Puppy Love
I ran again this morning after a few snow days off. There is still some snow on the ground in high traffic areas so I decided to run on the greenway. This was a good choice as I had to run over very little snow.
My problems came as I approached the first boat & barge along the river. I heard barking behind me in the distance and thought at worst a dog saw me behind a fence. As I passed beneath the overhead conveyor/tube for barge loading/unloading I heard louder barking. Behind me was a medium to large, unfriendly, black dog. I’m not certain of the animal’s breed but it was the size of a rottweiler. I was 30 feet away form the dog when I noticed it running towards me. I turned around and screened “Get away! Get away!” It was a poor attempt because I was running. It reminded me of nightmares I have had where I couldn’t scream.
The dog stopped, got low to the ground, and growled. I continued running while looking over my shoulder. I progressed for another 20 seconds when he started to run at me again. Luckily he only did this for a moment before retreating.
The men on the river just stared at me.
I thought about returning home a different way or calling Beth to pick me up. I decided to return the way I came. As I came back under I-65 I picked up a 2”x4” that was about a yard long from a pile of wood near a couple tents along the river. (I want to call them homeless people’s homes but that is obviously flawed.) I ran back with this huge beating stick in my hand till I met an old neighbor. I stopped and asked him if he had seen this dog before. He hadn’t but did have a problem with another, light colored dog previously. We ended up talking about our jobs which are both healthcare software companies.
I left my 2”x4” near the scene of the crime for future runnings. I’m also going to call animal control later.
