New Career Path?

Cruising to work today, I saw a woman walking two dogs up ahead of me. Dogs have amazing body language, and these two were no exception. Their alert ears, short/jerky movements toward me as I approached, and the tension on their leash-restrained bodies, all strongly telegraphed an immense interest in the noisy machine beneath me.

The woman drew them both away from the road and up a driveway to keep plenty of distance as I approached. Having a clear oncoming lane, I slightly crossed the yellow line to give even more room out of courtesy. Everything was good…or was it?

Just as I passed, both dogs lurched at me with everything they had. I slipped on by, assuming the woman had things under control – but a cry, fading behind me as the distance between us increased, told otherwise.

Sure enough, checking the side mirror, I saw a large brown streak come bolting from the bushes and make a beeline for my rear tire. This big fella was fast! I slid over to the side and began to slow a bit, all while trying to gauge the look in his eyes. Hungry? Angry? Or just excited? Screw it, I had the riding gear on, and while it wouldn’t offer the same level of protection as a full bite suit, it was still something between the canine’s canines, and my skin.  Besides, I couldn't just ride away without trying to reunite this guy with his owner.

Killing the engine as I came to a stop, I hopped off and turned to welcome my new friend. He closed to within a few feet, then banked sharply around me and turned to survey me. Ahh, good; a happy look in his eye, combined with a wagging tail. This guy just wants to play!

I whistled to him and he came…almost to within reaching distance. This guy wasn’t sold on me yet, and wasn’t going to come too close. He was dragging his leash, so I knew if I could just get him to run near me, I might have a chance of grabbing that. But my new friend suddenly had other plans – it must have dawned on him at that moment; “Hey wait a minute…I don’t need to bother with this guy…I’m free!!!!” And with that, he was off, sniffing the edge of the woods, darting here and there, taking in all the wonderful scents that his kind has the luxury of sensing.

I whistled to him a couple more times, and while he did head toward me a little, he never got close at all. Right about this time, his owner came running down the street with her other dog leading the way. At the sight of her, the loose dog’s tail began wagging with a new intensity – the game was on! He bounded off into the woods and I thought “Damn – he’s gone.” Nope, he reappeared again, still bopping around the tree line. Cool, the game is still in session!

The woman came up to me and I asked if I approached the loose pup, would he run or not? She said she wasn’t sure. I asked if he would bite, and she said no. Her other dog was all kinds of interested in me, so I held my hand out gently for him to sniff, and that’s when the owner said “Oh him…he bites!” She pulled him back from my hand and I would swear I saw a look in that dog’s eyes that said “Next time…next time, those fingers are mine”.

Ok, back to the issue at hand. She called to the loose dog and he came bounding toward us…but veered off at the last second. Ha, your mistake is you don’t realize you’re dragging five feet of leash, chum! I did my best “dive-into-home-plate” move, and…ta da! Came up with a fist full of leash. Winning! :-D

I gently reeled the big guy in and handed him over to his very grateful owner. No problem at all, have a great day, I replied, and with that; it was time to saddle back up and head to work.

That was fun! And it felt great to help out.

Maybe I should look into becoming a dog catcher?

Ride Hard, Take Chances