Things to steer clear of

I had the girls at the park yesterday morning; the heat had broken and we were enjoying the breeze in the shade.  Our walks are unbelievably slow; snail slow, senior snail speed slow.  Over the last couple of years I have adjusted my speed; it wasn't easy at first.  Tilley was the first to start slowing down; this was the toughest for me.  I am constantly referred to as the speed walker; so slowing my pace took some modification but I managed to figure it all out and now enjoy our dawdling walks. 

Today we had some deeking and diving to do; things to steer clear of.  The first was a young boy on a bike; not only was he on a bike but he had a very large and very excited large lab attached to him.  In one hand he held the leash; the other he attempted to steer the bike, and he was coming our way.  Having a 13 girl and 14 year old girl on their snail walk I'm very protective.  This did not look like anything good coming our way.  The big Labrador had his hair up; not a good thing.  He was either way over stimulated or grumpy; both I did not want my girls dealing with.  As the boy headed our way unsteadily driving his bike he was dragged off the path; "good he's staying off the path."  Nope; back on the path, back and forth wherever the lab dragged him.  This scene was just an accident waiting to happen.  I quickly made the call to move out to the middle of the field; giving this pair lots of space.

After they passed us and I gave a big sigh of relief; along came the gentleman and his very large dog.  Again; I have a not so great feeling about them coming my way.  The dog is not friendly; we have met them a few times before and the man can barely hold onto his dog.  This is one of the things you tend to steer clear of; a man barely hanging onto his very large dog that wants to go after your dogs.   He grabs the leash with both hands and makes a good attempt at bracing himself while trying to get some distance.  Knowing how frail my girls are now I want nothing to do with this situation.  This team needs some intense training or I can see an accident in their near future. 

It doesn't take much to knock Tilley down now and Jessie wouldn't even see it coming.  I'm very protective and rightly so; I'm their protector and as such my job often entails steering clear.  I often write about watching your dog; I find their behavior fascinating and never grow tired of it.  Watching dogs that are approaching us is also something I do with an eagle eye; I assess a situation before it is upon us.  This gives you sort of a heads up; allowing time to react appropriately.  I don't like surprises; especially when it comes to a situation that should have been steered clear of.