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Guapo, my pugnacious one-and-half year old Yorkshire terrier, has a tendency to attack unsuspecting puppies.
I’m not sure why he reacts in such a violent manner but a bystander at the dog park suggested he probably “doesn’t like the energy a puppy brings” and is trying to correct their unpredictable behaviour.
I thought it had more to do with the fact that he had yet to be neutered and was possibly displaying dominance or territorial behaviours. Or perhaps it was just simply “small dog syndrome.”
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In any case, I dropped Guapo off at the Spay and Neuter Clinic one morning last week in hopes that some surgical sterilization might be the answer to his ongoing aggressiveness. I requested the $177 package deal — surgery, a nail trim, an ear tattoo, and pain medicine — and picked up a dazed, slightly sedated Guapo six hours later.
Guapo in his cone following surgery.
Dr. Charuta Tung, the veterinarian who performed the surgery, said everything went swimmingly and sent us on our way with five syringes filled with Apo-Meloxicam and a recovery collar — those ridiculous-looking plastic cone-shaped contraptions that wrap around a dog’s neck to prevent him from licking his wounds.
The 20-centimetre “Elizabethan Collar,” which set me back an additional $16, stayed on for the standard seven days. Guapo didn’t seem too bothered by the awkward apparatus, but every time its sharp edges drove into the back of my calves I yelped in pain.
So, when the day finally came to lose the collar, I gleefully, and with great optimism, headed to the nearby dog park to let my newly neutered pooch run free.
I was looking forward to seeing a transformation in my confrontational canine when, suddenly, we came across Charlie, a six-month-old red Doodle.
Charlie was also recently neutered and still had his recovery collar on. His owner, an elderly lady who gripped his orange braided leash with great ferocity, said it was driving him absolutely mad.
“Oh, you poor dog,” I cooed at the gigantic, brown-eyed pooch.
Then, as I bent down, Guapo lunged at the innocent pup, whose frail, grey-haired owner watched in horror as he ferociously barked, nipped and snapped at her startled baby dog.
Well, there goes that theory out the window.
Anyway, the assault lasted a few seconds, and when I finally got him tethered and in the car, I felt my dreams for Guapo dash.
If neutering won’t tame him, then I suppose the next step will have to be obedience classes (when permitted) or some sort of positive reinforcement training.
Until then, I’ll try to keep him tethered and far away from the “energy” those sweet, unpredictable puppies bring.
Have a great week!
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