I Can't Be-Leash It!!!

I LOVE dogs - that said, I don't want yours to eat my face - and I also prefer it if your teeny tiny little pooch wasn't responsible for an ankle sprain.

Let's back up...

At the very end of town lies a trail, a nice paved 1K trail.  It's perfect for all kinds of activities, and people.  I was running mass amounts of intervals one day and saw: runners, walkers, bikers, roller skaters, dog walkers, and a slightly sketchy scene watcher.  I think it is GREAT when people are out running/walking their dogs - I WISH my dog would run with me, but she is 14 and diabetic, and when I start to run - she firmly plants her butt on the concrete and challenges me to a duel.  (Don't let her fool you though because if I was a squirrel, and not a human, she would totally be running).

Anyway - along comes a lady, her teenage daughter, and their two teeny tiny dogs.  The dogs are not leashed (even though the sign says to do that in big fat letters), and when I run toward them (the dogs - not the ladies), they (naturally) run toward me, and I have to give them the okie doke to get by.  This is not a comfortable move.  It strains my ankles, ruins my pacing, and kind of panics me.  The lady and her daughter laugh, and continue to walk (as if to say - aw, wasn't that awkward interaction totally adorable - it was not). 

** FORGOT TO MENTION - they have leashes in their hands**

Because the trail is a giant circle - we meet again.  Do they learn from the first time, they do not, SAME EXACT THING HAPPENS.  As they are laughing merrily on their way, I ask (way nicer than I wanted to) Can you please leash your dogs?  The gasp was audible.  SOME NERVE!!  Could you imagine - ME - not wanting to try to out juke two small creatures every kilometer.  And now, I am the bad guy.  Ugh - I have GOALS, people - and one of them is not to be sidelined due to a zig when I should have zagged.  I also don't want to be responsible for an injury to your dog - I was moving as a pretty decent clip (or that's what I tell myself) - one wrong move and it could have been bad for the all of us.

AND TODAY!!!  New dog walker, new dog.  The dog was beautiful - a huge, no a gigantic, pitbull attached to a very small man.  So, when I ran by, and the dog decided "Whoa, that looks way more fun that this walking business" he took off at a dead sprint - I had to hold my breath.  The end of the leash caught, and it did hold him, but yowza!!  I walked for awhile - so as not to provoke him with my speediness (okay not really, but certainly faster than walking).  What I really wanted to do was ask his owner: "would your dog run with me without eating my face - because if so, I would totally take him out!"  Sometimes, my better judgement wins - in that I kept my mouth shut and kept walking.

Here's to the furry friends (runners and non), and their owners that follow the rules.  This runner thanks you.