And boy, someone didn’t worry too much about sprinkling their language with profanities while talking to a stranger.
Seriously.
Who was this guy?
“All right, more than its normal capacity, and one I can control,” I amended.
“You got time to wait for a dog, I got a litter of Cane Corsos coming in a few weeks.They’re loyal, friendly, family-oriented dogs.Social.And don’t need a ton of exercise, though all dogs need regular exercise.A fully trained guard dog costs fifteen thousand dollars.Since that includes identifying threats and obeying specific commands, that’ll take six months.You want more, training can last up to a year, and the cost will increase by what you’re looking for.”
Fifteen thousand dollars?!
“If you want just training,” he continued, “I’m one hundred and fifty an hour.”
One hundred and fifty an hour!?
He wasn’t done.
“And I don’t do basic shit, unless I got them from pups, like ‘sit,’ ‘down,’ ‘stay.’I do specialized protection training.You could get away with me working an hour with them a week, if you sign a contract that you’ll continue daily training for at least an hour a day in between.You don’t do that, I’m out.But I recommend three times a week with me.And depending on the level you want to achieve, that will last minimum, two months, more like four to six.Though, all that depends on the dog and its ability to be trained.”
I did the mathematic gymnastics and found that was almost as much as paying for a fully trained dog.
“I have to get a dog first,” I pointed out.
“Right.What’s your name so I’ll remember when you call back?”
I nearly rolled my eyes.
He couldn’t remember this conversation?
I wasn’t going to get into it.
“Mabel,” I said.
After I said my name, there was so much silence coming from the other end of the line, I feared it’d suck me into its black vortex, and I’d be lost forever.
Eventually, he said so quietly I almost didn’t make out the words.“Say again?”
“Mabel.My name is Mabel.”
More silence, just not as intense, before, “And you need a guard dog?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Was this intrusive, or did he need to know for training purposes?
“Why do you need a guard dog, Mabel?”There was a definite bite to his question.
And again, my back got straight at his tone.
“I’m not sure that’s your business,” I decided to say.
“You want me to train the damned dog, I need to know what I’m training it to do,” he returned.
So it was for training purposes.
Whatever.
