Lessons From Roscoe

I had an interesting experience the other day, and I was able to put into practice something I only remembered because I had seen Roscoe do it many times.

Joe and I were driving home from church when we saw a kid, probably about 12 or 13, coming down our driveway with two rolling suitcases dragging behind him. We thought that was odd, so we slowed down to see what he was up to. He walked down our street and started up the path of another home and disappeared behind some bushes.

While we were watching and wondering what he was up to, he appeared again -- this time running with a pair of boxers hot on his heels.

So what did I do? I ran to intercept the boxers and yelled "HEY!" as loud as I could. The kid had disappeared again, and the boxers focused their attention on me.

Their growly, snarly attention.

It was at that point that I thought, "Well, *#&$@. Now what?"

Then I remembered Roscoe. When Roscoe meets growly, snarly dogs or even perfectly friendly dogs who are just being rude, he turns perpendicular to them and averts his gaze. It's a "calming signal" and basically means "I am not a threat, and I'd really rather avoid conflict right now." Sometimes he throws a yawn in there. And when he does this, dogs back off.

So I gave it a try. I turned my shoulders toward them and gazed off into the distance, keeping them just in my peripheral vision.

Sure enough. They backed off just a bit. When I turned again to face them, the growls & hackles came back. So I walked back to the house where I had first seen them and the kid being careful not to "threaten" them. They followed but kept their distance.

There was a party going on, and the dogs belonged to a guest. He didn't even know they were missing. Apparently, he thought the 3-foot rod iron fence with the 9-inch gap at the bottom was going to keep them in the yard. I told him his dogs had chased a kid down the street and he should maintain better control of them and there was no way "that fence" would hold "those dogs." I might have been a little snippy doing it. Irresponsible dog owners bring out the worst in me.

We never did see the kid again or find out what he was up to.