No Dogs Allowed

Today was a beautiful day in our neighborhood.

Ron and I were itching to be out enjoying the beautiful weather, but we did not want to be doing something productive like putting mulch down or cutting the grass. We wanted to go out and play!

The entire Cleveland area is full of Metro Parks. The Metro Parks are awesome facilities that are full of walking/biking/rollerblading trails, picnic areas, bathrooms and playgrounds. The county we live in, Lorain County, is full of parks of which there are still many we have not explored. We pulled out our trusty new GPS and found the location of all of the nearby Metro Parks and picked one that has remained unexplored.

We arrived at the French Creek Reservation ready for an adventurous day of hiking and playing. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones that had that idea today.

I think every dog owner had that same idea, to go walking in the park. I take that back. Not just "any" dog owner, but any owner of a LARGE dog. In case there is anyone out there that doesn't know it, I am absolutely terrified of dogs.

The walking trails are maybe five feet wide. People were out in packs today with their dogs. I don't see just one dog walking at me, but there will be three of four in the group. 350 to 400 pounds of dog walking right at me. I definitely got a work out today since most of my day was spent climbing cliffs, or running around a tree, or walking in the mud to get as far away from sure death as I could. Poor Ron spent most of his afternoon running after me, trying to stay between me and all of those teeth, or just letting me try to break his fingers (I know I was holding tightly a couple of times! Sorry, honey!).

There was one instance where two women, each with a VERY large dog, were walking towards us. I climbed a hill and was trying to hide my big butt behind a tree. I thought I was okay until I realized that one of the dogs wasn't even on a leash. I guess I pointed out that fact louder than I meant to because the dog owner looked up and saw me crying hysterically trying to hide behind that tree. She apologized and put a leash on her dog. Too little, too late.

Why am I like this? Why am I so afraid? Not just a little afraid, not uncomfortable, but I am completely immobilized, crying uncontrollably, in absolute terror. No, I know why I'm afraid. What I need to know is how to I overcome this? How do I change? I am so tired of being afraid to go outside. Every morning I walk to my car with my "dog beatin' stick". That's just an axe handle that makes me feel better to walk alone out my door in case the neighbor's dog is once again off his chain.

I need to work through this somehow. I can't live like this. I am emotionally drained just from the terror of all of the dogs. Is this any way to live? Why can't I go out and enjoy the Metro Parks like everyone else? I see other people just walking by all of these dogs with no problems. Me, I'm crying like a baby and trying to climb to higher ground. How can I work through this? How do I get over being so afraid?