FANFARE: Announcing the winner of Emmeline Duncan's FLAT WHITE FATALITY is yesterday's commenter *Denise* - Denise, please contact Emmeline (Kelly) at garrett.kelly@gmail.com to let her know where to send your book. Congratulations!
HALLIE EPHRON: Today’s my day for a rant…
Yesterday morning (a gorgeous spring day so clear it made New England feel like Southern California) I took a walk in the woods. It’s spring and we were looking for pink lady slippers that bloom early in the spring at the base of trees and listening for birds. (This flower photo is one I took last year -- turns out this year we were too late to catch the lady slippers.)
I recently put an app, MERLIN, on my phone that listens for bird calls and tells you what it’s hearing. There was a tufted titmouse, a red-bellied woodpecker, red-winged blackbirds, a pine warbler, a Baltimore oriole, blue jays, warbling vireos, gray catbirds, plus robins and more robins. A bounteous array.
There were also dogs.
Turns out an awful lot of people use the hiking trails to walk their dogs, especially in the morning. Understandable since this area is in the middle of my suburban town with homes backing up to its many wooded acres on all sides.
Now I’m not a dog person. And big dogs scare me. So when a group of 5 women walking a pack of dogs off leash came toward us, I moved to the side of the path. Which did not deter the dogs which came racing up to us, barking.
Now I’m not a dog person. And big dogs scare me. So when a group of 5 women walking a pack of dogs off leash came toward us, I moved to the side of the path. Which did not deter the dogs which came racing up to us, barking.
One of them reared up on its hind legs and slobbered in my face. It was as tall as I am and could easily have knocked me over. I can still smell its breath.
What bothers me isn’t the dog’s behavior. It’s the women’s. Not one of them paused to ask if I was okay, or apologize, or even just call off the dog. They just continued on their merry way and left me physically shaken and in shock. So much so that a day later I'm moved to rant about it.
So here are my questions. Is it reasonable to expect owners to control their dogs on hiking trails? Are dog owners blissfully unaware of the effect their (large, unleashed, out of control) dog can have on others? What should I do (or say) next time a large, unleashed dog (and unleashed owner) comes at me on a hiking trail?
What bothers me isn’t the dog’s behavior. It’s the women’s. Not one of them paused to ask if I was okay, or apologize, or even just call off the dog. They just continued on their merry way and left me physically shaken and in shock. So much so that a day later I'm moved to rant about it.
So here are my questions. Is it reasonable to expect owners to control their dogs on hiking trails? Are dog owners blissfully unaware of the effect their (large, unleashed, out of control) dog can have on others? What should I do (or say) next time a large, unleashed dog (and unleashed owner) comes at me on a hiking trail?
