Thrills, chills and spills at the dog run

[sanford]

I'm reporting this just to commiserate with any other cairn owners who have had their share of (mis)adventures with their terriers:

Yesterday, Ruffy and I were enjoying the early evening November darkness at the run, when unnoticed by me, a joyfully exuberant , 80 lb lab came speeding up and jumped with both his front paws and full weight against my chest and shoulders, knocking me backwards, completely off my feet. I fell straight back, just like a downed tree, unable to even try to break my fall. Although I was physically unharmed, the wind was knocked out of me, cap knocked of my head, and leash knocked out of my hand. To add insult to injury, I was unable to get up because the ground was a 20 degree hilly slope, and I was flat on my back  with my head pointing downhill and feet pointing uphill, with the happy lab panting in my face, completely straddling my chest with his total weight as I flailed about, like an overturned tortoise. Of course, folks came running to help, but not before the lab jumped off and a wonderfully goofy golden retriever actually took his place on top of me!

I guess what saved me was my heavy winter jacket and the fact that rain had ended earlier in the day and the damp ground was soft enough to cushion my fall. During the 2 block walk back home, I didn't even have the presence of mind to think about brushing off leaf litter, bark chips or muddy paw prints, so the sight of me in the hallway mirror was pretty scary, but at least I could laugh at it. (I wish I had thought to take a photo).

 

 

Edited November 26, 2019 by sanford

[bradl]

Yikes!  I'm not sure laughing is the appropriate response to your experience (and a vivid, terrifying description of it you provide) but the tag team pinning by a goofy Golden is just too much.  I'm glad you survived without serious injury. Be careful out there, folks  

[pkcrossley]

Quote

 

right not to laugh but it is pretty funny, since you weren't hurt. dressing like the Michelin Man has many advantages. you must be really popular at the dog park!

now, during all this, Ruffy was doing exactly what?

 

 

[Sam I Am]

Wow..that is potentially really bad ..you could have gotten a bad concussion..glad you are ok.....and where did Ruffy land up after the leash slipped out of your hand? Sam would have been in another province 

[hheldorfer]

19 hours ago, pkcrossley said:

right not to laugh but it is pretty funny, since you weren't hurt. dressing like the Michelin Man has many advantages. you must be really popular at the dog park!

now, during all this, Ruffy was doing exactly what?

 

 

I was wondering the same thing.  Did Ruffy attempt to leap to your defense?

[sanford]

4 hours ago, hheldorfer said:

I was wondering the same thing.  Did Ruffy attempt to leap to your defense?

Of course not! His instinct for self-preservation kicked in and he quickly jumped aside to avoid being flattened by me.

I posted this experience hoping it would prompt others to share their own cairn-related experiences/mishaps. 

Still waiting...

[bradl]

38 minutes ago, sanford said:

I posted this experience hoping it would prompt others to share their own cairn-related experiences/mishaps. 

Well if I go missing it's because I've tripped over Stella. She has become some sort of foot-magnet and intuitively knows the exact right move to get underfoot at any given moment. 

[hheldorfer]

My most memorable mishap (excuse the alliteration) with Buffy occurred about a month after we adopted her.  I was walking her early in the morning before work and she - not yet accustomed to walking - was dashing everywhere and generally being a frisky Cairn.  A woman was walking a Bichon on the other side of the street.  Buffy wanted to meet the Bichon so she promptly slipped her collar and ran over to say hello.  The Bichon responded by slipping *her* collar, and the two of them went racing down the street side by side as if it was the greatest fun *ever*.  I chased after them and luckily - after two blocks or so - Buffy noticed a couple walking down the street and ran over to meet them.  I yelled ahead for them to please try and hold Buffy, which they did.  Once I caught up to her, Buffy happily accepted her collar and we walked back home.  (The owner of the Bichon got her dog back too.)

 

 

[Kathryn]

Glad you are okay..

I stopped going to our dog park after an aggressive dog bullied my last cairn, Allie. I picked her up to get her away from him, and that mean dog then bit me - hard! - on the thigh. I complained to the owner, who leashed her dog and hightailed it out of there. I had a huge bruise the next day. 

Allie had some bad dog park habits anyway. There was a large tin pan for water (the kind you would use to drain you car oil, if you did it yourself...),  and folks would bring gallon jugs of water down to fill it up. When Allie got hot from running in the summer, she would race back to the water pan and CLIMB IN..circle, and lie down to cool off. Okay, I guess (spitty stinky water though) - but if other dogs came near for water she would growl and warn them off, refusing to let them drink. My little princess...

You were lucky, Sanford, that you were not hurt. How did the dog owners act after their dogs took turns jumping on you?

[Islander]

It wasn't Gus's fault! I had him on a long leash to keep him out of the river and I was also using hiking sticks. Bad idea. When I tripped over ??? the leash got tangled in the sticks and I fell on them at a weird angle and chipped two finger bones. Was in a sling for six weeks and it was over a year before I could make a fist again. No, not to punch Gus, it really wasn't his fault, although he might have been off leash if he were not an addicted fisherman. Ever since then it's been either leash or sticks - not both. I've found that the rougher the trail, the more dangerous the leash.

[sanford]

On November 28, 2019 at 12:48 PM, Kathryn said:

...that mean dog then bit me - hard! - on the thigh... Allie would race back to the water pan and CLIMB IN..circle, and lie down to cool off. - but if other dogs came near for water she would growl and warn them off, refusing to let them drink... How did the dog owners act after their dogs took turns jumping on you?

• Ouch! You were lucky that the bite wasn't worse. 

• At our dog park, lots of pooches seem to like to splash around in the large pans of water. We are lucky to have running water, so we are constantly rinsing and refilling the pans. Ruffy is very willing to share the pan when he and others are drinking, but when he decides to bathe, he wants his privacy and growls at the others to keep away.

• Folks were really nice - we all basically know each other - They came running over and pulled their dogs off and were very concerned that I was OK. Once I realized that I was all right, I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation - I was so relieved to have survived unscathed!