Phew, That Was A Close One

Scary stuff doesn't usually happen to me.

I live a pretty normal, non-unnerving, and safe life.

We had a little scare yesterday.

When I say we I mean myself and my favorite white dog.

We're fine, but man did it give me a jump and make me a little nervous.

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday so I decided to go for a short jog before work instead.

I went through a graveyard close by my house, in the nicer part of the nieghborhood.

I had already done about half of it when I heard someone yelling "Stop, stop."

Turning around I saw a car that had pulled up to a spot, doors open, and a black dog trotting towards Bruin and myself.

 I started backing away but that caused the  other dog to stop.

The man started yelling, "Hold your dog. Hold your dog." I pulled Bruin closer to myself. Now this other dog was not sprinting at us like he wanted to attack. More like jogging towards us looking back at his owner calling him and yelling towards me.

This made me think Well, maybe he wants his dog to come over to sniff mine to distract him so he can grab him. I mean, someone wouldn't willingly let their dog who is not friendly with others off the leash knowing someone else is running with theirs in the graveyard right?

So I yell, with the other dog about 10-20 feet away, "Is your dog friendly with other dogs?

"No!"

That's when I got nervous.

So I pulled Bruin as close to myself and try backing away. The other dog reaches us, comes up stands right next to him. They are completely still for a second pressed up against eachother sniffing.

And then the other dog snarled.

And with a snarl, suddenly this other dog snapped.
He went for Bruin.
I heard barking.
I'm trying to pull him away from this other dog on his leash without putting myself in between the two of them. Because last time I heard,  one is never to put themselves between two dogs when at least one is on the attack.
I'm realize I'm screaming. The owner is still not over where I am, and continues to yell, "Hold onto your dog!"

Let's pause.

My dog is on a leash.
This other dog is not.
 I am pulling him away from this other dog and to the best of my ability keeping him close to me without putting myself in between them.
So sir, I think I'm holding onto my dog.

In a panic, at one point I swing Bruin away from the other dog (pretty sure he got some air thank god he had his choke collar on for this run so I had him the whole tie) I accidentally put myself between the two dogs.

And the other dog stepped away.

I started yelling "No!" at the other dog while checking teo see if Bruin was fine.

The dog took another step away.

This other dog was backing off the more and more I put my hands on Bruin. Obviously, he only attacks other dogs, not humans.

I kept yelling and waving at the other dog, "No, No, Oh my god, Oh my god, NO!"

The owner FINALLY made his way over to his dog and grabbed it's collar.

This is probably about 5-10 seconds after the dog first came after mine.

The man asked, "Are you Okay?"

"Yes."

"Is your dog okay?"

I look down, some small spots of blood.

"I don't know there's some blood" Bruin is looking back and forth between everyone, leaning up next to me.

"I'm sorry that happened. I'm so sorry."

What do I say to that? You're sorry you let this dog out of the car, run towards mine without a leash, and don't hustle over, knowing that it is not friendly with other dogs?

I picked Bruin up. (Thank god he's medium sized.) Realized at this point that I choking back tears, and looked over at him slowly bringing his dog away.

All I could muster to his "I'm sorry" was, "You need to keep your dog on a leash."

So I just started walking. I inspected Bruin, I couldn't quite pinpoint how he had spots of blood on him because it didn't look like it was from him. I realized I had a cut on my finger. Probably from the quick movements with the leash or grabbing. I have no idea.

I try to go door to door to the houses next to the graveyard. My house is close, but I wanted to call Dave to come down and get the plate number of this guy to report to animal control. There was no way I was going back in there with my dog.

After a few houses don't work, one woman came out of the house with small dog in her arms barking. I yell to her asking if I could use her phone, she says of course. She was apologizing that this happened.  She says she'll put herself in her bathroom with her dog so mine won't get scared. She insists that I bring my dog into the house.

I try calling both cell phones, Dave doesn't pick up.

The woman comes out of her bathroom with her dog, she tells me her dog is friendly but she doesn't want to Bruin to get scared. I look down and Bruin is sniffing around. He doesn't even notice the other dog.

I was clearly a little more shaken up than someone else.

Thank god I have the dog I do.

I leave, thank her profusely. She insists I walk on her newly paved driveway and apologizes that such an awful thing happened to such a nice person and nice dog.

I make it home. Tell Dave who is outside. He goes to the graveyard and gets the plate number and comes home to call animal control.

I inspect Bruin. Most of the blood is from me.

He ended up with just a small scratch on his back leg.

My little goofball is fine. He is currently napping on the couch next to me all cuddled in.

There are a few things that I'm trying to take away from this.


1. There's a reason leash laws are in place. Not only for the dogs who attack. If I didn't have Bruin on a leash I wouldn't have been able to control him and get him away from the other dog.

2. Some people just aren't responsible enough to own dogs.

3. The hospitality and kindness of strangers will sometimes surprise you. The woman didn't have to let me into her house. Especially in the city that I live in, sometimes, even in the nice neighborhoods, you can't always trust your neighbors. She trusted me and let me into her home. She was beyond gracious. I will be sending some flowers and a thank you card her way after work today.

4. Above all things, I am grateful.