Attack Me Once, Shame On You - Attack Me Twice, SHAME ON ME!

That's it! Absolutely no more walking in my neighborhood with my dogs. There is just too much danger because of all the bully breeds! The neighbor behind me that had the Pit Bull - the one that I put the new fence between us - has gotten rid of his because it had attacked his Pomeranian 3 times.

It was relatively cool this morning and I wanted to walk the dogs. Haven't been doing it lately because of the heat. We got through the walk without incident. But as we returned home I noted the Pit Bull mama dog - the one I thought was the stray - that had followed us before. It was out in the street with a little boy who seemed to be playing with her. Another boy was mowing the lawn. I stopped to check the mail and the Pit Bull rushed toward us. All 3 of my dogs started lunging and barking and the little boy was running behind yelling at his dog. Then it was just a blur as I pulled my dogs back and he tried to restrain his dog, who didn't have a collar or a leash. He seemed to have her under control, but then she got loose and rushed at us again. This time Trip charged back and the Pit Bull grabbed him. I totally lost it. Started kicking and swinging with my stick and the Pit Bull dropped him. PBoy and Tater were barking and snapping at the Pit Bull's legs and the little boy was yelling at me to quit hitting the dog. Then he grabbed the stick out of my hands and I continued to kick at his dog. She never got another good hold on any of my dogs because I was like a wild woman. Cursing and kicking and pulling my dogs away swinging them in the air. At some point, I'm not sure when, I fell and scraped my knee. Some dog - might have been one of mine - bit my finger and it's bloody but not really hurt.

The little boy's mother came out in the midst of all this chaos and grabbed her dog getting her somewhat under control. She said "Quit kicking my dog! She doesn't bite!" And I said, "The Hell she doesn't! That's such bullshit!" During this lull in the action I rushed off - running my dogs back home to safety.

Checked them all out and only Trip has a minor puncture bite wound on the inside of his back thigh. No one else was injured - except me. I fixed myself up with some Neosporin and a band aid. I'll have Gina take Trip to the vet tomorrow just to make sure he's ok and present the owners directly with the bill. And you know what I'll do if they refuse to pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After I made sure we were all ok physically, I went back to retrieve my stick, radio, and pedometer all of which were abandoned during the fray. The two boys, their mother, and their father were all out on their porch. I approached them and asked if their dog was ok. She said that she was fine. I apologized for kicking and hitting her dog, but I felt it was necessary to protect my dogs.

The father then said, "You had your dogs on a leash. Why didn't you keep them under control?" I about lost it, but somehow I calmly replied "My dogs were under control. Yours was not. There are rules in this neighborhood about keeping your dog on a leash when they are outside the yard. I've seen your dog running around before and thought she was a stray because she had no collar. She never tried to attack us before, but she did this time. " I then told them about Porch Boy being attacked and pointed out the house where that Pit Bull lived. I told them that it cost me $1100 in vet bills and they even had to have that dog put down.

I then said, "I want to be neighborly about this, but you are responsible for whatever your dog does when it's not under control and letting her out to run around is dangerous." The mom then said that their fence had been damaged and that was how she got out before but they got it fixed. Then the dog had dug under the fence to get out to play with the next door neighbor's dog. And this morning the boys had let her out while they were cutting the grass. But most of the time she is kept on a chain in the back yard.

I said that if I ever saw the dog out again I would report it to Harris County Animal Control and then told them exactly what would happen. They would come out and if the dog was properly restrained they would give them a copy of the rules and regulations. If the dog was not contained they would take her in and euthanize her because they don't adopt out bully breeds. She said she understood. The man then said "You'll have no more trouble from our dog. But I still don't think you should have been hitting her with a stick." Neither of them apologized. The boys just glared at me the entire time.

WHAT IS UP WITH THESE PIT BULL OWNERS???? IS IT NOT IN THEIR VOCABULARY??? A SIMPLE "I'm sorry"?????Is that really so hard to say?????????

Well, I know now that even carrying a stick doesn't guarantee safety on our walks. That dog was intent on attacking us even while I was hitting it and kicking it. So, no more walks EVER in my neighborhood. I will only walk them at Tom Bass Park where all dogs must be on leashes. What a hassle. To put them in the car and take them over there. But it must be done.