Oops, me and dogs....

 Hi there

When I was four or five years old, I was in a dairy with my mother (for my American reader, a 'dairy' is a neighbourhood store, selling staples, ice cream, and essentials).  A guy entered with a big German Shepherd dog.

Now, I was terribly scared of dogs, but in my little four year old mind, I was determined to be brave.  It was time to stand up to my fears -

I reached over to pat the dog.  "N-nice... doggie..."

The dog bit me on my nose!

I screamed blue murder. 

And that's all I remember about the incident.  What happened to the dog?  It's master?  The shop assistant?  My nose?  Did my mother leap to attack the attack dog to avenge my bleeding nose?  Did I go to a doctor, the hospital.  I never did find out.

One thing though, I became even more scared of dogs.

Until ... about ten years ago, a friend asked me to walk her little dog one day a week.  And, at last, I was getting over my fraidy-cat fears; little Coco was adorable.  I would talk to dog owners as I was out and about.  I even asked if I could pat their pets. Success!

Then last week ...  it was dark, and I was just outside my front door putting some recycling stuff in the bin.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a sudden blur of white racing up to me.  How adorable, I thought.  It was a cat.

No!  A dog!  

A pit bull? *

The dog bounced around me, jumped up at me.

I screamed, and thrust my hands over my eyes.  I obviously had the theory that what I couldn't see, didn't exist.  I burst into loud shaking sobs.

A neighbour raced towards me, apologising, apologising, apologising over and over and over again about this dog that I'd never known she had (we're not allowed animals in my street; I was stopped getting a new cat).  She called for the dog, rushed it away.  However, this lady was back within about ten seconds, dog-less, and re-apologising.  I was still shaking, still crying.

I rushed inside my house.  She knocked on my door, apologising again.   How could I explain to this woman that this one dog of hers had brought me back to being terrified of the animals; I couldn't find the words.  I shut the door on her.

...back to Square 1.

*The following day a friend said that from my two second viewing of the dog, the animal sounded more like a Staffie than a pitbull.