As the temperature has been plummetting recently (it was below zero fahrenheit last night when I got home from work) and the wind and dark and traffic are not a good combination when you have ice and snow covering the sides of the road, I have started running my lunch loop again. It is a loop that is just over 5 miles long near where I work. The problem I had today, of course, came from having to share the sidewalk with a man and his dog.

Luckily for me, the dog just wanted to be friendly. He jumped up and got my butt with his claws, and he didn’t bite down on my jacket too hard. He did not get my arm at all, and thankfully he did not tear my jacket. I have only worn it 3 or 4 times now. Normally in a situation like this, I’d be mad at the owner of the dog for allowing it to happen. Not today, though.

The owner and the dog were walking towards me as I ran down the sidewalk. The man tried to control the dog as soon as he noticed me, and was doing his best to keep the dog from being friendly. Unfortunately for him, the dog helped him slip onto his backside from the ice on the sidewalk, which allowed the puppy to come up on me. He did pull the dog back after it got one nip and kept him from chasing, though, which was good.

Sometimes, a leash just is not enough. However, most of the time it is, so if you are walking your dog in a public area please keep a leash handy if not on the dog. If you see somebody coming, leash the dog up and let them go by. We trained our dog to come the first time that we called, and he would sit at our heels until we told him he could go back to running around and having fun. His butt would quiver and he would want to run up and make friends, but he (usually) obeyed and would let other dogs and runners pass.