Dog of the Day: Ozzie
Today we meet neighbor Connie’s crazy, puppy-hating, 11-year-old alpha-male-wannabe rescue.
What’s your dog’s name?
Ozzie. He’s a crazy dog.
What makes him crazy?
The terrier is the devil. And he’s a half pointer, which doesn’t help either.
I mean, crazy how?
He hates puppies. That’s an issue I have to deal with. He seems to be a one-person dog. Meaning me. He guards me. He guards the stoop. He sleeps outside my bedroom door.
Sounds like he’s pretty well trained.
Not really. He has been known to bite. I’m very careful with him.
Has Ozzie bitten you?
I was his first victim. I went to Methodist ER. I have a scar. I was ready to give him up, but I worked with him. Whatever it is, it’s inbred. He has a brother who lives on Plaza Street who also has issues.
What is it about puppies? Everyone loves puppies.
It’s all about boundaries. They’re in his face. And they are out of control. That’s what he doesn’t like. Someone has a project where if you see a yellow ribbon halfway on a leash, it’s a warning to other dog owners that the dog may be aggressive to other dogs. I just read about it. I thought that was a really good tactic to keep altercations at bay. Everyone would have to know about it.
You’d have to reach a critical mass.
There are a couple of dogs that are triggers for him. I think he’s a little defensive. A year and a half ago, another dog attacked both of us. It was on the playground here. The dog tried to knock me down, and attacked Ozzie all around. The owner had a huge Rotweiler, 90-something pounds, and then a 60-something pound pit bull. The pit’s leash broke and the dog made a bee-line. We’re just walking, just minding our own business. And this dog rushes over and starts biting him. I’m looking at the owner. And he’s trying to control this larger Rotweiler and he can’t help me. Finally, a parent came out of the playground with a newspaper and started batting him, batted him away. You know what I say about Ozzie? He’s an alpha-wannabe. He’s really a wuss. When that pit bull came at him, he was screaming like a girl. He was not trying to fight back. He just wanted to get away.
Wow. That’s scary.
What if a child were coming out of the playground? So I reported it. Dog-on-dog violence is property damage, but he cracked the skin on my nose. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to report it.