I encounter one of my greatest post-surgery fears as I walk; grandsons and raspberries
Friday, August 17, 2012 at 12:46PM ;)
This morning as I began my walk, I spotted this dog up ahead on Sarah's Way. It growled, it snarled, it took on a menacing posture. As regular readers know, I always walk and now walking is part of my post-surgery therapy. Since I began this therapy, I have had this fear about encountering loose, aggressive dogs - especially given all the problems I have had with my incision coming undone, then blowing apart, and then two more cases of stitching coming undone again.
Yet, I was not too worried about this dog. Dogs like this tend to act tough and blustery from a bit of distance, but when you get close, they scoot away.
I have been much more worried about the aggressively friendly dog - especially the full grown, bounding, adolescent - as opposed to the blustery, snarling dog.
;)
About half-a-mile away, I finally encountered such a dog. I was walking down Wards when I heard the sound of paws crashing through the brush, accompanied by excited, panting, dog breaths. I turned to see it charging straight toward me - it's body vibrating, it's tail wagging, eyes shining, slobbery tongue flapping about its lower jaw.
I instantly knew it was going to try to jump on me and that when it did, it would likely slam its paws right into my wound and jab it with its nose. Indeed, this is exactly what the dog tried to do, but I fought it off with my hands and kept pushing it back.
After a couple of minutes, it calmed down enough for me to get this picture.
It then followed along, bounding back and forth alongside me, for a couple of hundred yards until I came upon two women walking in the opposite direction. The big pup then reversed course to follow them.
"Isn't this your dog?" one of the women asked.
"No," I said. "I am recovering from surgery. I can't have a dog jump on me."
So they let it accompany them for awhile.
;)
Lavina and Jobe came to pick up Lynx. Jobe had experienced an allergic reaction to a new kind of bath soap the previous day and it had been pretty rough for him. He was doing okay now, but Lynx was not feeling so good.
;)
As Lavina had busied herself buckling the boys in, Margie had been plucking wild raspberries from the yard. She dropped several into Lavina's hand. By the time I could get my iPhone ready to shoot, Lavina had eaten all but these few.
Reader Comments (3)
Oh, Bill, what a fright. So glad you kept him at bay! He could have done some major damage. Are you allowed to eat raspberries (seeds) yet? I would have Margie cook them up and strain for you....good on ice cream or stirred into milk! Ummmmm! Poor little Linx's eyes looked like he wasn't feeling good. Hope all is well for both of them. Good thing it's the weekend. You need to walk with a stick for a while, maybe. We had to when we lived in the mountains to keep dogs and wild things away. Is there a dog leash law in that area? Why do people who live in the boonies think their animals can run freely?
We hadn't had a dog for over 12 years. I was working in the yard and kept stepping in dog-do. I stopped and picked it all up....had over a half a bushel on 1/3 acre. I dumped it on top of a box and posted a sign:
I don't own a dog, is this yours?
I will call animal control on any dog I see using my lawn for a dumping ground!
My non-dog neighbors stopped and their mouths were hanging open! They thought they should go check their yards! From then on, people out walking their dogs had them on a leash...at least by our property! They don't want to pick it up. What makes them think anyone else does either.
It smelled better sitting on the deck after that. Of course, we still had elk droppings from 32 wandering thru every day. We let it dry and then kick it around the yard. Never had to fertilize the lawn in 49 years! Sure did a lot of mowing tho! :-)
Isn't it amazing how everyday wanderings take on such huge dimensional shifts when we are not
physically one hundred percent? I cheer your every step.
Mrs. Gunka - Yes, I can eat berries. Doc says I can eat anything. There is a leash law here, but it is not enforced. If this were the boonies, it would be one thing. It's pretty much residential neighborhoods, just not so filled in and congested as some. Every now and then, dog doo appears in our yard but not often. Lots of moose poop, but it hardly smells at all.
Yes, Annette and thank you.