People in my neighborhood
Encountering kids on my daily walks with the dog always makes me a little nervous. You never know how either one is going to react to the other. We quite possibly have the world's friendliest dog, but he also is prone to overexcited jumping and peeing, despite his embarrassingly adult age.
Today while we were out we heard a man and his daughter speculating on the dog's name from across the street. Next thing I knew they were headed across to meet us and get the scoop. As usual, they had a cousin and uncle with the same name.
The friendly dog's enthusiasm was tempered somewhat by the fact that the daughter was in a stroller (people on wheels make him nervous), so he was less hyper than his usual self, and I was starting to think we'd get away without him laying down on his back to be petted or me slipping and landing on my ass on the ice trying to restrain him from a flying leap into her lap.
"She's not afraid of dogs," the father told me proudly, and encouraged me to bring him closer. The dog took it as a sign to bypass the kid and lean against the dad. Cadaverously thin, he was holding a lit cigarette in one hand. By now I was close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath.
So he helped his (verbal, ambulatory, but still diapered--what age would that be?) daughter down from the stroller. She promptly walked right up to the dog and held up her face to his. I almost fainted. Thankfully, he licked her face, like the good dog that he is. My parents' cocker spaniel would have probably bitten it off.
The father went on to tell me about the family's Jack Russell terrier and how it had taken awhile to warm up to the kid but now is very protective of her. "I didn't want her to grow up afraid of dogs," he said. Then he told her to give the dog a kiss--which she did, full on the face, and we went our separate ways.
It's hard to know what to think. They were well and warmly dressed, with one of those expensive strollers with the bike tires in the back. They seemed to be having a pleasant walk. But I can't help but worry about whether they got home safely across busy streets and without kissing any unfriendly dogs.
Today while we were out we heard a man and his daughter speculating on the dog's name from across the street. Next thing I knew they were headed across to meet us and get the scoop. As usual, they had a cousin and uncle with the same name.
The friendly dog's enthusiasm was tempered somewhat by the fact that the daughter was in a stroller (people on wheels make him nervous), so he was less hyper than his usual self, and I was starting to think we'd get away without him laying down on his back to be petted or me slipping and landing on my ass on the ice trying to restrain him from a flying leap into her lap.
"She's not afraid of dogs," the father told me proudly, and encouraged me to bring him closer. The dog took it as a sign to bypass the kid and lean against the dad. Cadaverously thin, he was holding a lit cigarette in one hand. By now I was close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath.
So he helped his (verbal, ambulatory, but still diapered--what age would that be?) daughter down from the stroller. She promptly walked right up to the dog and held up her face to his. I almost fainted. Thankfully, he licked her face, like the good dog that he is. My parents' cocker spaniel would have probably bitten it off.
The father went on to tell me about the family's Jack Russell terrier and how it had taken awhile to warm up to the kid but now is very protective of her. "I didn't want her to grow up afraid of dogs," he said. Then he told her to give the dog a kiss--which she did, full on the face, and we went our separate ways.
It's hard to know what to think. They were well and warmly dressed, with one of those expensive strollers with the bike tires in the back. They seemed to be having a pleasant walk. But I can't help but worry about whether they got home safely across busy streets and without kissing any unfriendly dogs.
posted by Madame Defarge at 5:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home