Dogs greeting bikes

My bike chose a slightly different route home tonight. I was standing waiting for a light to change on a road that was jammed with cars when I noticed that the car just in front of me had a backwards-facing dog in the front seat. The passenger window was rolled down, and as he looked back, the dog clearly noticed me.

"Oh look, it's a cyclist. I'm in the car so I can't chase her, but it must be time to bark!"

I moved up a bit further so I could talk with the driver after I heard her say "Chloe, stop barking!". Chloe insisted on protecting her owner, and the barking continued. The light changed, and the driver very nicely suggested that I start first. Ah, with my bicycle ahead of the car, Chloe apparently decided that her owner was now in control and that it must be time to stop barking.

Around the corner, down a different road, turning once more... I was in a quiet neighborhood, and a little dog - a pug - was walking his owner on the sidewalk on the other side of the road. As soon as the pug saw me, he quickly jumped into the road and attempted to chase down my bike. He was on a leash though, and his owner clearly told him that wasn't acceptable behavior. We shared a smile before we each moved on in (our) opposite directions.

Dogs make me smile, particularly when they stay within their own territory. It's the dogs that are loose who scare me. I remember one little guy in Ireland who I thought was contained in a fenced yard. He wasn't - the gate in the fence did not fully extend to the ground, a fine gate for adult humans, but not for little dogs. Luckily this dog decided not to keep up the chase beyond the next yard.