Not our normal walk

You don't expect a problem when you go out for a walk with your dog. Every morning, Charlie (our dog) expectantly looks at me until I take him for a walk. He's 14 years old and can't walk far but we walk slowly for about one mile each morning. We take pretty much the same route every day so we know what we're going to see and what we're going to do. Charlie has his duty and I have mine. Nothing much happens. Except for this morning.

We have to cross a fairly busy road but there is a crosswalk there. In Massachusetts, a vehicle has to stop if a pedestrian is standing between the white lines of the crosswalk. We usually let the cars go, though, because they always seem in such a rush and we are not. Right after the crosswalk, there is a house with a chain-link fenced in yard that has a bunch of (at least five) yappy Boston Terriers that love to bark at us. If they are out, they usually sense us before we get to the crosswalk and start barking before we even get to their side of the road. This morning was one of those mornings.

One thing wasn't the same as normal. I noticed a fellow about 20 feet off to our left obviously looking for something in the woods. He was whistling and calling but I didn't think too much about it. I was concentrating on the traffic that was approaching the crosswalk and the noise being generated by the yappy dogs. As we waited by the road to let the traffic pass, the car closest to us stopped and motioned for us to go. I looked over at the other lane to make sure the car coming from the other direction was going to let us go, too. Then, everything happened at once.

The car going the other way did stop but you could see he wasn't happy about it. The first car that stopped was motioning, impatiently, for us to get going. The yappy dogs were excited that we were coming their way. The guy looking for something was raising his voice and I was tempted to look over at him. But to make the drivers happy, Charlie and I started to run. Well, Charlie is 14 so we trotted, across the road. Just then, the guy looking for something shouted. Loudly! I looked over and my heart stopped. A Pit Bull was running toward us! Our running (trotting) had caught his attention and he left the woods to run after us. We were out in the middle of the road with nowhere to go. The yappy dogs were getting louder. The drivers were getting mad and I was scared into inaction. Then a miracle happened.

The guy who was obviously looking for this Pit Bull yelled and the dog stopped dead in his tracks. He kept his eyes fixed on us but he listened to his master. We continued across the road and got safely to the other side. The cars continued on their way and the yappy dogs continued to get louder as we approached and then passed their yard. I didn't look back. I assume the guy put a leash around his dog and walked him home. I was shaking but Charlie calmed me down with a look of, "Don't worry, I'd have protected you."

I wouldn't have been so scared but a fellow I work with was attacked by a Pit Bull just a couple of weeks before. Actually, there were two Pit Bulls but only one attacked. He described his struggle to free his dog from the grip of one of the attackers while yelling for help. He would get his dog free only to have the attacking dog grab her again. Even though the second dog never attacked, my friend had to keep an eye on him. Finally, a neighbor heard his yells and came to help. His neighbor was able to take his dog away to safety. With his dog gone, the attacking dog focused on my friend. Fortunately, it was cold that day and he had a heavy jacket on. The dog shredded it. He was finally able to pin the dog down until the police came.

That story flashed into my mind as I stood in the middle of the road in panic. I am so thankful I didn't have to really deal with anything beyond fear. I will be looking around a little more cautiously tomorrow morning.