Last week, I wrote about my dog attack. If you missed it, you can check it out here. When I wrote the blog, I felt I had learned what I would from that experience, but it turns out I was wrong. 

This week, while walking with some friends, a few friendly dogs in the neighborhood popped out from behind a tree or corner. Each time I jumped. I caught myself and realized I still had some fear, based on the recent dog attack. I made note and went along my way.

The next day, walking alone, I was heading down a road I’ve started walking more as it is in the trees and I can often hear and see different types of birds. Plus, there are a couple of great hills, so it adds an extra cardiovascular workout. 

Before I got to the end of the houses, I noticed a dog on the road and then a second one. My heart started beating faster and I felt a little panic coming on. I thought they might be friendly, but I wasn’t sure I had seen them before. As I got closer, they started walking towards me. I think I even saw happy tail wags, but by then my mind raced back to the sudden dog attack, and I found myself tossing a rock at them. I didn’t want to risk being hurt again.

The dogs dropped their tails between their legs and returned home. The throw of the rock had not been any angry, Herculean force throw but a simple underhand toss in fear, but it was enough to send the dogs away. They looked so sad and dejected.

My heart broke and it still does as I write this. The dogs were friendly, and they were just looking to say hello but I tossed my rock. The rock sent them away, wondering what they had done wrong. The rock will likely cause them to keep their distance from me in the future, even if I’ve realized they’re okay. This time it was only a dog, but what about the next time?