not all dogs are created equal

There are a lot of dogs in our neighborhood. A lot. Most of them are nice enough. Millie doesn't love other dogs as a rule, so we usually keep our distance when walking around the neighborhood. One problem we have, though, are our next door neighbor's dogs. They hate Millie and they hate us. With a passion.

I'm not sure when these dogs began to loathe us. When we first moved into the house both Steven and I met the dogs and I remember one even sloppily licking my hand. They seemed like normal dogs (they are both boxers, one is old and the other is not as old). But something changed and now they want to bite us (I'll get to that in a minute).

I think one thing that hasn't helped in this situation is the fact that Millie and these dogs are arch enemies. If I had to venture a guess as to why, I'd say that it is probably because the dogs each think that the other is on their property. Our lawn mixes with the neighbor's lawn and there really is no defining point between our two yards. That's fine with us, but for the dogs this is a big problem.

99% of the time the dogs don't meet face to face, but every now and then the boxer dogs will be outside when we come out with Millie. The boxers aren't on leashes (problem #1) and the owners don't seem to understand that these dogs are vicious (problem #2). Last week I came outside with Millie and the two boxers charged at her and there was a big dog pile fight. It was quickly resolved, but I'm sure it left some lasting impression with all the dogs that they aren't friends. And since Steven and I are Millie's owners, we must be the enemy too.

All this leads me to yesterday. We have been doing a lot of yard work in preparation for painting our house. We have removed so much vegetation from around our house, I have no idea where we have been keeping it all. Yesterday I was moving brush from the back of the house to the front of the house where we have a giant pile of yard debris. Our fence door and the neighbor's fence door are right next to each other. We have a wooden fence and they have chain-link. The problem with their fence door is that if the dogs push up against it (say, for example, when they are barking and snarling at us), the door will open and viola!, the dogs are loose. This happens occasionally, and it happened yesterday.

As soon as it happened, I noticed something different in the dog's eye. It's kind of hard to explain, but it wasn't puppy love. It was the thirst for blood. My blood! I'm not sure I have ever seen this look directed at me from a dog before. I'm not exactly sure what I said to the dogs while this was happening, but I could have been screaming at the top of my lungs for all I know. One of the dogs was right in front of me, blocking my exit and barking madly. What was especially scary was the way the dog was positioned: in front of me, down in a crouch. I know this was because this beast was deciding whether or not to bite me. I really thought I was going to get bitten, which I don't think I have ever felt before.

To our neighbor's credit, whenever they hear doggie commotion, they come outside immediately and bring their hounds inside. Luckily, yesterday was no exception. The woman next door was very apologetic and seemed genuinely concerned when I told her I thought her dog was going to bite me.

We continued our outside work and at one point the dogs came towards the fence again. This time I wasn't playing around, so I took a ladder and barricaded the dogs in. They could bark at me all they wanted, but I was all set with loose vicious hounds chasing me. I'd had enough doggie aggression for one day.

Our neighbor suggested us (and Millie) meeting their dogs so that we get to know them a little better. I'm up for anything because these dogs are getting on my nerves! Woof.