Village Life 2 - Stray Dog

Another good intention thwarted by circumstance...

Today I took advantage of the cooler temperatures (lower 70s) and walked north through the neighborhoods.  I wanted to spend 1/2 hour going towards Indialantic and then turn around, then go to Google Earth and see what my route's distance was.

Instead I met up with a dog.  She was sniffing around in the front yard of a house right on A1A, a very busy street.  When she started barking and ran at me, I noticed warning signs on the fence and house that said, "Bad Dog."  There wasn't a soul in sight to help me.  She kept trying to jump up at my face.  I kept my hands close to my body (less to bite) and sort of hip jutted her down as I instructed her firmly and politely, "Down!" and "Time to go home!," and walked slowly onward, expecting her owner to come to my rescue at any moment.  Finally the dog calmed a bit and devoted herself to walking along with me.

I couldn't shake her.  Well into a neighborhood (I was nervous about her running out into the busy road so I made my way back into the quieter streets) she found someone's garbage and in it, a bone, which she started eating as she trotted.  Finally I called Brevard Animal control to see what they recommended.

Standing in the middle of a street while the dog ran into everyone's yards I finally got an officer who asked, "Does she have a collar or tags?"  Oh.  Yes she does.  I was instructed to read the tags.  This made me afraid because I didn't want to get bitten, but I called her over to me and pet her a little and she let me grab her collar and wrangle the tag around.  On it was engraved:

"Buoy
(xxx) xxx-xxx"

As I read the phone number the officer typed it into her computer and came up with an address.  It was a house back on A1A, where I had first found the dog.  The officer called Buoy's phone number and got the owner.  I said I would walk the dog toward their house if he'd meet me.

Apparently the officer gave the owner my phone number because it soon rang.  He said, "I'm not home.  I'm driving home now.  I'll be about 10 minutes."  That much I got but it was very garbled, and hard to hear because of the traffic on A1A.  Without a leash I had no control over this incredibly stupid dog.  She darted in and out of the busy road, crossing blindly to sniff someone's garbage, then stopping traffic and running back to me, over and over.  It was terrifying; I didn't want to witness a dog getting hit by a car.  I finally found her house and was somewhat relieved to find out it wasn't the Bad Dog house.  There was a fenced yard and a gate!  I thought, I'll stick her in her yard and call the owner and be on my way.

No such luck.  As we approached an even bigger dog came bounding up, barking and lunging against the gate.  I was definitely not going near that.  I had no choice but to hold Buoy's collar and wait.  This wasn't easy.  She was whining and impatient though I squatted and tried to say soothing things. Twice she tried to bolt and knocked me on my butt but I held fast.  I was worried that I had gotten the address wrong because the old girl didn't relax or show any sign of recognition of her own property and surroundings.

Finally an SUV drove up and a guy got out - Buoy's owner.  He was so apologetic and offered me a ride home, which I declined because I wanted to finish my walk.  But since it had been an hour already and time was marching on, I marched on toward home.

I'll try again tomorrow.

Steps:  5427