Park Tour

Dear Diary,

This week I have been taking my dog on a little tour of parks. Each day, weather permitting, we visited a different park and went running and/or exploring. All of the parks were lovely. However the most memorable of the week was definitely the first park we visited. Now I do not want to go naming names so I will call it Park One. Upon parking in the parking lot of Park One, my dog got very excited because she saw another canine friend. Generally she is very patient but in the name of puppy play she jumped out of the car and took off. When she pulls stunts similar to this, it turns into quite the game to get her back into the car or onto her leash. She runs, she leaps, she romps around. All the while looking at me with those puppy dog eyes saying, "Look at me go mom!" So she has trained me to play the game back so she does not know I am concerned about her.

So I step away from the car and start calling her. She is fleeing for a field and having the time of her life. Meantime on the other side of the parking lot, opposite the field, this woman begin screaming! Just to be clear, she was not yelling, she was screaming. She starts out, "GET YOUR DOG! GET YOUR DOG!" I look over at this crazed woman with a look of "what do you think I am doing with leash, calling her name?!" As if the first screams were not enough, she continues, "GET YOUR DOG! I AM SCARED OF DOGS! ESSSPECIALLY BOXERS!" By this time she's frothing at the mouth and I find her ridiculous for running in a public park where there will be dogs if she is this frightened by them. I might also add my dog is no where near her still. Nor has she at any point gone anywhere near this hysterical woman. To top it off, Boxers are very friendly dogs. Now I understand fears are not rational. However, she is being so ridiculous that I am trying very hard not to yell back at her. I refrain. She continues screaming even though I have my dog on leash. So she braves getting into her car, two cars away from mine, but not without giving me the look of death. It is now that I decide to openly laugh at her as we take off jogging. My dog just looks at me with head tilt, "what's going on?"