A Most Unusual Encounter
Right, well, I've been going on and on about socializing Ace. I've encountered pretty much every size, shape and gender of human being with him. I thought I had covered all the bases... until today.
Enter CDL - Crazy Dog Lady. She was peculiarly dressed this fine Friday evening - I could see her... ahem... undies from a mile away, saying hello over the waistline of her pants. You'd expect this sort of outfit from the younger generation, maybe, but this lady was easily pushing 60. She had a fake tan, peroxide-bleached hair, and the voice that only two packs a day of cigs could make. You know the type!
So she waltzes up to my husband and me just as we were entering the courtyard of our apartment complex. It's been a pretty long day and we (Ace included) just want to turn in for the night. Well, CDL isn't about to let that happen. She greets us and says she's seen the flyer I put up about needing volunteers to socialize Ace. Cool! I have had ZERO people actually call me, and she says she has been meaning to. CDL squats down in front of Ace and says she'd like to help out. Great, I say.
And then she crouches down in front of him, makes direct eye contact, and starts saying "Viens là" (Come here, in French) about a MILLION times. I was about to say that I train him in English, and offer some dry cat kibble I happen to have in a Tupperware (long story). She says No pretty brusquely, and says she needs to get him to come without the aid of food. I think to myself, Good luck, especially when she gets off on the wrong foot by getting directly up in Ace's grill.
Then, disaster. She demands a bisou (kiss). Okay lady, you're pushing it. Even I haven't had a kiss from Ace and I freaking own him and spend 24 hours a day within arm's reach of him. How does she set out to accomplish this? CDL grabs the leash that was in my husband's hands and tugs Ace toward her leathery, suntanned face. At this point, my dog is silently freaking out and doing tons of calming signals to try and defuse the situation. He's looking everywhere else than into her stony gaze, and his feet are gripping the paved ground with all their might. He does NOT want to kiss her.
CDL grabs his collar (at this point I motion for Ben to get Ace out of this lady's grasp) and pulls him in towards her. My husband says "It's time for us to be going", and she refuses to let him go. Oh god. We've officially entered Crazy Town. She grabs him forcefully and says in a most sinister voice, "He should spend two or three days in my flat with my dog. It would be good for him". What the flipping heck? NO. Let the F go of my dog, NOW. Ben had to pretty much wrestle Ace out of her death grip in the most polite way possible, and then we booked it back home.
What the hell just happened? Did this lady try to dognap Ace... in front of us? I think my husband and I reacted so late because we didn't realize just how far someone could go in forcing themselves on to our dog. Ace isn't any worse for wear, and I sincerely hope that this didn't set him back further, but yeah. CDL is officially black listed. @_@
Edit: HOW COULD I FORGET? She also asked if Ace was beaten in his early life. I said no, my husband said no. She said he obviously was, and that we had been lied to. At this point I was asking myself if this was real life. This lady was TELLING US that our dog, whom we love and adore, was obviously coming from a broken home. Yes, clearly all shy dogs aren't under-socialized, they necessarily must be beaten. What the F!
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Comment by Marah and Thomas Baker on April 9, 2012 at 12:19am
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That.is.in-freakin-sane! People are crazy!
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Comment by Shou on April 4, 2012 at 4:53am
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Oh my. Poor Ace! I'd be scared too, if a scary lady came up and demanded me to go towards her. And I can at least speak up for myself! I hate when people don't know how to read dogs body language. They treat dogs like kids... And then blame the dogs when they don't get the behavior they want. :\ Good luck with socializing Ace though! Too bad I'm not in France, or I would love to come and meet him!
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Comment by Lucy & Ricky (Wendy/Jack ) on April 3, 2012 at 5:22pm
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thanks, ludi. venir, as i'm sure you know, has the same meaning in spanish, but w/ very different pronunciation. i don't dare tackle french. it's beyond my ability! ; )
is french your first language? you write like english is your first language. where did you grow up? have you spent time in the states? how did you choose a corgi? stop me if i'm asking too many questions. i don't want you to feel like i'm grilling you!
