On this morning's news there was a report of a fire on the North Shore. They were able to save two rabbits, a bird, and a cat. No one was home. But the dog was lost in the fire. According to the homeowners, they believed that the fire may have started because the dog was "surfing" the counter tops looking for food. He may have accidental turned on a knob on the stove.
How do you allow a dog to surf the counter tops? Why wasn't there food in the dog's dish? A beautiful dog was lost because the owners failed to properly train the animal. Part of loving an animal is to train it to behave in an acceptable manner to humans. Walking on the kitchen counter tops is not good behavior on the part of the animal. Any animal.
+2
I was at a friend's house many long years back (about 25 or so), sitting at a their supper table enjoying a pork roast and some spuds with my wife and kids, when the family cat jumped up on the table. The husband of the house was at the opposite end of the table from the cat, and through his fork at it, to scare it off of the table. It was a frustration thing as they had been trying to discourage this cat behavior for some time.
Well, to make a long story short, that fork stuck in the cat's forehead. It didn't do major damage, and the cat lived for many years later. He though twice about jumping up onto the dinner table again though.
I don't promote throwing forks, or anything else at cats. I punched one really hard once, sent him flying across the room. I'd walked into my sister's home, after knocking at the door. Her cat was sitting on the back of a chair, next to the door. When I entered, the animal attacked me and drove his teeth several inches into my left shoulder. I had never before hit an animal, nor have I since. It was purely reflex on my part. Needless to say, the cat kept his distance for a long time.
Sometimes, animal behavior can be hard to control. Sometimes, it's the owner's fault. And sometimes, just as it is with people, the animal gets what it deserves. I've had a few run-ins with dogs when I was a child, dogs that I never did anything to. And sometimes, I'd wished I had had a weapon with me. I lived in the country, and many people let their dogs run free in those days. I am no friend to ornery German Shepherds, or Cocker Spaniels. I am friend to all good dogs and cats, and have even been known to befriend a mean dog, who was mean from fear of abuse, and made friends with the dog. But just as there are badly behaved people, there are badly behaved animals, and it isn't always due to lack of training.
Don't know why I wrote a book about this. Just lots of memories popping into my head of mean dogs that used to scare me witless when I was a child.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North