Know ye now what feels like to be dog god!
On my way to work today, I was heading down the steps to the Kenduskeag valley when there were some folks standing at the top. Someone was down at the bottom with his dog, talking with the folks up top about how the last step had been tossed down the hill (earlier this week it lost its mooring due to erosion and folks have been dragging it around). The guy offered that if one of the folks up top held his dog's leash, he'd clamber down the hill to snag the step. As the person came down the stairs, he assured them that his dog was perfectly safe and fine and all.
After walking past them, crossing the bridge, I was passed by a woman jogging towards them. Behind me, I could hear the dog start to give off slightly strangled barks, like you'd expect for a barking dog being restrained by a leash. The dog's owner started to shout to the jogging woman, "Hey! Stop running! He doesn't like it when people run!" (she had headphones on and couldn't hear him, but I couldn't exactly help out this situation -- also, I never heard any screams or clear-throated barks, so I figured it was safe to assume I couldn't have assisted).
You know that claim a while ago about how cats have a parasite thing in their droppings that makes folks go nuts in a way that turns them into crazy cat folks, thus making life easier for cats? I'm wondering if the same sort of thing should be looked for in dogs/dog-owners.
I hear situations like this far too frequently -- Oh yeah, the dog's perfectly friendly! [dramatic pause] ...unless you perform a fairly innocent action.
If only I could go back in time to the first attempt to domesticate wolves (thus leading to dogs) and instead point out a fox to the person. It'd only be a problem if you innocently had rodents and flightless birds running around your yard!
After walking past them, crossing the bridge, I was passed by a woman jogging towards them. Behind me, I could hear the dog start to give off slightly strangled barks, like you'd expect for a barking dog being restrained by a leash. The dog's owner started to shout to the jogging woman, "Hey! Stop running! He doesn't like it when people run!" (she had headphones on and couldn't hear him, but I couldn't exactly help out this situation -- also, I never heard any screams or clear-throated barks, so I figured it was safe to assume I couldn't have assisted).
You know that claim a while ago about how cats have a parasite thing in their droppings that makes folks go nuts in a way that turns them into crazy cat folks, thus making life easier for cats? I'm wondering if the same sort of thing should be looked for in dogs/dog-owners.
I hear situations like this far too frequently -- Oh yeah, the dog's perfectly friendly! [dramatic pause] ...unless you perform a fairly innocent action.
If only I could go back in time to the first attempt to domesticate wolves (thus leading to dogs) and instead point out a fox to the person. It'd only be a problem if you innocently had rodents and flightless birds running around your yard!