Piss and Vinegar

I don't know what it is, but when there is fresh snow on the ground my dogs go crazy. They run out into the frozen fluff and chase each other around the yard. When I bring them back into the house, they are still full of piss and vinegar, running from one end of the house to the other, tumbling, and causing general mayhem which Mark does not appreciate. That brings up another thing, where the hell did the term "Piss and Vinegar" come from? I get the piss part, my dogs are always full of it. But vinegar?

Walking the dogs around my neighborhood, I've noticed something. Chicagoans are afraid of dogs. Last evening I was walking Scout, still full of piss and vinegar, and a lady walking on the sidewalk towards us walked off into the snow covered grass just to get away. I was holding Scout tight against me, but that was not enough. I see it time and again, people cross the street to avoid us. They turn and go up the next block, or they just turn around and go back the way they came. If I see somebody coming towards me with a dog, I get happy. I want to meet that dog, I want to talk to it and run my hand through dog fur. I seem to be in a minority about that. So I have learned to step out into the street when somebody is walking towards us, as a courtesy. But the truth is that Scout only wants to say hello and give you a big kiss. Chandler, however, is not so friendly. He can get very angry that you had the nerve to walk through his territory. Chandler is one scary boy when he does not know you because he is usually full of piss. I don't know about the vinegar part.