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December 18, 2005
Dog Encounters
I haven't posted in about a week, so first I'm just going to list my runs for my log, which I haven't updated in a while. Then, I have a few things to say.
Monday- 45 minutes treadmill
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- 70 minutes treadmill
Thursday- 70 minutes with 10 downhill strides
Friday- 70 minutes treadmill
Saturday- 45 min. AM/ 45 min. PM
Sunday- 1:50
I had no choice but to do more runs on the treadmill than I wanted to, but it's impossible to see the ice in the dark. I only like to do one (maybe 2) runs per week on it, but I got more benefit from the treadmill than trying to run outside. I moved Friday's workout to Thursday because of the big storm we were supposed to get on Thursday night(that wasn't so bad). I figured I better do it while the conditions were ok, since I haven't figured out a way to do downhill strides on the treadmill :-)
Saturday's double got me really mad. I was chased by a large german shepherd. Luckily when I yelled, "sh--!" it thought I yelled "sit" and actually sat. Then it started chasing me again. I was doing an out and back and had to turn back when my time was up or I'd never get back home. I reluctantly turned around and grabbed a stick on the way. I'm not sure what the stick was for, but it made me feel in control. I avoided the dog on the way back though, because I was smart enough to cut through some open land, so it didn't see me. I ran into Brad, who was in the middle of a tempo run, and talked as fast as I could to warn him of what was ahead. Later he said he never saw the dog. Brad did the second run with me and wanted to go the same way. We didn't see the dog on the way out, but we saw it (as it chased us)on the way back. Now I never want to run this way again. Brad's thinking of stopping by and talking to the owner. He did this once before when he was chased by the same 2 dogs everyday. He very nicely asked the owner not to let the dogs out from 5-7pm, when he typically went by. The owner was nice and agreed, and Brad never saw the dogs again. Since I have never owned a dog (and am afraid of dogs I don't know), does this seem reasonable or obnoxious?
Posted by Caitlin at December 18, 2005 07:49 PM
Comments
I don't have a dog and I don't like animals. It sounds brilliant to me.
In all seriousness (even though I was being serious above too) I think Brad has a great solution and Brad was even going out of his way to accomodate the owner. There is no way dogs should be out that chase people. Period. End. So if he IS going to let his dogs out, a 2 hour time period to stay inside sounds reasonable to me.
So sorry you had to deal with that.
Posted by: Audrey at December 18, 2005 08:58 PM
I like dogs, I'm a dog owner, and I agree that it sounds like a great idea. Letting a dog run free beyond the limits of one's property is not only dangerous to the dog (cars, getting lost, etc.), but it's dangerous for everyone else (like you and Brad). Whereever you live, it's not legal to let a dog run uncontrolled. Brad talking to an owner is MUCH nicer than what you could do, such as filing a complaint with the police or animal control.
Posted by: Meghan at December 18, 2005 09:56 PM
I just like that the dog doesn't know the difference between "sit" and "sh--" -- you're lucky the dog didn't take what you actually said as a command!
Posted by: Alison at December 19, 2005 10:40 AM
Good Job with the Sh--! I am a dog lover, but sometimes they can be scary when they're loose in their yards (which is "illegal" for a good reason), so when I see one ahead that I have to run by, I just look the other way-no eye contact at all. And I try to remain calm so that the dog won't sense anything and freak out. It is absolutely reasonable to talk to the owner. If you like that route, you should not be deterred from enjoying it because of the dog owner's lack of sense.
Posted by: Erin at December 19, 2005 10:50 PM