Our local park is a brilliant community space utilised by all types including a plethora of dog walkers, ourselves included.
Now, with dog walking comes politics. There was a time when I knew a large number of dog walkers and would say “good morning” to one and all. Gradually the crowd changed as people moved away, perhaps it was covid or perhaps the dogs died but either way, it was less social.
With dog parks there are inevitable tussles as not all dogs get along and unlike people, they don’t fake it.
Agnes has a dislike of brown Cockapoos and the other morning, she made her opinion known by going after a brown Cockapoo who had rubbed her the wrong way.
Who knows what starts these things, a wrong look, a weird smell but regardless, Agnes saw red (or brown) and was right off like a bat out of hell after her brown nemesis.
Hysteria followed as an American woman started screaming and, holding her dog high in the air, was spinning round like a whirling dervish. Agnes was jumping like a dog possessed and I was desperately trying to catch her while asking the woman to keep still.
Eventually I caught Agnes and the woman turned on me, rude and abusive.
I walked away chalking it up as a dog altercation… until the following morning when I encountered the same woman and the same dog.
Another round of abuse ensued as she claimed to have been bitten (she hadn’t) and I owed her an apology. Now normally I would have apologised immediately but, like Agnes, I had been rubbed the wrong way after a volley of abuse so there was no way I was apologising. I told her to stop harassing me and that was that.
And so to this week where I took Agnes to the park at 7:30am to avoid a confrontation but incredibly I spotted the woman turning around and walking in a different direction when she saw me.
Agnes and I had won, or had we? We’re still skulking around the park on high alert for a hysterical woman and her nasty brown cockapoo which isn’t the most relaxing start to the day.
Dog park politics.
all about gem 