Tuesday 11 July 2017

Defending my doggy

Two weeks ago I defended my dog; and she defended me. We were sitting on a bench next to the river chatting to a neighbour (who had one of her young and unruly dogs on a lead). Her other dog came out of the yard to sniff me and Rusty. She went for Rusty's shoulder. I pushed the dog away and picked Rusty up - 22kg of lovable dog in my arms.

Our neighbour chased her dog off. We sat down.

She (the dog) came back and went for Rusty again. I picked her up and we walked off, getting out of there quickly.

During one of the two 'attacks', I got my hand between the dog and Rusty, preventing the dog from biting her. While carrying Rusty I saw blood; it turned out not to be hers. The dog had bitten my finger. Fortunately her teeth connected with the joint so it didn't rip flesh. Two weeks later and it is almost healed - just the 'core' of the tooth punctures is still sensitive.

It was only a few days later that I realised that I'd injured a finger on the other hang too. I must have slammed it into something (the bench perhaps). It has been very swollen, so probably a bit of tendon damage. It too is healing and should be better within the next week or so.

What I realised from this minor incident is that I would do anything to protect my dog.

Rusty has been in my life for 3.5 months and I can't imagine being without her.

She is getting fitter and running so beautifully. She especially loves running on trails and visiting my friend's place - Otters Haunt. It's a few kilometres from home and there I can let her run off lead ahead of me. She never goes too far away and always keeps me in sight.


We went to Otters on Sunday afternoon for a run. I've had a cough and cold for a week so my lungs weren't yet up to standard - but it was good to get out with her. For most of the past week we've just been walking with light jogs. We both need the running.


She hasn't run parkrun with me for a while as I've been Run Director quite often. But I'm off the hook on Saturday so we'll be participating. This will be her 3rd parkrun. I'm going to keep count of her runs so that I can make her a parkrun 50 tee.

After being pet-free for over a year, having a dog around requires a good deal of thought and consideration and, sometimes, planning. But it is totally worth it to have Rusty in my life.

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