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Comment by Ludi on April 2, 2012 at 8:26am
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The verb "to come" is venir, and viens is the conjugation in the you (informal) form. So, when one says "Viens ici" it means "Come here". The thing is, we can use "Viens là" with là technically meaning "there", but to mean the same thing, except a little... gentler? Less of an imposition? It's sort of like when in English, we say "there there". It doesn't really make sense, but we use it in a compassionate way. I'm not a linguist so I cannot explain further. :D
As for the incident, Ace hasn't spooked around humans yet so I suppose he didn't get some weird scar from being grabbed and wrestled over. That's all I care about, in the end. If this lady wants to try that stuff again, at least I'll see her coming. :D
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@Ludi - Children can be so unpredictable around dogs, so I understand why some dogs want to keep their distance. I'm amazed when parents let their kids just run and stick their heads in my corgis' faces. I always taught my kids to ask the owner if their dog likes kids and if it's ok to pet their dog.
I don't blame you for wanting to move on from the CDL incident. I have, lol. I've already forgotten what the initials stand for. She's just a crazy lady without boundaries. BTW, what do "Viens là" and "Viens ici" mean. I understand the concept of formal and familiar speech, even though we don't have it here, verbally. We definitely make the distinction w/ our body language, facial expression and tone.
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I am French, Kevan! :) We use "Viens là" for dogs and children, a lot. "Viens ici" is a little more of an imposition, whereas with là it's sort of gentler. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it does to my ears. ;) As for this lady's intentions, well, I have largely moved on from the incident, but what haunts me is how she just grabbed Ace (like, wrapped her arms around him and dragged him over to her) and said it would do him well to stay with her for 2-3 days. It's kind of odd for a Good Samaritan to be so... demanding. :D
And yeah, kids are really becoming better these days with dogs, moreso than older teens or adults. I really like that my neighbors are educating their kids correctly about how to behave around dogs. They are polite, friendly and ALWAYS ask permission to approach, no matter how many times they've seen Ace. It's refreshing. :)
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Comment by Emily & Scout on April 1, 2012 at 3:36pm
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It seems kids are, a lot of the time, more polite around dogs than adults. I took Scout to my future niece's Easter egg hunt yesterday and there were so many kids. Scout is awesome around kids, so I just let Mackenzie lead her around on the leash and show her off (While I followed closely). All the kids asked before petting, pet her on the back, and didn't smother her. I was so proud of Scout yesterday. Glad you also have kids like that. I think it's even more important for a dog to behave around kids, since kids are (usually) more unpredictable in behavior.
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Comment by Kevan hudson on March 31, 2012 at 8:58pm
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Hi,the woman said vien la? That means come there.vien ici means come here.je parle francais un petite puet.Benson is o.k. with people, no matter what.I do ask people not to put their faces close to his though,especially kids.poor Ace , he could sense your frustration, hopefully he won't carry this incident for too long,I like to think our dogs can deal with all kinds of people,my Abbie had an old guy I worked with grab her tail and start twisting it,before I could even say anything she got her tail free and moved away with a big growl.later when he left she went up and licked his hand.I am sure ,that while you find these people's actions offensive,they were not intended that way,move on ,forget it, remember that most people have best intentions in their hearts,move on.
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Oh yeah, and about TELLING me that Ace had to have been abused to be so shy... that was just a real WTF moment. I had to ask myself, Did this lady really just say that? Who goes around informing people that a dog, of whose living situation she knows NOTHING of, is being abused physically? This is literally the first time we encountered her in person, and previously, what she knew of me was that I was putting up flyers to get my puppy socialized. Isn't that proof enough that I'm probably not a terribad dog owner? What kind of abusive parent would then put time into their dog like this?
Just made me shake my head.
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Thank you Katy and Jen! I abhor confrontation, but I'm starting to get really defensive about Ace. Not only is there CDL to worry about in my complex, but there's also a very hard-of-hearing old man who looks like he ate a nation's stockpile of sausages. He yells, as he's close to deaf, and has no doggie manners whatsoever. I've resorted to putting myself between Ace's face and this guy when I see him turn the corner towards us. Fat Deaf Guy is definitely doing more harm than good, here.
As for kids, I am SO lucky that there are a handful of little girls living here that are extremely polite around dogs. They all queue up when outside with Ace, and look to me for guidance on how to approach him. It is really refreshing, after seeing so many adults just shove their faces in Ace's field of vision. Ace really likes female human beings, and has gotten to appreciate female children as a result. He used to be mortified by kids - they move so erratically and screech when excited. But these kids have done a lot of work in turning his opinion around. :)
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