Just took Baxter for his nightly walk. We walked our usual route around the block which isn’t that far but our nightly walks usually aren’t unless he has been cooped up for 12 hrs – then I try to walk him longer at night.
Anyway, we got to the little, dark alley we often take as a short cut when Baxter stopped. He plastered his ears against his head and started growling the most ferocious growl I have yet to hear from him. His tail, which he usually has up, went down and he got all tense. When I tried to usher him along, he wouldn’t budge.
Part of me wanted to go down the alley to show him there was nothing down there, but common sense told me that if he was acting this way then there was a reason. Sure, it could be just a scent of something that made him react but do I really want to go down there to see? It could be like all those horror shows when the person pursues the course of action that gets them eaten by the monster. Why do they go down into the basement when there is blood all around the upstairs? Wouldn’t a normal person get the hell out of the house?
I don’t think so. I think we are so intent on proving there is no bogeyman that we sometimes put ourselves in harm’s way. I could have dragged Baxter down the alley and found that I was right, there was nothing there. But what would the consequences be if he was right and I was wrong? I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – people need to stop and ask themselves that question before they do stupid things. The lady that tried to race the train across the railroad tracks a few months back comes to mind. I’m sure she felt certain she could beat it and never stopped to ask herself what would be the consequences if the train won the race. People running red lights is so often the cause of accidents because they just focus on getting through the light before the opposing traffic does.
But whatever the case, I acquiesced to Baxter’s instincts which are sharper then my own and we took the long way around to avoid the alley. Now, here at home in front of the computer, I can’t believe I even entertained the idea of entering a dark alley just to prove to a dog that there was nothing there.
