[Discussion] I think a girl tried to take my dog away todayDog Talks

I don't even know how to start telling this. On short, gladly nothing bad happened, but I'm still nervous as hell.

(Sorry for any wrong spelling or grammar as english is not my first language)

I have two dogs, Ozzy (10, shih tzu) and Oliver (~5, 6, no breed/mutt). Oliver was adopted nearly three months ago and is the most unproblematic dog I've had so far, and the one that shows affection the most. I live with my mom, and Ozzy has always been mostly "hers", so now with a second dog we kinda have one for each; Oliver is adorably clingy and I love it.

I should also mention Oliver's appearance, for the sake of my suspicions. He's medium sized, mostly black and white fur with spots of brown. He doesn't have an eye, but we don't know how he lost it, if it was by human hand or attacked by other dogs in the shelter.

I walk with him everyday (he's never had a home before but he's so clean?? Never does anything inside), 20 mins on the busiest days, longer on others. Mom sometimes accompanies with Ozzy but some days our times don't match since she's a teacher. Today I work from home so we were set for a short walk.

We reach one of his favorite spots, starts sniffing, and a girl around 12-14 approaches with a pack of candy to sell. When she offers some I tell her I have no money (which I really didn't, when we walk I only take keys and plastic bags with me) and she's fine with it. I thought things would end there, as they usually do, but she started talking about Oliver. Asked if he was calm first, to which I confirmed. I lived in this neighborhood for almost all my life, so I know how hard street kids have it. I thought I could bring a moment of joy with this happy dog, even if it was a quick exchange.

She caressed him, he adored, and asked his name. Then the weird stuff.

"He knows his name!"

"Yeah, he's really smart, still learns some new stuff"

"Oh, does he have a bruise on his eye?"

"He doesn't have it anymore, but we're not sure how it happened"

"Oh" Here she had a brief change of tone but it quickly went back to the previous joyful stuff. We're used to this kind of change when people notice his eye, but it's ok if they're not mean.

"Do you love him? Very very much?"

"I do, obviously"

"He's so sweet. You wouldn't know what to do if you lost him, right?"

Then I instantly felt rigid and on high alert. This wasn't something people ask or bring up in regular conversation, right? I answered absent-mindedly, while looking around to check if there weren't people with her watching from afar.

Then she asked to walk with him for a bit, but before I could answer she grabbed his leash.

That was it for me. No matter how naive a child can be (hardly the case around here, but I know some really are) I wouldn't run the risk. I didn't let go of his leash, and for some time neither did she.

"We just adopted him. He doesn't go with strangers"

She finally let go but stuck around some more. Oliver decided to pee and she again made joyful remarks about him. I wasn't having anymore, but tried not to look nervous or pissed. When he was done I would follow our usual path, which was a 180° from where we were, and said goodbye to her.

"God bless you"

"You too"

I shortened our already short walk and went fast on the way back. All this happened nearly in front of our building, but our "security" and doormen are guys out of shape and in their 60+, so if I let that leash loose and she wanted to run, she would have.

After we got home (all safe and still with me) I tried to rationalize it. There have been multiple recent cases of dog theft in my city/country overall. This would match with his "breed likeness" since he looks like a young border, and with her disappointed tone when realized he lacked an eye. Those thefts are mostly for puppies, though, since they sell easier. The questions she asked after did sound like ransom work, and, damn, would I be willing to pay if something happened to him.

For the rest of the day he stayed by my side as I worked, and I couldn't help making breaks to caress him. I'm so glad she didn't make more tries, and that everything turned out fine. On one hand I try to look out when I'm on the street, as crime rates here are high, but on the other I thought how hard life must be for a street kid selling candy to make a living.

I swear to him every night before I turn the lights off (he sleeps beside my bed) that nothing's gonna hurt him anymore, and I'll do my best not to fail that.

Submitted November 03, 2020 at 10:06PM by ladydadas-nightmare https://ift.tt/2HSpYFR