Nadine Williams

Oscar survives another misadventure

Oscar safe home again

Pretty puppy pooch, Oscar. has had another dramatic event which had him screaming  for his life.

My dear friend, Sheryl, dog-sits Oscar often because she has two doggies of her own – an old shi tsu terrier cross and a 14-month-old pomeronian – two months older than my little poodle/shi tsu cross. The two young dogs love each other and romp like lambs the whole time Sheryl cares for them.

This day she had said her daughter’s dog was  also staying, but he supposedly was a gentle giant of a dog and when I asked,she replied “ yes”, she could handle four dogs.

However, as Sheryl unlocked the screen door of her home one huge Rottweiler lunged at Oscar, who was contained on his lead, and the sequence of events thereafter are a terrifying blur. Sheryl  scooped up the screaming Oscar virtually  from the jaws of his predator and held him above her head.

“Give him to me!’’ I shout. And I am also losing my cool. I call out again. But Rottweiler jumps up on Sheryl’s chest and with his huge paw, scratches her arm trying to reach my terrified pet. Now Sheryl  is screaming to the vicious hound to get down and I grab Oscar from her hands  and run to the living room. Sheryl pushes Rottweiler to the floor, grabs him by his collar and brusquely takes him outside – locking the doggie door so the small dogs cannot get out.

Not that Oscar was going anywhere.  He was severely shocked. We sat him on a cushion on the couch and he did not move for half an hour.  Chloe, the sweet Pomeronian with her long black silky coat and perky brown face, kept licking Oscar to try and get him to revert to his usual playful mood.  But he, who usually spends his time trying to bonk Chloe, was having none of her persuasion. He sat mute.

Sheryl and I devoured a stiff drink to restore our equilibrium and after an hour of discussion relating events, surmising what might have been and recalling all the latest doggie-attack stories from the media, I had relaxed sufficiently. That dog, glaring at us through the glass double doors, would have devoured by darling doggie.

There was no option, but to  pick up my little bundle, still quivering in the way of his breed, and take Oscar home once more.

The message of this story is simple. This event reflects why dogs must be restrained on public beaches and at other places, too, because there was no warning this Rottweiler would turn vicious and it brought no comfort to surmise that he thought this tiny dog was a white rat.  It could have been someone’s child on a public beach – and Sheryl certainly warned her daughter that this dog cannot be taken into public places unless on a leash. Because it is the owner’s responsibility to keep the dog contained and the owner is responsible for any harm done by their pet..

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