it all started out a beautiful day.........

beautiful sun rising in the fog

sweet girl catching the bus

It all started out such a beautiful morning, so I am hating to share this story with you today. However, I would not forgive myself if I did not heed a warning (or reminder) to all women. I had a little scare this morning with a couple of dogs. If you have read my earlier post, you know that I walk with my neighbor, Danielle and her dog "Casey", in the early morning. This morning as we were putting Danielle's daughter on the bus, "Casey" started barking and pulling fiercely. As you can see, our visibility was not great. I looked down the street and saw two large dogs (rotwieller mixes) that were standing in the fog - looking at us. "Cujo" !!! They started toward us and "Casey" went crazy barking and showing her teeth. I tried to get our intruders to go about their way - as I have with many dogs on our walks. I am a dog lover and a fan of the show "Dog Whisperer".
Therefore,  I know that I must show that I am the pack leader and not let any dog have the upper-hand. Kind of  like raising kids :)

This had always worked, previously, when we encountered unleashed dogs. Not today. These two dogs would not budge. They approached us and checked us out. In the meantime, "Casey" had somewhat calmed down so we continued the walk. Our party crashers decided they were going to take the walk with us. Normally we would have taken our two mile route but, because of our new buddies, we took the shorter "mile" route. All went well, and Casey was fine. Danielle and I talked and talked while Cujo One and Cujo
Two walked with us. Every now and then one of them would come up to me and brush against me with an uncomfortable "I'm the boss" nudge. Once we got back home, we all walked up Danielle's driveway. She and I chatted for a few more minutes and then Danielle went in her house and I headed for mine (next door). All of a sudden, Cujo One & Cujo Two circled me and wouldn't let me walk toward my home. I tried to keep moving forward but they jumped up on me and started tugging at my sweater. Needless to say, one of my worst nightmares started to flash in my mind. "Woman mauled by two vicious dogs on morning walk". When the growling started, all I could think to do was to try and walk back to Danielle's (I was still on her property). They let me move in that direction easier, but still jumped and tugged on opposite sides of my sweater. These dogs were probably 90-100 lb dogs. My heart was pounding with fright as I made my way to Danielle's front door ringing the doorbell and pounded on the door. It felt like "forever" for her to answer....but luckily "Casey" got to the door and started barking and the dogs backed off. We put "Casey" back on the leash and she and Danielle escorted me home without incident. I am safe and sound, however, my pride of being "pack leader" is a little dented.

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What I need to tell you is that the other day I walked alone. When my husband heard this, he was not happy with me. He asked if I had taken any protection with me - he has a large stick to take during walks. I had not, and was actually a little irritated that he was making a big deal about it. It was so unlike me to walk alone anyway.  Well, after today, never again will I walk alone. Please, ladies, if you do walk alone....take your pepper spray, your phone, or something with you in the event you need help or protection. Now that I am safe in my home, I want to think that Cujo One and Cujo Two probably just wanted me to stay outside and not leave them.....but even dog play can get out of hand with two big dogs - and we were strangers to one another. So, again, I am sorry for this "crummy" story, but I really felt it was important to bring this to your attention as a reminder to always keep yourself safe and prepared. ~ Cheryl