Day Four

It had rained most of the day, including a downpour about an hour before work ended. When it was time to go for our run, it was only grey and a bit windy, so I was hopeful that we'd have a good middle distance run.

Toby was behaving really well at first, although after the first car passed us, he did his lunging-speeding up thing. We headed into the village. When we passed the house where the barky-stalking retriever mix lives, the dog came out and ran toward us, barking, tail straight up. It was a very aggressive move, which is what he's done before, but he's always stopped short. This time, he attacked Toby.

There was a vicious little fight, during which I saw lots of bared teeth and fur flying. It's just like the cartoons - a big blur. I kept yelling at them to stop and was pulling Toby away. Eventually, I got Toby away and the other dog sort of slunk away. Toby barked at him as we made our escape, which would have made it appear like he was the Bad Dog. He was really just defending himself.

Away we went, up to the park and around a few laps. We crossed the little bridge in the park and my legs came out from underneath me, but I was able to catch myself on the railing. I didn't realise the wooden planks would be slick with moss and rain. Lesson learned.

On the way back through the village, I was dreading running past the retriever's house. As we approached, I saw a kid run across the street and hurry into a house. In my head, I could hear spaghetti western music and imagine tumbleweeds blowing aross the road. The dog was either gone or had learned his lesson since I didn't see him.

When we got to the point where the sidewalk ends, the traffic started to get a little busy. I made Toby stop in a narrow bit before a curve because I could hear cars coming. When we started back running, he did a weird thing where three or four times, he looked back and like he was going to chase his tail. I think he was wound up from the fight and the branches poking him made him feel like he was getting attacked again. I don't know.

We finished up uneventfully in 31.46, so it was another three miles, although they weren't very easy. At least the sun sort of came out near the end, even if it was simultaneously raining.