“They can smell fear,” my mother told me as I approached my first horse. I wondered at the time, why she had said that. I was so excited about the prospect of having my first riding lesson that I didn’t tune into the meaning of her words. I wasn’t afraid of any animal and so I never really understood the “smell thing” until I arrived on the scene, after a dog fight. My son had come running out to the barn where I was mucking stalls. I heard him scream, “Danny’s dying!!!” I ran as fast as I could to the fenced in back yard where the dogs were.
Please allow me to give you a bit of background. I have had Scottish Terriers my whole life. They are smart, stubborn, at times independent, tenacious and gutsy. As my mom said, “They are a big dog in a small dog’s body.” At some point, I decided to explore another breed because some knuckle head told me that Scotties couldn’t be “barn dogs.” I opted to get a Pembroke Welsh Corgi or a Jack Russell. Both breeds are acclaimed for their “ability” to be barn dogs. I found a breeder of Corgis, who happened to have been raised with Scotties, herself. She knew the temperaments of both breeds and suggested the pup that, in her opinion would be a “get along dog” that would be a welcome addition to the Scottie household. And so it came to be that, Rugby Jones arrived on the farm. He was indeed a “get along” kind of a dog. He loved other dogs, even the most timid or the most aggressive and they loved him. I knew that there would “never” be a problem because of his easy going nature. He was accepted by the Scotties and all was well. He was smart and loyal and everything went exactly as planned until Katie arrived on the scene.
A friend’s Jack Russell had had a litter of puppies and somehow, I ended up with one of them. So now I have three Scotties, a Welsh Corgi, a Jack Russell, not to mention four kids, six horses and a cat! Well, things were never the same on the farm. From the minute that Katie arrived on the scene, Rugby decided that he was her defender and protector. He was fine with my getting close to her but did not like her to “be involved” with any other four legged or two legged creatures. Well, like most puppies and especially Jack Russell puppies, Katie was extremely active, playful and rather annoying to any two legged or four legged being that she encountered.
Now mind you, this is only supposition since I wasn’t there for the beginning of the infamous dog fight. My theory however, is that Katie aggravated sweet and timid “Danny Boy,” one of my Scotties. Knowing his rather lethargic attitude toward life’s day to day activities, my guess is that her antics which often included nipping, exasperated him to the point that he growled or snapped at her in order to say, “Back off!” Clearly, Rugby would have viewed this attitude and reaction as an infraction of the rules that he had put in place, regarding “his” Katie. Sweet, gentle Danny Boy didn’t fathom what he had done wrong or why Rugby went on attack mode.
So back to the tale of that day, as I ran toward the location where my son directed me, I began to detect an odor in the air. I had never experienced that smell before. It was strong and pungent but I forgot the sense of smell when my sense of sight caught Danny on the ground, in shock. He was shaking and I could see the bite wounds on his neck. His mouth was lathered and I immediately called my vet and friend. It was close to closing time and I just said, “There’s been a dog fight. Please wait for me to get there.” I wrapped Danny in a towel and flew to the vet’s office. When I got there, they were waiting. The vet’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe that the gravely injured dog was one of my Scotties and not the Corgi. You see, the canines on a Scottie are HUGE and it is unlikely that a Corgi could or would win in a dog fight with a Scottie. Like the old saying goes, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog!”
There is a happy ending to this saga. “Danny Boy AKA Dan My Man” is just fine. Rugby Jones is in a wheelchair but that’s another story. Miss Katie is still maddening but as precious as Rugby always believed and now, there is another Jack Russell on the scene. The morals of the story are, never say, “never” and how many dogs are too many?
Leave a comment for: 'Animals can smell fear and so can people!' »