A few weeks ago Fiji and I were walking to the Lakeside station when a Rottweiler got out of her yard and made as if to attack us. In hindsight I can see that she had every opportunity to attack and didn’t do so. But at the time I was terrified for Fiji’s safety and that terror petrified me.
Thankfully members of the community rushed to our assistance and managed to get the Rottweiler back into her yard and then contacted her owners who fixed their broken gate. Ultimately, no harm was done – at least not to Fiji.
The truth is that now when I walk past and hear the snarling Rottweiler leaping up at the gate I wonder if … just maybe… she’s going to get out again. And now I find myself rushing away as fast as I can which could be dangerous since it’s on a busy corner where we’re forced to walk in the road since the pavement is blocked by rocks to prevent cars parking there. So far we’ve been lucky… but I admit it’s not something I’m comfortable doing.
The Rottweiler incident has affected me in other ways as well – when we walk past other houses with dogs I find myself wondering if they’ll get out… and yesterday, when one of the dogs in my street did manage to get out I overreacted and yelled at him… despite the fact his owner leapt to the rescue and grabbed the dog before he could get anywhere near us.
I know the only way for me to work through this fear is to keep walking with Fiji and prove to myself that nothing is going to happen. And that’s what I’m doing – as often as I can.
But I do find myself smiling wryly when people tell me how brave they think I am to be out walking in the neighbourhood since the streets aren’t safe… because I doubt they’re referring to dogs!
I guess you’re probably wondering how Fiji reacted to this traumatic experience. She hasn’t shown a sign of concern – she’s perfectly relaxed about the whole thing – it’s just her mom whose currently a nervous wreck!
I hope you recover soon, it must be daunting. You have the best guard with you anyway!