With all this chatting about dogs I remembered an encounter a year or so ago that actually ended fairly well, although I wasn't too sure at first.
I was working solo on a job in a fairly rural area.?ÿ I needed to get into a pasture to look for a corner and had called the owner for the gate combination.?ÿ When I asked if there were any dogs he said yes, but "Tootsie" shouldn't be any trouble as she usually stayed around the barn.
I let myself in the gate and as I drove past the barn headed for a sixteenth corner post I noticed "Tootsie" was a 80 pound tan 'pit bull'.?ÿ She ran alongside the truck barking ferociously as I drove into the pasture.?ÿ I hoped she would get bored with me before I made it to the fence corner to dig up a pin.
When I got there I couldn't see or hear the dog so I cautiously stepped out of the truck calling her name in a sweet tone.?ÿ No dog. I crept around behind the truck to look...still no dog.?ÿ I though I was home safe and grabbed my shovel.?ÿ I happened to glance back at the cab (with the door I had left open) and there sat Tootsie sitting in the passenger side.
I walked around and looked at her (from a good half chain distance) and called her name.?ÿ She just sat there looking at me.?ÿ Only when I started calling her name and trying to coax her out of the truck did she start raising hell with me...but never moving off her haunches.?ÿ I called the property owner back to see what I could do.
"Oh, she likes to ride in my truck when I go feed cattle.?ÿ I guess that's what she's wanting", he told me.
So let me get this straight.?ÿ I'm gonna have to sit next to a pit bull that weighs more than my first girlfriend just to make her think I'm feeding cows??ÿ The owner said that's all he could think of.?ÿ He also cautioned me against trying to grab her collar as she apparently doesn't cotton much to that...wouldn't even consider it..
I was sweet-talking her as I eased up into the seat.?ÿ All she did was put one paw on the dashboard.?ÿ So far so good.?ÿ I put it in gear and slowly headed back up the fence line for the barn.?ÿ I also kept my driver side door ajar in case I needed to get out quickly.?ÿ Made it to the barn and she stood up wagging her butt where a tail might have once been.?ÿ I got out of the truck and she followed me.?ÿ Thank God.?ÿ I hopped back up in the truck and shut the door.?ÿ I was able to get back out on the road and shut the gate without her following me.
I never did find that 16th. corner.?ÿ 😉
While working on a project in Corona Del Mar man in a Rolls Royce stopped me and asked if I was a licensed surveyor and if so would I come to see him after I was done.?ÿ He gave me his nearby address, and my son, who was working with me that day, and I went to see him.
When the maid answered the door she was accompanied by two of the biggest German Shepard dogs I have ever seen.?ÿ The owner came to the door and all of us, including the dogs, went out back to see his problem.?ÿ While he was pointing and gesticulating the two dogs decided to play in the pool, and the owner encouraged it by tossing a ball into the pool for them to retrieve.?ÿ
We agreed on the scope and cost of the work and I told him I wouldn't be able to set up my instrument with the dogs running around and under it.?ÿ So he put the dogs, dripping wet, somewhere while we completed our work.
As we were leaving I asked what he had done with the dogs since they were all wet, presuming he didn't let them in the house.?ÿ He said he put them in the garage in the Rolls Royce because it was the only place that could handle two big, wet dogs and recover!
Years ago I agreed to do a job about 40 miles from home on a Sunday afternoon to expedite the client's situation.?ÿ Last thing before hanging up I asked if he had a watch dog because he had told me he would be two hours away while we were at his house.?ÿ "Oh, yeah.?ÿ His name is Jake.?ÿ When you pull in the driveway he will try to tear the tires off of your vehicle between barks.?ÿ Stop.?ÿ Put your window down a bit.?ÿ Then talk to him for a bit being sure to call him by name several times.?ÿ That convinces him that you know him and he should know you.?ÿ Once he here's his name nicely a few times he will go lay on his bed while you do what you need to do."
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By golly, it worked like a charm.
Years ago I agreed to do a job about 40 miles from home on a Sunday afternoon to expedite the client's situation.?ÿ Last thing before hanging up I asked if he had a watch dog because he had told me he would be two hours away while we were at his house.?ÿ "Oh, yeah.?ÿ His name is Jake.?ÿ When you pull in the driveway he will try to tear the tires off of your vehicle between barks.?ÿ Stop.?ÿ Put your window down a bit.?ÿ Then talk to him for a bit being sure to call him by name several times.?ÿ That convinces him that you know him and he should know you.?ÿ Once he here's his name nicely a few times he will go lay on his bed while you do what you need to do."
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By golly, it worked like a charm.
Telling a dog to "GO LAY DOWN!"?ÿ is one of the first things I try when I run into a particularly noisy dog.?ÿ It only works every now and again...but it's always worth a try.
GO LAY DOWN!"?ÿ
Or "GIT HOME!"
These are probably commands they hear a lot...
Works for me, most of the time.
Never been bit; chased up a tree by a couple of Saint Bernard's once; but never bit. I've been with people, mostly rodmen, that have been bit. It helps to be faster.
