Jaxx had a nightmare before and during Christmas.

I was so excited for this to be Jaxx's first Christmas. Unfortunately things did not work out as planned.

On Christmas eve my BF took him out for a walk. When it is raining we usually carry him outside because he hates the wet grass and refuses to go in it so we carry him and set him down in the grass. It was pouring down the rain but he must have had to go because he jumped out of Brock's arms and fell on the grass. Thank goodness he did not hit the cement. Brock felt so bad that I don't think Jaxx was out of his sight all night. Fortunately he did not get hurt.

Then last night I took him out right before bed. I saw that there was a lady with a bulldog and another dog where we usually walk but we have seen her before so I did not think anything about it. When a got near her she made some comment about she knew that was going to happen and then both of dogs started coming towards us. I started backing up to get Jaxx away from them but she lost control of both dogs and they started attacking Jaxx. He was so scared that I couldn't even get hold of him. Luckily I use a harness so I was able to grab him that way. The lady blamed me for her dogs attacking Jaxx because she said her dogs do not like any other animal. I am not sure how I was supposed to know that.
Brock was upset and wants me to report the incident to property management but I am not sure what to do.
I am just glad Jaxx is okay although I did have to walk him in a different
area today he started shaking and would not go out usual route.
Hopefully next Christmas is not a nightmare for Jaxx

I had a similar situation recently at work (I work at a pet supply store). A man brought his aggressive Rottweiler in and Teddy was off-leash in the store (he is social and does fine with everyone as long as he is supervised, and the store owner's dog is also off-leash daily). The Rottie saw Teddy coming to greet him and started growling, I told Teddy to "wait" and he stopped dead in his tracks halfway between me and the Rottie. Meanwhile, the Rottie started growling and lunging at Teddy and ended up gouging his owner's arm with his claw. I picked Teddy up and put him safely in the office and went about my workday. A few minutes later the owner came by to show me how bad he was bleeding and tell me (very rudely) that he was injured because of MY dog and that I need to learn to control him. He went outside and told my manager (who is also my friend) "That bitch needs to control her little dog." He lied and said that Teddy had bit him, and my friend looked at the cut and said, "Sorry, I know Teddy and he would never do that. Besides, how would a five- pound Chihuahua cause that much damage?" I was livid because Teddy has never bitten anyone or anything, and I don't think he ever would.

Some people just don't want to take responsibility for their own animals and will do anything to blame others. It's ridiculous. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, though. It must have been terrifying.

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Thanks to Jan for my siggy!

Poor Jaxx, he must have been so frightened by those dogs. It is really frustrating that people don't control their dogs and try to blame others for the lack of obedience. We had a similar situation on Christmas eve when my daughter and I took Bean for a walk on the beach. A guy had his not so friendly dog off the leash (even though it was during the time dogs have to be kept on a leash) and it ran over and growled at Bean. Bean got really scared and wouldn't walk for a while.

Hope Jaxx recovers from this quickly and you can get back to your usual walk.

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Thanks!

I am just glad he is his lively self today. He was so scared last night that we could see the pulse in his leg as he shook and his heart was beating just as fast as he was shaking. I kept him very close to me all night though and he has been with me all day today up until about an hour ago when he decided he wanted to go to his bed.

I agree that if a person has a pet they should take responsibility for it. If I had known that her dogs did not do well around other animals then I would have taken the responsibility to keep Jaxx away from her. We had seen her countless times though and walked by her several times just as close as we were last night and she never mentioned it. She has even talked to me without her animals around when it was just her, Jaxx, and I. (Jaxx gets a lot of attention from other residents in our apartment complex.) If I had pets that did not get along with other animals and I had neighbors that had pets I would warn them so that they would know to keep their distance if they saw my animals and me out walking. I will definitely stay away from her in the future!

Kaila I am glad that your boss/friend stood up for Teddy.

Bean's mom I hope that Bean is over being scared. I understand that dogs need to be able to run and play but I think if there is a leash law or rule then people should follow it.

I am not sure how this lady lost control of her dogs. At first I thought she just dropped the leashes but she was struggling to get them reattached to their collars after I got Jaxx picked up and into my arms.... so I am wondering if she even had them on a collar. I could understand if they just pulled the leashes out of her hands but to actually have both dogs get the collars off the leashes I find that weird.

Do your best not to coddle Jaxx after the incident. You have to demonstrate through your own actions that you will protect him and he has nothing to fear. Look into clicker training-- it's something you can do at home and it can do wonders for a dog that lacks confidence. Classical conditioning (think Pavlov's dogs) with a clicker can change the emotional state of an animal and change a negative association with a place/animal/activity/person into a positive one. It just requires patience and consistency!

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Thanks to Jan for my siggy!

Aww, poor Jaxx! 2 scares in 2 days is not good for a little guy.

It always baffles me how people can just shrug their shoulders and say they can't do anything about their dogs behaviour. Take responsibility and put in the work with them or don't have a dog - simple really!

Hopefully you can just avoid them in the future and Jaxx can still enjoy his walks.