The Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Or what to do when confronted with angry dogs….

This Sunday, May 28, 2006 I was supposed to get up early in the morning and go for a run. I’m recovering from this past Friday’s leg work which included a 375lb leg presses, front squats and a 315 lb dead lift w/o hooks. Needles to say, I was a little sore but nothing serious, just the normal muscle soreness from a good workout.

Back to this morning. I decided to go running/walking at around 1:00 PM. According to my GPS I ended up doing about 4.8 miles. It was a good run (I must admit, running in the middle of the day is a lot tougher, heat and all). I did not fall/trip or hurt myself in any way. But why is my dog’s picture here? Cute huh? Yeah most owners love their dogs, they never bite of course and they are the friendliest creatures on the planet.

This brings me back to my running. While cruising at my running speed, I normally hear the dogs barking as I go on my loop. I’m greeted by their friendly bark as I pass along the back of each home. Never really mindful of them, as they are on the other side of the fence, tending to their owners’ every need. Protecting their owners from strangers. Me!

I had reached ¾s of the way and was on my way back. As usual I heard the dogs barking as I passed along. This time things were a little bit different. The growling and peter patter of paws running was uncanny and very close. As I turned to my left, two dogs had escaped from their back yard and were now aiming to do me harm (the stranger). I quickly picked up some rocks (I’m running on gravel so there’s plenty for everyone). I composed myself and yelled at the top of my lungs (No! Sit, get back! And ready to let them have it they kept going!) The yell was really loud, the two dogs stopped in their tracks and backpedaled but remained outside the fence, growling and barking. At this point their bigger brother managed to squeeze himself out of the gate and came charging at me like there’s no tomorrow. Oh boy, here we go again!. I yelled at the top of my lungs again, this critter came within 8 feet of me and could see his shiny teeth.

My yelling at him stopped him also, he kept his distance and I figured now there were five of us scared. The three dogs, myself and the owner who now was running out of his house to call the dogs back inside. That was a close call. I did stand my ground, the owner apologized, I think he was really the one more scared than anyone else, what if they had bitten me and well you know all the trouble that brings.

I got back home without further excitement, there was a nice young lady that gave me the right away as I crossed the street, but I wonder if she thought, is he sweating or is that something else, I was quite wet you know :-)!

Moral of the story, ………(Php 3:2) and main thing is not to panic!

No animals were hurt in the making of this story, neither was the author.