Attacked by Dogs

There's a park by my work that I like to go to when I run, mostly because it's big and pretty well shaded by the trees. And no, I haven't lost any weight yet (though hopefully I've at least stopped getting fatter). That's not really the point.

I don't think I had a problem with dogs before my mission. That's because in the United States, people keep their dogs in their yards or on leashes, so dogs don't just roam the streets looking for people to bite. In Chile it's different, and not just because the people let their dogs do whatever the want, but because there are too many dogs. I'm sure that's related to the lack of "fixing" (or the lack of money to do so?), but whatever it is, there are stray dogs everywhere, and they're not all very nice. So when I was there, I kind of learned to be cautious about dogs, because you never know which ones are going to decide to come after you.

Despite the odds and several attempts, I was never bitten on mission. I'm sure that was mostly due to the backup I received (both of the celestial nature and that of my companion's foot).

Where was I?

I had actually finished running yesterday and I was just walking back to my car when I passed two smallish dogs laying on the grass. (I only know a few breeds, so I can't say what kinds of dogs they were, though I know a few kinds that they weren't.) I don't know how long the dogs had been sitting there or how many people had walked past them before me. I don't know what it was about me that they didn't like, unless they could just tell that I was wary of them and decided to take advantage of that. Whatever it was they both jumped up suddenly and ran towards me barking.

I kind of panicked. At first I jumped back startled and started to run, but the smaller of the two dogs came in for bite. I didn't even think about it, but I kind of instinctively gave it a kick to the jaw. I wish that would have taught it a lesson, but they kept coming, so I just started running away from them.

I'm sure I ran way faster right then than I had during the whole of my workout, but all of the same I didn't get very far before realizing that I couldn't outrun the dogs, so I turned around to face them. For some reason I thought about something I'd read on a sign post in Colorado about mountain lions, and so I stuck my arms out to make myself look big and yelled nonsense sounds at the dogs. They both stopped, but didn't retreat. I wasn't very far from my car, but any time I started to move towards it the dogs would think I was retreating myself, and get courage to come at me again. When they did this the first time I tried kicking again, but I realized that I couldn't swing at one without being vulnerable to the other. So I went back to just acting tough, and there we stood in a deadlock.

I could see people coming around the park on the path, so I waited so that they could help me when they got close. When they actually showed up, though, they just strolled past and the dogs left them completely alone. Three sets of people walked by, and instead of helping me out they just said how cute my dogs were. I was too embarrassed to admit that I was afraid of them and that I needed some help, so I just let them go by.

I finally got away because a car drove by and I managed to have it separate me from the dogs, and the I got back to my car. I felt really shaken up, even though I hadn't been hurt.


Somehow this turned into a really long post, but I figure that embarrassing things make good stories. Enjoy.