Facing A Challenge

Write about a challenge you faced and overcame – I had to think a lot about this blog prompt. The reason being that there are many and I had to settle for one I was okay with sharing. So, after much thought, here is the winner – overcoming the fear of taking my dog for a walk with other dogs around.

Yup, sounds funny that I am afraid of such a simple task. But something happened a while ago that instilled this fear. This was not always the case. Even though my dog barks at anything and everything, I would take him for a walk because I was confident I could handle any situation.

But then I was in for one or rather two big surprises. One of the stray dogs had puppies and as it turned out, one puppy was not friendly. So as he grew up, Benji’s constant barking provoked him and he used to come at us snarling and teeth bared, ready to attack.

But somehow I would still go down for a walk with my dog. Scared that it would happen again but pushed myself to go for walk with Benji. This continued for a while until one unexpected incident.

Benji was friends with a dog that lives in the building. He is much bigger than him. Since childhood he never reacted to Benji’s barking and provoking. But one winter’s night he had had enough and charged right up to Benji and me.

Both of them were going in circles around me and the bigger dog was taking fake bites at Benji. They were separated in time and I immediately took Benji home. Without a doubt, this was my dog’s fault because he provoked the other dog. The other dog is a very calm one.

This was the last straw though. I was shaken because I couldn’t separate the dogs on my own. So, from that day onwards I would go down with someone from home. But this was bugging, depending on someone else. Can’t blame them for saying ‘no’ most of the time. And because of my fear, Benji lost out on regular walks for a while.

But then the day came when I could not take it anymore and faced my fear (okay, mother convinced me). I started by asking the watchmen if the other dog was down and to get the stray dogs out of the building for a while. And at the same time, I started carrying small stones.

It went well for a while until the day the aggressive stray dog decided to confront us. While he was sneaking up on us, I saw him and immediately threw the stone a few feet away from him. This startled him and he backed off.

And that was the exact moment I took back control of this aspect of my life – walk with my dog. From that day on I know I can handle the stray dogs. I am still afraid of the bigger dog but the owners will handle him.

Overcoming this challenge was a big win for me.

P.S: The cover photo is not us, just a reference. Got the picture from Pexels.