Don't Make Moma Angry

I've been banging the drum here since day one about how pitbulls are a gentle breed of dog.  They're loving and friendly and nothing at all like the stereotype they're portrayed to be by the media.  I think everyone in America should adopt a pitbull.   But even though our dogs are the best dogs ever, I watch Ruby and Chevy closely.  Especially Ruby.  There is something about these dogs that says "do not mess with me, or my family".

Our dogs readily accepted Olivia.   Gertie the cat, not so much, but the dogs, yes.  They tolerate her puppiness, up to a point, at which time they tell her in no uncertain terms that enough is enough.  They do so with a nudge, or sometimes even a growl or a bark as if to say "OK, that's enough chewing on my tail.  I'm trying to nap here". 

Ruby and Chevy also play with Olivia, but much more gently than how they play with each other.  This amazes me.  I don't know why, since humans are gentle with their babies... why shouldn't dogs be gentle with puppies?  I dunno.  I've never owned a dog until recently.  I'm still figuring this stuff out.

I noticed that Ruby, particularly, has taken a liking to Livy.  Ruby was spayed and so never had puppies of her own.   She seemed to have taken a motherly attitude towards Livy, watching over her and making sure that she is OK.  When Livy fell into the water the other day, Ruby was off the boat and on the dock, barking and howling.  SAVE THE BABY!   SAVE THE BABY!

I've posted before about how pitbulls used to be called "nanny dogs" because they're  so good with children.  They're not only very gentle with them, but they're also protective of them.  I'm thinking now, maybe to a fault?

We've settled into a routine here at Isle of Hope Marina.   Two or three times a day, we take the dogs up to the fenced-in boat yard to run and play and to go potty.   On the way back, we stop at the marina pavilion so the dogs can get a drink of water and play some more, as well as to socialize with marina folk and sometimes their dogs as well. 

Such was the case yesterday.   Pam and I came back from playing golf (our first outing in several years.  It wasn't pretty.) and took the dogs up to play in the yard and then to the pavilion.  A lady came by with her dog, a dog Ruby knows and likes.  The woman let her dog off leash and the dog said hello to Chevy and Ruby and then trotted over to see Livy, who she didn't know and who needed to be sniffed and checked out.  Ruby was there in a flash and growled.  The other dog continued to sniff Livy.  Ruby then snarled and barked in a very aggressive way and shoved the other dog away from Livy.  

Whoa!  I jumped up and grabbed Ruby while Pam snatched up Livy and the woman snagged her dog.  What the heck was that?  Ruby has NEVER shown any aggressiveness towards, well, anything or anyone.  I can only surmise that Ruby has assumed the role of mama dog and was making sure, in no uncertain terms, that the new dog was not to hurt Livy.  The other dog is a very nice dog, but maybe Ruby's mama instincts saw something we didn't?  I dunno.

I've often thought that if anyone was threatening Pam or I, or anyone else here at the marina, it's not Chevy, the big powerful male, that would come to our rescue.  It would be Ruby.  It looks like I'm correct in that observation.

So I'm going to temper my previous assertions that pitbulls are very gentle dogs and that you should hug every one you come across with the following admonition; make sure they don't have puppies.  And as for us, we're going to make sure that Ruby is kept under control when other dogs are around Livy, at least for the next few months until Livy is fully grown.

And here is Dave's tip of the day - don't piss off a mama.  Even an adoptive mama.  Any mama, of any species.   If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask your mama.