Dogs and Their Humans

I have 2 dogs, a boy and a girl, both Rat Terriers. They are not scary by any means, 17 pounds each of tail wagging energy. The girl, Gaz, is very well behaved, but will always be walked on a leash. It makes me feel better to know that I have control. The boy, Gir, on the other hand is a work in progress. I know he has his issues but we work on them all the time. Passing dogs on our walk being the one that triggered last night's incident.

Normally, walking both dogs together isn't a problem, but for whatever reason, Gir managed to escape both leash and collar, to cross the street to say hi to a boxer and the woman walking the boxer. I wouldn't have panicked, but the woman immediately started screaming at me to come get the dog and calling me names for not controlling my dog. Really? I have no control over a dog that has managed to escape both collar and leash. In my panic I dropped Gaz's leash and headed over to get Gir back. Half way across the street I realized I had dropped Gaz's leash and went back to pick it up. By now the woman is in full screaming mode(Not helping one bit.), jerking on the poor boxers collar who is just trying to sniff Gir and flailing her arms about. I go to pick up Gir, but the boxer has managed to wrap one paw around his chest and does not want to let go. At this point I just want to slap the woman, but I don't, instead I start yelling at her. Yes, I know, not helping the situation, but I was tired and already stressed out from work. I get to yell some names back at her and carry Gir back home.

I really wish the woman hadn't freaked out. The boxer was fine, actually pretty calm, considering a little terrier ran up to it. It just frustrates and irritates me to no end that she just started yelling at me. I think I told her she should socialize her dog more, but I think what I should have said was that she needed more socialization. Oh well.