"T" is for Todd and Trouble!

Well, what I'd hoped would be a quiet Easter weekend at home alone, didn't end up that way.

~An Easter gift from a talented friend~

I'll preface this by saying that those of you with Scotties, know that they are a bold and a dignified dog. And they can also be territorial - Todd is no exception to this.  He defends his territory against everything and anything.  When people come to see us, and he's outside he is barking and jumping up at the fence.  He does settle down a few minutes after their arrival.  But I always warn people to keep their hands away from him.

So, when a friend stopped by on Saturday with her adult daughter and the dogs were outside, she asked if she could pet them.  I told her "NO!" that Todd would probably bite her.  I even warned her a second time, and she did listen to my warning.  But there was a quilt laying over the fence, and as Todd was jumping up, he was grabbing it, and so my friends daughter reached over and pulled it back - And can you guess what happened next?  

Yes... At the moment she pulled the quilt back, Todd jumped up and he bit her, caught her "pinkie", whatever you say happened, it doesn't matter, the end result is the same, her finger was bloodied.  My heart sank when I saw it.  Inside we cleaned it off, and agreed that it needed medical attention.

I knew what this meant.  Anytime you need medical attention for a dog-bite, nip or whatever, a report is always filed in the county with Animal Control. I mentioned this to my friend and her daughter to let them know what to expect, and they told me they'd try to keep our names off of any report.  I appreciated they're saying that they would do that, but I knew that it may not be possible.  **And I'll just add here, that I would and do take full responsibility for anything our dogs do, no matter what or even who it may be.  And of course I offered to pay all medical expenses for my friend's daughter, but they graciously refused.  They have been very understanding, nice, etc.,  about it, and admit that a mistake was made in moving the quilt.

After my friend and her daughter left, the reality and what the consequences may be started to swirl in my mind as the "what if's" started to consume me.  A phone call a couple of hours later from my friend telling me that no stitches were needed, and her daughter was just fine was a relief to hear as well as her telling me that they'd not provided our information.

But another phone call from the Sheriff's Office in our county would come later. They had no choice but to file a bite-report against Todd.  My phone call from a deputy would come soon after and he told me that the entire incident did not meet the criteria of what a "dangerous dog" is defined as.  Todd is licensed in the county, up to date with vaccines, and the Deputy confirmed all of his information.  The case is (thankfully) considered closed.  But I've taken this very seriously and as a wake-up-call to not be so complacent when strangers are around because Todd does now have a "criminal record." And I know full well that IF there is a next time, we may not get off so easily now that we know that Todd's bite can be just as bad as his bark!