It is sometimes hard not to use blogging as an excuse just to have a rant at anything that has gotten up my nose. So far I have mostly refrained, but this week I am giving in to the temptation to moan after two events have ruined my training runs this week.
Both are because of people with dogs being inconsiderate. I am not a dog-hater, by any means, in fact I long to have my own house rather than renting so that my husband and I could get a puppy, and I always feel pangs of jealousy when I see a runner with a dog keeping them company in their training. But really the annoyances have occured because of their owners being selfish, not the dogs themselves.
The first was the obvious, stepping in dog doo on a run and having the smell follow me home despite me best efforts at wiping it off. This was in a park where there are signs asking owners to pick up after their dog and there are bins provided, and I had already been skipping around several simillar piles. I think that was what annoyed me rather than the actual stepping in it- the blatant display of multiple dog owners not giving a s**t!
The second event was when I was running in another public park when there were several people out walking their dogs. A man was coming towards me with two medium-sized dogs and one of them leaped at me, growling and baring its teeth. I sort of kicked it away, my heart pounding furiously because it had startled me and because it's more than a little frightening to be jumped on by a strange dog, and the owner stood there about a metre in front of me, doing nothing except giving me a look as menacing as his dog. He didn't apologise or even acknowledge that his dog had scared me and intruded on my personal space. GRRRR! It made me so mad, I fumed all the way home. What right did he have to just let his dog set upon me? If I had been a child I could have developed a fear of dogs for life. In fact for the rest of the week I have felt cautious about running past dogs, not knowing what they'll be like. It wouldn't have taken much for the man to just acknowledge his dog's action, or at least be more friendly rather than rude. Runners shouldn't have to put up with that - we have just as much right to be there (and to be undisturbed) as dog walkers, and people who choose to have dogs should take responsibility for how their pet behaves in public places.
Rant over.
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1 comment:
I've found that since I started running with my dog other dogs haven't bothered me. Anybody who doesn't trust their dog grabs hold of them as we approach, either because they're worried about them fighting or I'll run off with theirs.
Of course there is a downside. Mine is more likely to trip me up than anyone elses and it's time consuming stopping to pick up her mess (I'm a good boy) although my Garmin stops when I do so it's not such a problem.
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