Oh and 6, because even if it’s a bit dismissive, @LSLGuy allowed for consideration and concern for the dog-walker depending on the circumstances.
Or #8, where they agreed they’d talk to the owner and explain that the request is unreasonable.
Or #9 where they’d run by and suggest it’s a good opportunity to train the dog.
Or #15 where they’d talk answer and even oblige depending on the tone and need of the asking party.
Or # 20 where I was willing to talk and find out circumstances.
And of course, your own.
And several that tried to make friends with the dog.
So…
Really quite far from “nobody”, as several other posters have mentioned individually. And lots of people participate in polls but never comment, so we have no idea their personal circumstances. Maybe they were mauled as kids (I know of one growing up!) or had friends/family chased/bitten (like me).
To be honest, I might slow down out of sheer confusion with regards to the request. But living in a big city, I have ample experience in ignoring random people shouting about their grievances.
There’s hardly anyone else around, you are the only runner, there’s no reason to think there have been faster runners about the place, nor wildlife, nor other cyclists etc.
The woman, who knows the dog and might be expected to know what sets off its prey drive, has identified you as the kind of runner that it does chase. She’s certainly confident enough in this assessment, and worried enough about the likelihood of its chasing you, to shout at you from across the street.
You are confident that the fact that this dog you don’t know hasn’t yet run off means it never will, because you have imagined the presence of other prey stimuli at some earlier point in their walk on this quiet residential street, even though you have no idea at all how long they have been outdoors.
Of the two of you, how sure are you exactly that it is her confidence that is misplaced?
I’ve lived and walked dogs in residential areas so I am highly confident that squirrels and rabbits running about quickly are unavoidable. A car or delivery vehicle (Amazon UPS regular mail …) or so is pretty much guaranteed over the course of a walk late morning even if there is no traffic that minute. It is described as residential not isolated. Not post apocalyptic. Maybe not a cyclist or another runner. Or kids in a yard if it is a school day. But could be.
And very sure of the other part: my typical speed on a run is not so fast. The Flash I am not. A rabbit I am not. My morning run pace is simply not a prey drive trigger from over fifty feet away.
Thinking more though - if I imagine my running pace from fifty feet away is a trigger, she is actually rationally worried, and there is real risk that she cannot control her dog when it is triggered that way, my confidence is totally misplaced?
Then better it chases after me than the kid running to the family car, or chasing the UPS truck getting killed under its wheels. Because there are two scenarios with such a dog: friendly excitable enthusiastic wants to greet and jump: I can greet grab its leash and return to the woman stating clearly that if I was child the kid could have been hurt, that trucks and prey are unavoidable, and being able to control her dog in public is not negotiable for the safety of others and of her dog; or it is an aggressive dog, in which case yes better my leg or forearm than a child’s face or causing a cyclist to crash.
Better still for it to be not a cyclist nor a child’s face nor yet your limbs - if you want to have the conversation (and I agree you should) about non-negotiable control of the dog, you can have that without tossing the coin on whether it will chase you or with what intention.
I mean, it’s a panicky woman yelling “STOP STOP” across a street and telling you her dog will try to chase you. The risk of the dog breaking loose is not exactly unforeseeable in this scenario.
The woman sounds like she is either disconnected from reality or has a really bad dog. I would just want to get away from her as soon as possible. What exactly is she afraid of, that the dog would pull so hard that she’d let go of the leash? Even if that happened I’d rather just get out of there.
Not sure where you’re getting “disconnected from reality”. I live in Portland, and I previously lived in San Francisco. I am very used to mentally ill people on the streets. This was a normal woman, not some loon ranting on a corner.
Yes, I would guess she’s either worried she won’t be able to hold on, or she’s trying to keep the dog calm for its own sake, or she’s trying to avoid extra stressors while she’s training the dog.
If the risk is that the dog will escape, “getting out of there” isn’t a realistic option.
She seems to not comprehend that she will inevitably encounter runners and other variables on a dog walk, or she wants everyone to care about her dog as much as she does. She seems to be in her own weird bubble.
That’s my surmise. Which led me to conclude there’s a bunch of entitlement and that’s what drove my comments waay upthread.
My usual approach to unexpected encounters is start friendly & humble then escalate quickly if dealing with entitlement to things they should have no expectation of. Like their dog having priority over any human in general and me in particular.
Acceding to demands like that isn’t being courteous; it’s being a doormat and an enabler of further bad behavior. My motto: Just Say No.
