Miraculously, the sun was out again today for the second day in a row, so I took Bubs and Peaches to the dog park.  Peaches is still a bit standoffish with strange dogs, but she's getting better.  There were two other dogs already there when we arrived, a Border Collie and Aussie cattle dog, which I recognized as a neighbor's dog.  My neighbor, who I don't know too well, was talking about how the dachshund they had severely bit her son's finger.  She said the boy was just sitting on the couch with the dog when it happened, but I wanted to ask her what her son did to provoke the dog.  The reason I would liked to have asked is that I see her 10-year-old boy walking around the block occasionally with the cattle dog.  The kid obviously does not know how to behave around any dog, and the dog is clearly terrified of the kid, which makes me wonder what goes on when the mother's not watching.  One day I saw the dog drop right down to his haunches and cower, which made me know he was scared and may have been hit on occasion.  The boy is very loud and is always flailing his arms around, acting out wildly, whipping the end of the leash and slapping it on the ground as though to strike the dog.  It really bothers me, but I've never actually seen him strike the dog.  I always watch him until he is out of my sight, and if I EVER see this kid mistreat that dog, I won't hesitate to report it.  I know they got rid of the cute little doxie (which was probably destroyed for having bitten the boy), and I suspect the same will happen with this dog, since I saw it nip one of the boy's friends on the butt one day as they walked by.  Playing?  Perhaps.  It's only a matter of time before the dog hurts someone, and if it's that mean boy, he'll deserve it.  But of course, it's the dog who will suffer most for the bad treatment she's received at the hands of this aberrant kid and his clueless parents.  Some people shouldn't be allowed to have dogs...or kids.