My Special Needs Dog

Seems like walking Dugan sometimes turns into an event. I realized this last evening when I arrived home post walk and my husband said "Well, what went down tonight with the boy?" Apparently there is no such thing as a walk in the park with Dugan. People don't understand my special needs dog.
You often hear people comment about their children's social challenges yet not too many people bring up their dog's behavioral issues in the office lunchroom. Unless you are me. Believe me, the chuckles echoed down the hallway as I brought up my "special needs" dog. So unfair I tell you. I have to listen to co-workers talk about human children's issues with a sympathetic expression on my face. "Poor Peyton has hyperactive-attention-deficit-learning-social-challenges-disorder with irrational fear of red objects and a peanut allergy" Blah-blah-blah. I mention Dugan is on medication for OCD and it's met with laughter and sideways glances. Excuse me people...it cost me $250 an hour with a top vet behaviorist to get that diagnosis, it's legit.
The truth is Dugan is special. He is loving and affectionate and playful and charming with people of all ages. He loves people. Other dogs? Not so much. Hence he sometimes panics and howls like a banshee and flips out if he sees another dog. Especially a male dog. Or a dog with a dark muzzle. Or a dog that is born on a Tuesday during a lunar eclipse. Okay, my last point is sometimes it's random why he doesn't like another dog.
He is not a candidate for any off leash dog parks. He was expelled from doggie day care (true story) and we can't just randomly let other people come visit with their dogs until we know he's okay with them. He has special needs and we meet them because he is our special dog, we adore him and understand him and will do whatever it takes to make him happy.
Other people just see a dog flipping out on the end of my leash. They see a barking, twirling dervish of a dog. I see my baby in a state of high anxiety. I know he has trauma from being attacked by other dogs before we rescued him. I know this because we paid an animal communicator $45 an hour to share these details with us. (another factoid that produces snickering from the non-dog understanding) I know his chakras are not clear (Animal Reiki master $55 a half hour) and he ate a piece of wheat toast earlier (contradicting his non-grain diet $50 per 30 lb bag) My special needs dog is a puzzle and I understand how to put all the pieces together. A puzzle that has cost me thousands of dollars over the years...but I'm not complaining mind you.
During a walk last week a teenage girl approached us on the trail with a large male boxer, at least 90 pounds worth. Innocent, no? Well the dumbass was riding a bicycle and had the dog attached to a retractable leash she was holding onto with her index finger. Also I should mention she had her hoodie up and an Ipod on, so my assessment of her being a dumbass was truly accurate given the lack of control she had on the dog. If she had a third hand I am confident she would have been texting her BFF at the same time. I saw this wobbling mess approach me from 50 yards away. I kept a calm assertive attitude (Cesar's Way by Caesar Millan $19.95) and walked Dugan off the path, down a hill and faced him the other way and waited for this train wreck to pass by. Well as soon as the boxer saw Dugan the dog lunged off the path and "surprise" the bicycling girl lost her grip of the leash and the dog came bounding at Dugan down the hill like an avalanche of brindle. Dugan started his wailing manic twirling behavior and I acted like a hockey goalie blocking the boxer from coming into contact with Dugan. The girl thankfully took her Ipod off and finally grabbed the boxer and managed to get control. Completely ignoring me she said to the boxer "Did that crazy mean dog hurt you?" What? What? My crazy mean dog? Dugan stood silently next to me, the event already over in his world. I looked at my special boy and wondered how anybody could say a harsh word about him.
You know hell hath no fury like a Dogmom who has been told her dog is crazy (or ugly or a different breed then they really are) I didn't have time or inclination to tell her about his anxiety or chakras or the very expensive vet behaviorist so I looked her square in the eye and said "He's not crazy...he has special needs!" I walked a few feet away and then turned around and said "And your a dumbass for riding a bike with a dog on a retractable!"
I'm not proud of yelling obscenities at a teenager, but this is what my life as a Dogmom of a special needs dog has boiled down to.
So when my husband asked what our special boy did I had to tell the story. It sounded a bit like the one the week before when Dugan's wailing over a shepherd mix stopped a softball game or the time he made an overprotective Soccer Mom clutch her children like aliens were attacking at the playground when he was wailing his crazy howl of a bark.
I don't care, he's my dog and I love him.