Chased by a Boxer

Filed under: Stories

For someone who has canine phobia, it was absolutely frightening during an evening run yesterday, when I saw this boxer at full throttle, sprinting across the lawn towards me. My first instinct was to run faster, but soon realized I was not going to out run a dog at full speed, and there were flashes of scenes from discovery channel of a cheetah chasing a deer, only in this case I was not as fast as a deer.

They say that in situations like this, time slows down, and the mind clears, enabling you the chance to think clearly, and find a way out of a difficult situation. This is exactly how I felt, time slowed, the mind cleared, and and old memory came to mind of a runner pointing at a chasing dog and making a threatening sound. Then it was like someone hit the play button again, I slowed down, turned around pointed at the dog, and shouted. To my utter disbelief, the dog panicked, turned, and crashed into a flight of stairs.

At first there was relief, joy, and a feeling I was safe; but the dog turned right back around, angrier and faster. I had no other option but to try the same technique again. It was a gamble, but it was better than standing still and getting mauled. Some good karma must have been working in my favor, it worked again, and the dog ran away. I kept running, occasionally turning around to make sure the dog did not gather enough courage to come after me again.

Now, I am no dog expert, but the only reason I knew it was a boxer, is because a colleague has a picture of a boxer in his office. Other than that I knew nothing about a boxer, so I got home, and did a lookup on wikipedia:

Boxers have very strong jaws and a powerful bite. He is renowned for his great love and faithfulness to his master and household, his alertness, and fearless courage as a defender and protector. The Boxer is docile but distrustful of strangers. They are sometimes over-protective, territorial and dominating attitude, often most intense in males, can be problematic

After reading that little snippet about a boxer, I am sure glad I did not get mauled by one!

If a dog with a powerful bite chases or attacks you, how will you react?

PHOTO DAN BARAK