And That’s All Fido Has To Say About That

I live in a large apartment complex that’s very dog-friendly; many of the residents have dogs and chose to live here for that reason. We even have a small fenced dog park area which all the dogs and their owners love. Even if you don’t have a dog, it’s generally accepted that you’re okay with dogs being around if you live here.

One day, as I’m walking my dog in our complex, I notice a woman I’ve never met approaching us quickly from the opposite direction. Just for common courtesy, I step off the path and I pull my dog’s leash tight to keep him close to me and out of her way.

Without so much as even a “hello,” the woman marches up to me and suddenly starts complaining.

Woman: “Dog owners aren’t using the dog park enough!”

She’s probably implying that I should be there now, instead of in her way, I guess. In a rude and snotty voice, she continues.

Woman: “The dog park should be turned into parking spaces so people like me have more room for our cars!”

Before I can even get a word out, my dog turns around and kicks dirt all over the crazy lady’s feet! It happens so fast that it takes me a second to even process what’s going on, so even though I stop him as quickly as I can, her shoes and lower legs are instantly pretty well covered in dirt and bark. I try to apologize and say it was an accident, but all I can get out is:

Me: “I’m so sorry!”

Then, she claimed I told my dog to do it on purpose and huffed off angrily down the path, mumbling about how her shoes were dirty now.

I felt a little bad, so I tried to kick the remaining dirt and bark back off of the path and into the bushes as best I could. But when we got home, I gave my dog a treat and told him he’s a good boy.