|
Collie Stories from Real Life |
|
|
|
|
|
COLLIE HEROES! |
|
|
I´ve been asked to write down the story of what happened on the night when my dogs saved me from – well, I don´t know what, really, but I definitely know it was an assault. What the man had in mind no one really knows, one can only guess, but it´s not farfetched to guess that he was a rapist.
Me and my dogs had been down
to the local Working Dogs Club
for a bit of training with
friends and I decided to take
the dogs for a walk before going
back home. It was a pitch black
February night, the sky waiting
to burst open, all wet and not
the tiniest flake of snow to
light up the dark. So as not to
have to grope my way around, I
tried to make use of the lights
from a lit-up runners´ track
passing just behind the Club. I
was walking down a pathway next
to the track with my lads,
Trazzel and Sudden and a dizzy
puppy bitch named – well, Dizzy.
:-) The boys lagged behind,
noses buried in some
nice-smelling spot where a cute
lass had been, and me and Dizzy
were making a game of it along
the pathway - I remember her
hanging on to my trouser leg as
I was trying to walk. It wasn´t
that easy, but we were having
fun. |
|
|
Suddenly out of nowhere a man jumps me and tries to pull me down on the pathway. I cry out in fear but somehow manage to prop myself up on one knee, so he doesn´t quite manage to bring me down. I pull away from him and scramble to my feet, but so does he and grabs at me again – when something like a canon ball comes out of the dark and strikes my attacker right in the chest! It was a furious dog, my Sudden! The two of them topple over and the next thing is the arrival of Trazzel, just as enraged. The two dogs between them make sure the man is unable to get up, he kicks and strikes at them, but they give as good as they get – I hear cries of ”Ouchhh!” and ”Bloody hell!” I grabbed hold of poor little Dizzy who was, i think, just as frightened as I was, and ran away from there as fast as I could. When I got away a bit with the puppy in my arms, the thought struck me – what if he had a weapon and would be able to harm my dogs, who were still giving him plenty of rough treatment? I screamed at the top of my voice for the laddies, who came galloping after me, we got to the car and I started to get the dogs into the back. Sudden had to sit in the front seat next to me – I didn´t dare place all the dogs in the back and then run to the driver´s door on my own. What if the man had followed? That car ride from the Club to the nearest police station I can hardly recall. But I did report it, and the policeman who took my complaint down was very impressed with the way my dogs had acted. ”Bloody good job!” was his spontaneous response. ”Now that bloke might just think twice before he attacks a woman again, leastways if she´s got dogs with her!” For my part, I don´t think that my attacker saw the dogs, as they had dropped behind me and Dizzy – or he would have thought better of jumping me. Well, next autumn when the Swedish KC was going to hand out the Canine Hero of the Year Award, I was told that a friend had reported my story and was asked to send it to them along with a copy of the police report. I never thought anything would come of it – you may guess my surprise when the KC got in touch and told me that the jury had appointed my lads Canine Heroes of the Year! And after that it got a bit wild, with everyone from ladies´mags to the National TV showing an interest. It was surprising to notice that I was making statements in newspapaers that had never even been in contact with me. It felt a bit odd, but I suppose that´s the way the world works. Well, then there were festivities at the ”Stockholm Grand Show”, where the Canine Hero medals were handed over and another round of telly and newspaper interviews – what a to-do it was! Looking back, I can see that the assault has affected me in the sense that I still don´t like to go outside on my own in a town in the dark. Where I live in the countryside, I can take the dogs out in the black of the night with only a torchlight, but in spite all the neon lights of the city it feels scary to go outside if the dogs or a friend are not with me. Even so, I feel very grateful to my dogs for being there for me in the way they did. And it did teach me a lot about how intelligent dogs are and how they are able to discern and act right in different situations. You see, for a while there it became a bit of a sport to try to provoke Sudden when we were at the Club. Like, a fellow would jump at us from behind the corner of the house when me and Sudden came walking, he´d raise his arm and growl at us as if he was faking an attack. Of course I saw at once who it was and wasn´t a bit alarmed, whereas Sudden took one step back, looked up at the bloke in surprise and looked as if he thought, chrissake, come off it, what are you up to? Not an ounce of anger or aggression in the dog. Obviously, Sudden could see straight through the fake and didn´t bother. But then again, once when I was heading for my car after visiting a friend, two men approached and for some reason I thought they looked scary. I felt frightened. Sudden and Trazzel both came close to me, they bristled and growled at the blokes. Very obviously, they were able to see the difference between these two situations, and they acted accordingly. That is the story about me and my dogs. And every time I look at the photos of Trazzel and Sudden, I feel this great gratitude that they were there when I needed them most – who knows what would have happened to me otherwise! |
|
|
|
|
