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Joggers Should Pause When Pooch Approaches
By JOE SHAFRAN
You can call me Dear Abbey if you want because this is going to start out as an advice column. Advice to runners or joggers. This all results from the incident in Edgewater the end of last week where a jogger kicked a barking dog that came after him. The advice is that if a dog, small or large should break loose, dash out of a doorway and come barking at you as you run or jog by, just stop in your tracks. The dog is just exercising its vocal chords. It is a known fact that many dogs with type A personalities sometimes have this instinct to dash out an open door and go after anything that moves. As a runner or jogger, when you come upon this situation, just stop. Don’t move for a few seconds. The dog will be insulted and will quit barking and wonder why all this fun has come to an end. And if all goes according to the advice I offer, seconds after the dog comes running, will be the dog’s owner coming to retrieve the animal, take it by the collar, give the dog a whack on the back and offer apologies. All in about 15 seconds and you’ll be on your way. In all my years of running, before leash laws and the invisible pet fence, I was nipped on the ankle just once, then I learned the ways of dogs from the same canine psychologist who told me to stop and I’ve had no trouble since. In fact, I’ve made more dog friends that you can imagine. I’ve had barking dogs follow me on a ten mile run and there I was stopping every time this newfound companion stopped to sniff or wee. Then, I had to make sure I returned the hound to the place where we struck up this friendship and find the owner. And, about this Dear Abbey. You may have read the story in the Capital last Friday and Monday about the jogger who kicked and injured the 4 pound toy poodle that had broken loose and came barking at him. I visited the scene of the incident at Edgewater and later talked with Janice Tippett, the dog’s owner. And in this column, rather than getting into the why’s and wherefores and the legal ramifications of the situation, I’m offering some personal advice to runners joggers, or walkers, who could learn from this misfortune. Janice tells me she’d had the poodle for eight years and it never weighed over four pounds. She tells me that the pup is hurt, but alive. She also tells me that after the kick, which she witnessed, the jogger just kept going, so she put out leaflets in her Landings neighborhood at South River Colony and last Saturday, the jogger called to identify himself. Again, from Dear Abbey, just stop, keep calm and try to make friends. Fifteen seconds and you’ll be on your way, with or without a new-found buddy.
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So, how about that January weather? Do we attribute our 61 degree sunny days to El Nino or La Nina? Or does it have something to do with the Polar Ice cap. And that brings up The Polar Bear plunge last Saturday that the State Police put on with others sponsors at Sandy Point State Park. Saturday wasn’t so Polar Bearish. The temperature was into the low sixties in bright sunshine and while I didn’t do the plunge I was told the water temperature was near 40 and was reminded that last year at the end of January, they had to get the Division of Natural Resources ice breaker to come open a section of the Bay so there could be a plunge. Saturday, it turned out to be a day for tailgating or a day at the beach. John Babcock of Kent Island plunging for about the 7th year, found the water so invigorating that he waded in up to his ears. John is a member of the Kent Island Chilly-Willies who do the annual dip for charity. He recalls that last year it was like jumping into a pool of jagged ice cubes. Rather than doing the dunk, I slathered on my 45 SPF sun block and did a long run. To further point out the variation in the weather, last year at this time, my friend David Offman, left the snow and ice and temperatures in the mid twenties in Annapolis and winged on down for his annual vacation in his native El Salvador, Last year he brought back pictures of him being sprinkled with a garden hose after some outdoor exercise. His picture this year showed him at the beach with the bikini crowd, but the picture didn’t have the same effect. David says that in El Salvador, surfing is more the sport than running But to assure you that while we may be headed to spring, while still in winter, we see the announcement of the Strider’s Valentines Day 5k run at Kinder Farm Park off Jumpers Hole Road, Saturday Feb 11th at 10 A.M. The press advisory says the drink at the race will be hot cider. Call Ellen McGee at 410-987- 8809 for information. The race is the first of 8 in the 2006 Club Championship Series.
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I had the pleasure the other day of helping Anne Arundel County Executive, Janet Owens, kick off this year’s Stairwell Challenge. This is the contest that awards staffers who walk the stairs rather than using the elevators in the County office buildings. And at the kickoff, I again offered advice, that walking stairs is not the easy exercise you think it is. I said that after running a marathon, I feel pretty good after 26.2 miles, but if I briskly walk, non-stop, up four flights of stairs these days, truth be known, I find that I’m getting a little out of breath.
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