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GO LAY DOWN!"
These are probably commands they hear a lot...
... if they are well-trained.?ÿ But how many dogs out there are not so well trained, but just have owners who feed them and maybe go for a walk.
With them bovine teats I'll bet you are paranoid around wiener dogs and ferrets, ain't ya? ????
@flga
OMG! Anything resembling an ankle biter might get a hold on one of those and "LLLLLLLOOOOOOORRRRRRRDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYY would that hurt?"
BTW, they know when the snow is getting too deep.
I've had good results using doggy treats and even used a can of Alpo once when we had to locate the back corners of a neighboring lot.?ÿ A certain German Shepherd wasn't going to have anything to do with us in his back yard, until we fed him a can of Alpo.?ÿ Then he was our biggest buddy.?ÿ The IO even got him to dance around with him on his hind feet.?ÿ He was happy as a doggy could be.
My yellow lab used to bark at the mailman until he started to slip treats through the mail slot.?ÿ Then when the mail came, it was like one of the highlights of his doggy day.
I have had a jar of doggy treats in the work truck before for that reason.
We did this job waaaay back about 1979, or 1980. The guy was married to a woman preacher, and she brought in the money. He had bought this land way back in the sticks, with 10 miles of dirt road to get there. He had this dream of self sufficiency. So he built a big green house. And got 2 dobermans. They were very confident in their own opinions. The survey equipment we had had no batteries. The EDM was on a reel, that said hi-way or Keuffel & Esser on the side. Well, somehow, we broke the tape. I think an unexpected auto ran it over, making it some 163' long. And, the piece that was 37' long had the add portion on it. Anyway, these 2 dobermans were chained in the front yard. And they barked. Non stop. Now, we were hollering out the taped distances, with the broke tape, with those dobermans chronic barking. It was nearly impossible. (The part away from the house was ok), but, he wanted 3 acres around the house cut out. This was becoming impossible. If we hollered, those Doberman went to it. Finally, the owner came out with a roll of duct tape, and taped their mouths shut. Now, they were on their chains, on a hot humid Arkansas afternoon, slobbering, and going wuuff-wuuff-wuuff--snort-wuufff! For the rest of the day. It muffled them enough to work, but it was still nerve racking.
We came back later, to set corners.
Nothing like the noise, of 2 dobies, on chains, with duct tape.
N
Entered the local family-operated plumbing shop yesterday where the fur-grandchildren (two dachshunds) have the run of the place.?ÿ The second I stepped in the front door they sounded off as if the world was coming to an end.?ÿ The man I needed to see was on the telephone and couldn't hear (defecatory material) for the barking.?ÿ He looked at his wife with a look of anguish.?ÿ His wife grabbed a shock collar, ran over and put it around the neck of the lead fur-grandchild.?ÿ Both it and it's companion stopped barking immediately.?ÿ She looked at me, smiled and said, "She hasn't figured out yet that the battery is dead in that thing."
the owner came out with a roll of duct tape, and taped their mouths shut.
No. That's just wrong.
and here i was expecting to read about a perplexed canine in the company of a... non-binary person.
For Norman those dogs had the tape 1/2 off, in about an HR. And, all the way off in another 1/2 HR. They were smart.
N
"Entered the local family-operated plumbing shop yesterday where the fur-grandchildren (two dachshunds) have the run of the place."
????
I was at home the first time a UPS driver stopped by the new house. We talked as we both walked back towards his truck with my dog following behind. I told him the dog has gotten loose a few times and the next time don't walk my package up to the house, just put it by the drive. Driver says that's ok he's made friends with all the dogs on the route. He pulled out a treat from his pants and tried to get my dog to take it. He wouldn't go near the driver, just kept staring at him. I told him the dog is very stand offish but is ok when I'm around, just leave the packages. He said he'd make friends yet and threw the treat to the dog. Dog let it hit the ground then proceeded to pee on it. Driver said he'd leave my packages. Roscoe was the best dog but truly a one person dog. You'd have to chase him down to get bit when I was home but he was very territorial when I wasn't that's why he always stayed in the house after I figured he was always going to find a way to get loose. Didn't have neighbors but you never no when some damned surveyor was going to stop by.
My recent dog scare came a few months ago while surveying an old vacant house on a 50 x 150 lot.?ÿ
Having worked nearby, I knew going in that the survey wasn??t going to be as simple as the lot size.?ÿ
There is about 40 feet between our house and the neighbors with two unhappy pit bulls chained up between.
They can just almost reach our house.
Thanks to reflectorless mode, we don??t have to get between the houses. After collecting the shots needed in the backyard, I??m deep in thought about the pins we just shot and headed to the truck for lunch with the instrument in one hand, and tripod and bush axe tucked under the other arm. About halfway up between the houses, my mistake dawns on me. ?ÿI look up and these two pit bulls are looking at me and each other and I swear I think they grin. They charge and I run. Thankful for the chains holding and that I had the presence of mind to hold onto the equipment (unlike when being chased by yellow jackets).
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