Territorial

 

     When our dog, a beagle, finds on his own something he thinks is food, he can sometimes be very territorial and aggressive, so we always approach him with caution whenever it happens. Almost always, I would offer him a treat to leave whatever he finds and the result is always peaceful.

     But last night, 20^th of December, I was rushing to the dining table because I was carrying something hot, I stumbled upon him on the floor rummaging through some plastic bags he was able to snatch from the sink. I stopped in front of him, his head bowed, and I didn’t notice that I was already stepping on some debris of the plastic bags. Unfortunately, he noticed it, and without first looking up and verifying who was intruding in his area, he probably thought it was someone who was trying to steal some of his precious finds, he attacked…

     …and bit both my feet, one of the wounds instantly bleeding copiously. I screamed, and that was when he looked up, recognized me and stopped.

     I washed and treated the wounds immediately. And my dog? Did guilt eat him? Did he weep and howl asking for forgiveness? No, a few minutes after, as I was limping to avoid putting pressure on my foot so it wouldn’t bleed much after I applied some medicine, he looked at me, his eyes following wherever I went, looking perplexed, even tilting his head, as if asking internally: What happened to this idiot?

    And yep, while nursing my wounds, I served him a delicious dinner, which he gulped down heartily. We have no problem when he eats, he has no aggression when food is served.

     And later that night, he approached me for some belly rubs, and while I obliged, he looked at my bandages, bewilderment again haunting his expression as he stared into my eyes, like he was asking, “Where did you get these wounds? You oughta be careful next time, boss. These times are dangerous, especially for clumsy people like you.”

     And I exerted all efforts to stop myself from biting his paws as revenge for ruining all my plans these few remaining days before Christmas—one of which is to take a shower this Saturday.