ALEX AND CONNIE - DOG SAFETY (2)
THE LOST DOG
Today, Alex and Connie are going to the park. It is a bright summer’s day and they are extra excited because they are allowed to pack a picnic and Mum said if they were very good, they might even be allowed to feed the ducks. Alex and Connie loved feeding the ducks. They loved watching them scramble for the bits of bread as they floated on the water, trying to get as much as they could into their beaks at once. It sometimes looked like they were squabbling. Sometimes Alex and Connie squabbled too…
“You always get to carry the picnic basket!” Connie said to Alex when they were getting out of the car.
“That’s because I am the strongest!” said Alex.
“Not true!” said Connie. “I can lift ten thousand bricks in one go!”
Alex laughed at his sister.
“No you can’t silly! Not even Dad can do that!”
Mum told them off for arguing and said if they kept it up they wouldn’t be allowed to feed the ducks, so Connie decided to be quiet, even though it was very difficult for her to be quiet sometimes. She loved carrying the picnic basket, especially on a sunny day when she knew it would be packed full of lovely surprises like chocolate, chicken sandwiches, juicy apples and maybe even some strawberries! Connie loved strawberries!
“Did you pack strawberries Mum?” she called out but Mum didn’t hear her. She was humming a happy tune as she laid out the picnic blanket just up from the lake and across from the play area where the swings and slides were.
“Can we go on the slides now, Mum?” asked Alex. He was being such a goody two shoes today and he was getting on Connie’s nerves! “I will watch Connie and make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”
“I don’t need you to watch me!” said Connie. “You always think you are the best at everything. I am not a baby!”
“You still need looking after,” said Alex and Connie was just about to sulk and answer back when she remembered about the ducks. She would bite her tongue and say nothing. She thought of the strawberries in the picnic basket and that made her smile.
When they got to the play park, they waved across at Mum who was watching their every move from her spot on the picnic blanket. Mum waved back and they kept this up for a while until both Alex and Connie’s hands were tired. They giggled a bit and Alex pushed Connie on the swing.
“Higher!” she said. “Higher, higher!”
“I can’t push any higher!” said Alex. “I need a break! I am going to sit down on this little bench.”
Alex sat down, just across from Connie and had a little day dream to himself. He loved sunny days, especially when he had no school and they could go on day trips like this. He looked around at the beautiful park and admired the scenery. The glistening lake with the ducks in the distance, the colourful flowers that bobbed their heads in the light breeze and the children who laughed and played on the swings and slides. Even his little sister, Connie, looked cute in the sunshine.
He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a whimpering sound coming from somewhere. It sounded like….it sounded like a dog! A very frightened dog!
Alex looked around him and sure enough, there was the nicest dog he had ever seen, crouched beneath a tree and looking very frightened indeed! His ears were low and flat on his head, his tail was tucked in between his legs and he was panting and shivering slightly. Alex wondered was he cold, or maybe even thirsty. Yes, he must be thirsty because it was too sunny to be cold.
Alex walked across to the dog. He glanced back to where Mum was sitting but she was reading her book. Connie was enjoying the swings too much to notice he was gone.
The dog backed away from Alex as he approached him.
“Here doggy,” he said. “Are you thirsty or hungry? Or are you lost?”
The dog snarled. Alex froze.
“I only want to help you,” he said. “I can help you find your owner. Do you want to come with me?”
He reached out his hand to touch the dog but the dog snarled again, louder this time and then he growled and barked.
Alex didn’t know what to do. He could feel his heart beat a little faster. He was scared and just then he remembered what he had been taught about dog safety.
He didn’t look the dog in the eye. He remembered that this would make a frightened dog even more panicked and might cause him to react.
The dog barked again. And again. Alex looked around him. If only Mum would notice! He wanted to run. He had to run. He knew he shouldn’t but he turned on his heels and ran and ran but the dog who seemed very annoyed now, ran after him and pounced on him and he fell to the ground.
Mum came running towards him and Alex curled into a ball, crying for help.
A Park Warden came to the rescue and shooed the dog away, then his helper caught the dog and put him on a leash. They explained the dog was lost and must have been very, very frightened.
“He only wanted to help him,” said Connie to the Park Warden. She felt very protective all of a sudden and realised how that was how Alex felt sometimes about her.
“I was being gentle and kind,” Alex said to the Park Warden. “I wasn’t going to hurt him. I spoke very softly but then he snarled and I could feel myself shaking with fear and my heart was beating so fast!”
The Park Warden explained that when a dog is frightened and when he backs away just like Peppy did (the dog had a collar on him which gave his name and his owner’s details), it is wise to stop and then slowly walk away very carefully. If you panic and run, the Warden explained, then so would the frightened dog. And Alex was right not to look him in the eye or crouch down or invade his space by going too close. Alex had done a lot of right things, but he should never have approached a strange dog in the first place.
Peppy the dog was shaking again and Alex realised that he wasn’t cold at all. Just like Alex could feel his heart beat and a tremble came over him, so did poor Peppy. He wanted his owner just like Alex wanted his mummy.
“I think we have had enough drama for one day,” said Mum, packing up the picnic.
“Awwwww” said Alex and Connie. “Can we please feed the ducks? Please?”
Mum said it would be best if they ate their picnic in the car and left feeding the ducks for another time. She had to have a good long talk with Alex and Connie about why dogs who are lost and frightened can be very quick to pounce and hurt a child and that Alex should never, ever go near a strange dog again. THE END
© Promoting Wellbeing Team, Southern Health and Social Care Trustwww.southerntrust.hscni.net/livewell/1537.htm