“She should walk behind you. You are not able to control her”, he said, adrenalin coursing through him just as he stepped away from Sky.
What he saw – a dog lunging out of nowhere. Someone who couldn’t control her.
It was 7:30am when the society walkway is bustling with morning joggers, walkers and kids heading to school. We usually step out of the society but Sky refused to take our usual route. So, we had to circle back around the entire society towards the back gate. We navigated through the mayhem successfully until she chose to pee towards one of the edges.
Right then, an electric vehicle zoomed by. I was holding Sky a bit loose and she was at the end of her leash. Just as I was finishing washing up, I was whirled to one side as Sky carved an arc in the air lunging on the EV. While she was in middle of her reaction, she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye and instinctively, she cut another arc in the opposite direction lunging on the passerby, whirling me in the other direction.
Everything happened in a split second without giving me time to tighten her leash. Only when the person stepped away and she calmed down, I could pull her towards me.
Yes, it was absolutely my fault for holding her leash loosely and giving her space when I knew I couldn’t pay attention. I am sure it must have been distressing for the walker. He definitely was not expecting anything like this when he started for his walk. I also understand his point of view.
I suppose he just assumed she behaves largely in the same way with everyone. Only if that wasn’t true! She is unpredictable when it comes to who she will lunge on, may be it is a cumulative reaction.
However, this split second of incident in no way justifies anyone to comment on our relationship or how she should behave. The comment stung and it still continues to hurt me. It was an unfortunate incident and post that she walked like a dream and listened to everything I said (facepalm). If only the person could see!!
Next time your dog does something similar, do not judge yourself, do not judge the other person, accept and acknowledge the mistake and move on.
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