There is a dead dog under the trailer in my neighbor's yard. I can't tell if it's Mama Dog or one of the other yellow dogs in the pack. When we first bought the country place, there was Leo who is owned by the sheriff 's deputy that lives across the road, Mama Dog and another adult yellow dog. The next spring, Mama Dog had a litter of about 12 pups, only two of which survived to adulthood. We call those Big Puppy and Little Puppy. Little Puppy got hit by a car and so only uses one of it's front legs. This spring, Mama Dog had another litter, only 10 this time. Jimmy claims he cannot catch Mama Dog to get her fixed but I suspect he just doesn't care. Mostly, the dogs hang out at Jimmy's or in the yard next door where the trailer is. They have several dog trots through the back half of our 1/2 acre. I've started banging two pieces of 2" x 4" together when they get near. It soulds a lot like a gun shot and they run like the devil back to Jimmy's. Otherwise, when you yell at them they just back off til you go inside.
When we first moved out here, our neighbor very nonchalantly told us that if Jimmy's dogs bother us, just shoot them. 'Shoot the puppies!?', I asked in horror. I'm beginning to understand that position though I would never shoot a dog down. Yesterday, I witnessed Leo, leading his pack (the adult yellow dog, Big Puppy, Little Puppy, and the 3 or 4 surving pups from this year) into the open gate of the fenced yard across the street and going after the german shephard that lives there. The shephard got away and the dog pack left but the whole episode left me very uncomfortable. So I am considering calling the county animal control office. I'm just not sure how attached Jimmy and his family are to those dogs, besides Leo, and being a newcomer to the area, I hesitate to deal harshly since so far, they have just been a small nuisance.
There has been no sign of Mama Dog though. I hope that is her under the trailer. I know that makes me sound hard, but the last thing we need is another litter adding to the dog pack. The last thing that poor Mama Dog needed was another litter. Chances are good though that some of the surviving pups are female. I guess we'll find out next spring.
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Wow. What a story.
ReplyDeleteI live in a "civilized" urban area where dogs stay on leashes and mostly we try not to shoot them. But in many places, dogs are shot down.
I'll never forget the dogs in India - they were not the happy-go-lucky, "smiling" dogs you see in the U.S. They were scary.
Thanks for this!
Hi Reya. In our area, most people keep their dogs contained, but some don't. The pack stayed away from the trailer, where they usually hang out, all weekend. Late yesterday, I saw one of this year's pups investigating and it looked like it started eating on something. I've named that one Hyena. Unfortunately, I think the other adult yellow dog is a female as I saw Leo sniffing around it this morning.
ReplyDeleteDogs are fine, unless they start going about in packs, which is what this sounds like. It's difficult to know what to do for the best, as you have to live next door to them, but I'd start to feel uneasy if they were around.
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