[Artemisia] pets at events

[Ysabel de Lille]

To add my two francs...;)

I am a dog owner.  My little loyal shadow is the sweetest little dachsie you could ever imagine.  He is a cuddly black and silver-spotted little bundle that adores me and never lets me leave his sight.

I have taken him to one event.  It was his first, it's VERY likely also his last, unless his constant training ever proves he's ready for another try.

Frodo is a darling, but only with me and my family.  He perceives everyone outside of our human pack/family a threat.  He WILL do all he can to eliminate that threat.  He also barks incessantly when I leave him and don't have him immediately by my side.  If anyone remembers an event in Gryphon's Lair that I went to about 3 or 4 years ago, at the site where that lovely little pond is, and remembers a lot of people being annoyed by the constant barking of a dog during court?  Yeah, that was Frodo. :P  I never had him off the leash, even at night when he was curled up beside me.  When I left him with the pavillion, he was on a line he could not escape, with all his amenities near him.  I have tried to train him to accept other people and animals, but unfortunately, it usually takes more time than one event allows for him to accept them.  

Ergo, I do not bring him to events anymore.  I find a babysitter for him.  He's not too happy about it, but he's well cared for at home and loved, and I don't have to worry about him biting a kid that might be play fighting with one of my own children simply because Frodo thinks he's protecting them from an evil little gnome (or minion ;)  ) with a padded sword.

I greatly appreciate everyone's comments about animals at events.  As a responsible dog owner, I understand what effect my dog has on others, and I realize that while I might love to have Frodo by my side and all decked out in cute little medieval doggy garb with my heraldry, the people who would come anywhere near him during an event would not.  Neither would the Court enjoy his hound-dog mournful barking at regular intervals whilst trying to give out awards in the midst of their pageantry.  

I encourage all pet owners, whether dog, cat, ferret, or fowl, to be completely honest with themselves about their pets.  Are they protective of your children or yourselves, or even your temporary territories whilst camping to the point of even POSSIBLY harming another creature?  Can you ensure that your hunting dog won't sight someone's pet ferret and decide it's prey, even though he's nonchalant around cats?  Can you be certain that you actually do have control of your animal At All Times, no matter how well-behaved they are normally? Extraordinary circumstances happen every day.  Your pet could get wrapped up in them either by his own protective nature that may spring out at any unforeseen moment, or by another pet who was not as carefully watched.  Think everything through. See all the possibilities.  Bringing an animal to an event is always a great responsibility because of the inherent risk involved.  Until the day when we can tell our pets "No,
 really, act like me at the event, don't attack anyone who attacks me with a sword cuz I think it's fun, and run and hide in the pavillion silently until I return if I leave you," and your pet stands up, looks intelligently in your eyes and says "Sure thing m'Lady!  I've got a book on the various dossiers of Da Vinci I was planning to peruse in your absence anyway.  Oh, and I'll just make the bed while you're gone and fix you a light lunch, if that's all right with you?"...until that day happens, do not believe for one moment that your perfect and precious little angel pet is entirely under your control.

And of course, as others have also stated, please try and see things from the non-pet owners at the event, or the other pet owners at the event.  How will THEY see your cutie?  His "smile" to them may be a scary thing, and they may not realize he's just saying hello.  I realize I'm getting a bit long-winded, but hey, I'm a herald ;)  so one more thing.  Children.  As a mom, I also think of them as well as my pet.  My daughter Katriel had a very frightening experience just this last week with a very large puppy from across the street (whose owners are very negligent and the pet is usually in the charge of two small children without a leash or fence).  The puppy, seeing my daughter laughing and playing in our own yard, decided it would be fun to play with her too.  My son David ran in screaming to me that Kat was being attacked by a large dog.  I sprinted outside (yes, sprinted, and OW after that!) and assessed the situation while charging into it. 
 Katriel was on the ground screaming in terror as this rather large brown puppy was mauling her with his over-exuberant tongue.  This wouldn't have been too bad of a problem. but the puppy also still had his dew claws, and had raked Kat across the face near her eye, her arm, her stomach, and her back, all in the pursuit of telling her how happy he was to have a little girl to play with.  The little boy (about 7yrs old) who owned the dog was standing there with a solemn face just watching, clearly not sure what he was supposed to do.  The mother, when told, just shrugged it off and was clearly irritated I'd bothered to come over and politely suggest that she should be responsible for her children's irresponsibility in letting the puppy roam free.  As my daughter was only slightly injured, and i was able to care for all her minor wounds without worry, and as I knew it wasn't the puppy's fault, I decided to be generous and not inform authorities, as by
 rights I well could have done. I tell this story to show everyone that while I understood the puppy was just playing, just being very friendly, my daughter only knew that a dog larger than her had knocked her down and had scratched her and hurt her and was scaring her, and wasn't letting her get away no matter what.  She's fine now, btw, and happily, the experience didn't scar her in the sense that she's terrified of big dogs now.  We had a long talk and she even likes the puppy that scared her now.  The point is, the rules of the events are there not only to protect the possible victims (victims used in a VERY broad and non-accusatory sense!) of pet problems, but also the owners of those pets.  Bottom line is, if your dog is under your iron-grip of control at all times, and you are aware of what your pet is doing, and holding yourself fully responsible by not letting them mark pavillions or steal food or defecate randomly without cleaning up after
 them, your pet is safe from being booted offsite, or, under the worst possible conditions of your pet actually attacking someone or another dog, your pet is safe from possibly being put to sleep according to state laws.

Laws and rules are there for everyone's protection, and to make life easier for everyone.  If you don't agree with them, please feel free to stay home that weekend, curled up on your couch, watching Animal Planet or the latest Netflix move you got in the mail, with your fluffy friend curled happily in your lap or behind your knees.  No one will think the worse of you for that.  But please, don't let your disagreement of the rules find you in a head-on collision with possible disaster if you flout them by showing up and letting your pet do whatever they please, as they do at home.

Ok, shutting up now and finishing packing for a family reunion this week.  Where, unfortunately, my husband Almaric has informed me I cannot bring Frodo to eat our nephews and nieces and in-laws when they get inevitably annoying.  Sigh. ;)



 ~*~Lady Ysabel la Serena de Lille~*~


Dalek: But you have no weapons! No defences! No plan! 
Doctor: (grinning) Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?