dog is always the centre of his universe. And he had a dog as a kid that couldn't go near other dogs after it had its ear shredded as a puppy, so it's not like he wouldn't get it if he sat down and thought about it.
That's the hope. We've obviously been testing him constantly and it's not completely gone, just very nearly. How Much Is That Doggie made it through while he was snoozing in front of the telly this morning, but not before the volume had crept up to 50 or so.
Saw the vet today. It wasn't Doctor Lockerby unfortunately, so Bramble gave me YOU LIED TO ME eyes when we walked in. He doesn't like the other guy messing around with him, which is odd. Plenty of grumbling when his ears were being looked at then. He's got a lot of wax (a lot was said twice), but not enough to be causing the level of deafness. On the plus side, he expects the drops to do some good, even if we're only talking a 10% improvement. We'll see. He's got a new basket so I'll upload a snap in a bit.