I ran into one of my neighbors when I was walking Moose and Lally the other night. She’s one of the first people I met when I moved here last May, and we’ve been friendly ever since.
She mentioned that she hadn’t seen me as much lately — I used to walk Moose and Lally past her apartment often. Her little dog would come charging out, tail wagging, to say hello.
I responded that I was trying to avoid cats. Lally has become quite the kitty hunter, and there are several semi-feral cats that tend to congregate in the landscaping near my neighbor’s apartment. Lally once chased a cat onto my neighbor’s patio, overturning the kids’ plastic picnic table in the pursuit. I didn’t want that happening again!
As I walked away, I thought about it. Avoiding the cats isn’t the only reason I don’t walk that way — it was just the first reason that came to mind.
I’m also trying to avoid the kids at the playground. Don’t get me wrong — most of the kids around here are nice. But Lally can get agitated when she sees children running around — especially if they’re running towards her. She’s also afraid of skateboards, bicycles, scooters, and just about anything else on wheels.
With school out for the summer, the playground is a danger zone for Lally. So it’s easier to just avoid the playground and walk a different way. These days, the safest route seems to be to walk around the outside of the complex and avoid the inside as much as possible.
I see the route change as being a responsible dog owner — I know that one of my dogs tends to react badly to certain things, so I’m going out of my way to avoid them. It saves her the stress and saves us all from potential problems.