Hey Guys! Happy Saturday. I just got back from a run and I'm a bit anxious and upset and I feel like posting about it will make me feel better - it is something that runners have to deal with a lot of the time and I hope that we can have a discussion about it to a) Settle my nerves and help me to feel better about running and b) Figure out how to deal with this issue.
It is a really beautiful day here today and I really wanted to run my favorite route which starts at my house and runs through my neighborhood to a really great trail through the woods. The trail ends on a different street on which I can loop back home. The whole thing is about 5.6 miles and is really enjoyable.
So, I started out and not far into my run, I passed a woman who was standing in her yard just staring at her lawnmower (which was parked in the middle of a lawn that looks like it hasn't been mowed for years). I gave her a wave because at some point she stopped staring at the lawn mower and started looking at me. She didn't really respond and that was fine with me - I was excited to be out and running.
Before I knew it though, I heard a dog barking and all of the sudden a very big doberman was running full speed and growling at me - coming from the strange lawnmower ladies driveway. I did what you have to do in these situations - stop completely and remain as calm as possible to show the dog that you are not a threat.
Despite stopping, the dog was still aggressive towards me and was certainly not going to let me walk away. I looked up at the lawnmower woman and she was STILL just standing there! I couldn't believe that I had her huge dog clearly not happy with me being there and acting very threateningly and she didn't make a move!
Finally I yelled, "Can you please come get your dog!?" not quite patiently or nicely. I was really scared at this point because the dog had gotten uncomfortably close to me and specifically my right arm and was still growling and angry. I then heard another woman in the driveway yell to the dog (mind you, she hadn't come out with a leash or anything, was still standing in her driveway) and the dog ran to her. Thinking that I was alright to start moving again, I did, and the dog came right back out after me, this time getting so close to me that I had saliva on my arm.
The woman called the dog again and finally got it in the back of her car. I stood and waited for her to close the door and long enough to hear her muttering about how he is normally on a leash and blah blah blah. That was it. No apology, no nothing.
Needless to say, I was really frustrated and shaken up. I felt like my heart was in my throat during my whole run. I managed to calm myself down eventually, but I'm still a bit shaky and in disbelief.
I am a huge dog lover, and I realize that this is only the result of irresponsible pet owners but this is the second time that this has happened to me running around here (the last time, the owner was no where in sight and I had to literally back away facing the dog to keep him from going after me) and I'm really starting to get frightened of dogs.
I'm not sure if I should not run that route anymore, or maybe leave a note at the owner's house asking nicely if they could keep their beautiful but terrifying dog under control? Haha. I just don't know. Do any of you have to deal with this? What do you do about it?
2 comments:
UGH. What a freakin bad pet owner!! I wouldn't be too worried about it though, now if it had happened EVERY single time you ran that route, then I wouldn't do it again. She should have apologized, I give you props though because I can't hold my tongue in that kind of situation!
When Jas and I ride bikes, we have a lot of dogs that chase us, but I try to just ignore them if I can :)
thats so annoying I love dogs but I hate when dogs are lose!
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