Don't be messing the Warrior Princess

Happy 10th Birthday, Brown Dog! More on your special day in a few paragraphs....I've got to get some blog therapy first.

Today, the neighborhood bully dog attacked us during our morning walk. There's no other way to put it, as this time blood was involved. It's the same stupid dog that's come after us dozens of times. Seems the owner takes a chance that nothing will walk by and lets the dog out without a leash (no fence in the back yard) so it will pee and come back in without incident. I understand this thinking and have done it many a time...but, after dozens of times, I would think--I would HOPE--this lady would catch on. Not so much.

The usual scenario goes like this:
Walking the dogs, walking the dogs....quiet, calm, peaceful morning....Lucy stops, looks--UH OH!
Big, bold, blond hairy dog ROMPING toward us...Blond hairy dog runs recklessly across the street to get to us....circling, circling, growling, snapping, circling...Freckles snaps & Lucy screams...wife piddling...Lady comes running out in bathrobe, Lady screams at her dog, Lucy continues to FREAK OUT. There isn't much we can do--this is one big dog and it doesn't back down despite the gallant efforts of Freckles Warrior Princess. We wait til the bathrobe lady grabs her dog and drags him home. Lucy honks (all that barking and pulling on the leash has choked her), Freckles snorts and pants in exhaustion. No one worse for the wear.

How much fun is that? Not much.

This morning, Freckles decided she had had quite enough of this neighborhood canine bully. Don't be messing with the Warrior Princess. She is small and mighty. She is the alpha dog. She is the bitch! She is the protector of us. She is the protector of Lucy. She has HAD ENOUGH of this nonsense. We are walking this morning when here comes the charging dog, here comes the usual scene, here comes Freckles going into overdrive. Someone bit someone--I'm not sure who or what because I was so busy with Lucy (who was going crazy) and because I was looking into the rising sun, I couldn't see much, but Freckles had blood on her face, so someone was bleeding from somewhere. I saw snarling and white teeth and the wife doing her best to fend for herself. I'm yelling for the dog in an effort to distract it and it comes towards us and Lucy has lost her mind.

You ever see those monkey toys with the cymbals? That's what Lucy looked like--her eyes were bulging and her teeth were in full view, just like the cymbal-playing monkey toy. I've never seen her look like that before, but there she was--Monkey Cymbal Dog.

Suffice it to say, bathrobe lady came out and grabbed her dog, Lucy was honking and Freckles was bleeding, albeit just a dot. Proud, victorious, top dog--our hero, Freckles Warrior Princess. If I find any serious injuries, I will be making a visit to bathrobe lady. In preparation for the next time that dog comes after us, I will program Animal Services phone number in my cell phone.

Don't think I won't call, bathrobe lady! Don't mess with the Warrior Princess OR the Warrior Princess' mama! We are both bitches. Growl! SNAP!

Thankfully, we had something much more fun to do this afternoon--Brown Dog had a birthday party! I can't even fathom that Brown Dog is ten. (I can't believe Freckles will be ten this summer--time flies when you're having canine fun.) Complete with Frosty Paws dog ice cream, Freckles and Lucy enjoyed an afternoon birthday party at the gaybors' abode. Well, Freckles enjoyed it--Lucy, not so much. See, the gaybors have a new puppy--Bitty Bichon--and Lucy just isn't a dog dog. If you look at the party collage above, you can see Lucy sitting in the corner, behind a basket. She did like the frosty paws ice cream and seemed to enjoy stealing Brown Dog's toys, so not all way lost. (Brown dog had oral surgery this week, so she was especially excited to see some ice cream.)

Bitty Bichon, Brown Dog's puppy sister, is a feisty one. Thankfully, Freckles found her to be amusing and only 'corrected' her a time or two (and not with much oomph, quite to Bitty Bichon's mama). At one point of the party, Bitty Bichon took hold of Freckles tail and BB was.not.letting.go. It's hard to take a photo of a puppy biting your dog's tail when you are holding the dog's tail with one hand and taking the photo with the other. Here's a close up of the incident. I think Freckles was so confused by the whole thing that it never dawned on her that a puppy had clamped on.

The party ended when the guest of honor laid down on the couch and went to sleep. It's hard to eat all that doggie ice cream and put up with all the festivities when you're ten years old. I expect that all four dogs will sleep quite soundly tonight.

As for FWP, she doesn't seem to be in any pain and I can't find any injury. I've inspected her mouth several times and don't see any hint of where the blood might have came from. Perhaps she bit her tongue. Perhaps the other dog bit her tongue. Maybe Freckles did some damage to that big bully. Maybe Freckles has an injury I can't see. No matter what, no matter where, my money is always on the Warrior Princess. She's tough, durable...the crabbiest pattiest!

Fair warning, bathrobe lady--MY bite is definitely worse than my bark and I have a lot more teeth than Freckles does....and, I haven't had my rabies shot yet. Sit. Stay!