Doggie Drama
31 August 2009
Fortunately, I’ve had little experience with the sinking sensation of, “Oh my gosh, this could be really bad, and I have no idea how to handle it.” My days are mostly laundry and McKenna talking to me about tomatoes, so there really isn’t much room for drama of that kind.
But last night, I took McKenna and KC, our border collie mix, for a walk around our neighborhood. We’ve done this, oh, a million times before. I’m always aware a situation could crop up that I can’t control. KC’s terrified of kids, bicycles, blowing leaves, basically anything that moves. He’s also very well behaved, so even in the situations that we’ve come across the trifecta (kids on bicycles, who are stirring up leaves as they blow by us) I’ve been able to manage him.
What I never counted on was a random German Shepherd running around the neighborhood.
We had just reached the point in the walk in which we were the farthest from the house and circling back when I noticed a very big dog jogging down the sidewalk, headed our way. A collar but no leash. I shortened KC’s leash and tightened my grip on McKenna’s stroller knowing that this could be bad.
The dog was friendly. Too friendly, actually. And KC looked a little bit like I do inside the Fossil store when the sales people descend. (Why do they have four sales people to every customer in that place???) KC really just wanted the dog to leave him alone, and all the dog wanted was for KC to break free of the leash so they could really wrestle. And with every step we took, the dog came along with us.
KC was just starting to get snippy when I noticed that across the street, there was a couple outside with their (adorable) baby boy. I called over for some help (assuming they were the answer to my very short prayer which had been basically, “Uh, God? Help, please!”) The woman came over and spent about five minutes trying to run off the dog so that we could make a break for it. (Both of us tried looking at the dog’s tags, but he was only interested in playing with KC.) FINALLY the dog went scurrying the other direction, as did we.
So I was already feeling a little shaken up, and it didn’t help that every ten seconds KC kept looking over his shoulder like he just knew we were being followed.
My dog is not stupid.
Fifteen minutes later, with our street in sight, I spotted the dog running after us again. KC’s patience had worn thin, and I could see his lips curling. As I was having the thought process of, “I’m about to have a dog fight on my hands,” I heard a man yelling, “Roscoe!” and a truck pulled alongside the curb. Never in my life have I been so happy to see two perfect strangers. “Roscoe” leapt into the truck with his owners, who explained to me that he’d jumped the fence and asked if we were okay. I said we were. She asked if he’d been nice, I said he had, and we went our separate ways.
I felt quite grateful to be home, as did KC. McKenna just asked if she could watch VeggieTales. Sometimes I long to be 20 months old again.
Hope everyone had a much less dramatic Sunday evening than me.
LOL. Love that terrifying trifecta of kids on bikes stirring up leaves. =)
Posted by Roseanna White on 31 August 2009