Often Things Are Not What They Seem

I pushed the double stroller down the sidewalk. The babies looked sweet in their blanket sleepers, taking in the sights, each leaning a different way.

"Bus!" said my two-year-old. A minute later: "Nother bus!" (While her baby brother inspected the weeds on the other side of the sidewalk.)

I saw a man ahead with a black dog. He cheerfully patted the dog's head when it jumped up on him. Then the dog bounded toward us and began licking the faces of my children. Horrified, and thankful the dog wasn't a biter (I was recently bitten by a neighbor's dog), I thought to myself that this man was very rude to let his dog clobber my children. I tried to push the dog away, but this was a persistently friendly dog.

As I walked away, the dog followed us. The man didn't say a word. Then I realized this was not his dog. Then I realized he probably thought this was my dog and may have even thought to himself, "How impolite of this woman to let her dog jump on me and not even apologize. And where is the leash?"

I was glad when the dog gave up trying to tongue assault my babies, but it still wanted to follow us. I tried everything I could think of (without being cruel) to get the dog to leave us alone. If I stopped and gave the dog my best "Scram!" stare, the dog would sit. I did a lot of pointing and yelling and pretend or soft kicking. I tried throwing rocks (I mostly missed). No effect. If I ignored the dog and walked on, the dog walked along side me like I had taught it to heel. (We had a dog once [that's a whole other story] and it was like a battle trying to get her to heel on a walk.)

So I just walked. What choice did I have?

People driving past us may have thought to themselves that I was a good master as they saw the dog keep perfect pace with me.

When the dog decided to dart into the street, the slowed drivers might have been thinking I was a negligent owner, to let my unleashed dog run wherever it wanted.

Funny thing is, they would have all been wrong!