Dogs in Hyde Park

20 March 2005

Ooh, it’s definitely colder today. There was quite a chill wind in Hyde Park and the sky is overcast. The forecast is for sunny intervals and even good old sun later in the afternoon. But the temperature will only reach 11?C.

Walking our dog in the park is always a challenge. Border collies are intelligent dogs, but can be rather obsessional. Emma, who is now an elderly dog, is typical of the breed. Her vocabulary is too darned big - you can’t have much a conversation in her hearing without her thinking there’s something in it for her; she’s great with people, especially with children (she adores our grandchildren); but she’s a menace with other dogs.

Yesterday in the park two dogs that were accompanying a jogger came up from behind and rounded on Emma. They looked like they wanted to play, but Emma - as always - bared her teeth and snarled. One of the other two dogs responded in kind and before I knew it I was in the middle of a whirling mass of snarling, snapping dogs. I had grabbed Emma’s harness and lifted her front paws of the ground in an effort to stop her going for the other dogs, but she span round. As she did so, the clip that holds the harness gave way, she lurched and her teeth closed on the inside of my thigh, giving me a nasty nip.

When I got back to the flat I found that she’d flayed a bit of skin off my leg. But the fabric of my trousers was completely undamaged. Emma was definitely not attacking me, but it hurt for a while.

We need 360? vision taking the dog for a walk. We’re always alert for other dogs appearing over the horizon, but sometimes, as yesterday, they take one by surprise.