Close encounters with the canine kind

I mixed it up a bit and ran a route that took me from Crown Center back home this morning. Bike To Work Week is coming up. So I loaded up the car with a week’s worth of clothes, dropped it off at CC and ran back.

I was hoofing it down Gillham Road at about 40th Street when I heard the familiar jingle of dog tags behind me. Turned and saw a dog racing toward me, drool glistening from its mouth. It started barking when I turned to see it. Those who know me and are aware of my bravery won’t be surprised to hear that I jumped in the back of an F-150 that was parked on the street. (I’m not sure what made me think the dog couldn’t have jumped right in there with me if it wanted to.)

As the snarling dog crouched in front of the truck in what appeared to be “I’m about to eat you” position, I heard a female voice say, “Oh, he won’t bite.” The woman was standing at the closest house, sucking down a cancer stick. I replied, “I’m not sure how I could have known that.”

She walked over, grabbed the dog by the collar and led it back to the house. (It was then that I noticed her other dog tied to a tree.)

I tell this story to bring up a few points:

• I am a very tough and brave person.

• Unless I know you and your dog, I have no idea whether your dog is good, bad or indifferent. I don’t know if it will bite. I don’t know if it will jump on me. I don’t know anything about it.

• What I do know is that I’ve been bitten, knocked over and otherwise bothered by several dogs over the years. In each and every case, the owner said something to the effect of, “I can’t believe he/she did that!” Well, maybe it’s because the dog saw something running and that triggered one of any number of instincts….fear, aggression, playfulness….who knows.

For whatever reason, lots of people believe they and their dogs are exempt from leash laws. I’ve never understood why. I see loose dogs on at least half of my weekly runs. One time I was running down Johnson Drive during rush hour and a dog ran at me from across the street, causing several approaching cars to slam their brakes to avoid it. In that case, the dog just wanted to play and I stood with it until its jogger owner crossed over to retrieve it.

Bottom line, please leash the dogs. I’d love it if you did it because you cared about my well being. But if that doesn’t do anything for you, then do it for your dog’s.