Running with Dogs | How Maggie & I Saved a Bulldog

Yesterday was day two of running with the dogs.  I was a little nervous about how it would go because it was fairly warm.  Maggie, like her mama, doesn’t do well in heat.  But I am determined to get them exercising on a regular basis, so off we went.

We started out the same as Sunday.  Pete and Maggie were both weaving back and forth.  It took them a while to get into the swing of it.  Of course, the boys pulled ahead in no time.  I could tell that Maggie was taking it a little slower.  She also had a lot more slobber this time.  I mean, to the point that she shook her head and the slimy foam went flying everywhere ala Hooch. (You know, as in Turner and Hooch.  Please tell me you know Turner and Hooch.)

We were a couple of blocks from home and there was a barking dog in its back yard.  Maggie started flipping around and yipping at it.  Just as we made it past that house, I heard some shouting.  “No!”  “Moses, no!” “MOSES!” I did not know who Moses was, but I recognized the tone in the voice.  Panic rising to the level of hysteria.  Moses was a dog, he was loose, and he was heading for the busy street.

I slowed my pace and shouted at my husband to stop.  I looked behind me in the direction of the yells, and sure enough, here was this big, white bulldog barreling straight towards us.  Of course, we were on the opposite side of the street.  Luckily there were no cars close by, but two were approaching.

I got a tight grip on Maggie’s leash and ran out into the street, waving my arms like a crazy person to make sure that the drivers saw us.  The one time I’m not wearing bright, reflective clothing is obviously the one time I’m going to have to run into the middle of the street.  Moses ran to us to say hello.  All I could do was hope that Maggie didn’t freak out on him.  She’s so squirrely around other dogs, and you never know how she might react.  She does not take kindly to other dogs’ noses near her butt.  At a very minimum, I expected barking.

As Moses greeted Maggie, I grabbed his collar.  That was my first priority – stop him from going anywhere else.  My second priority was to try to keep them separated, or at least avoid a fight.  Man, was he strong and solid.  He really wanted to sniff her, and there wasn’t much I could do to keep them apart.  I tried walking them over to the sidewalk, but we didn’t get very far.  I can just imagine what we looked like!  Me bent halfway over with my right hand on his collar, while I had my left hand raised up to tighten the leash and keep Maggie away from him.

All of this took place in a matter of seconds.  I doubt we were even standing there for thirty seconds.  His owner ran over, thanked us, put a leash on him, and we all made it safely to the other sidewalk.  As Moses walked off, I looked down at Maggie, amazed.  She was still just sitting there quietly.  I don’t know if it was the exercise, or whether she could tell another canine was in trouble and needed help, but I was very proud of how she responded.  We waited for the cars to pass and took off to catch up with the boys.

Pete was in top form again, running way too fast for me to stay up with them.  Maggie and I just took our time.  We even got to the point where there was some slack in the leash.  That never happens.  We made it the rest of the way without incident…well, except for Pete slamming on the brakes to take a pee right on the sidewalk.  We even made it past a very crowded Waffle Cone Wednesday with no crazy barks from Maggie.  There was even a small dog that started barking at us, but she just looked in that direction for a split second and paid no mind.

We went back out tonight, and it was totally uneventful.  That is, except for Pete unexpectedly lunging for a squirrel and nearly flying head over heels.  I looked up just as his butt was coming back down out of the air.

In case you’re keeping track, that’s three successful runs, and one successful bulldog rescue.  I’d say that’s a pretty good record so far.