Chat with my neighbour's dog

I go for a walk every morning on a promenade overlooking a beach. It is separated by a tall and strong fence from the promenade of the neighbouring apartment building. One morning, beyond the fence, I saw a huge alsatian dark coloured dog. We were both approaching the fence from our respective two ends of the promenade. Suddenly the dog started barking. As we moved further, he began to jump. I thought he was going to attack me. I felt scared. Then I assured myself that the dog would not be able to jump over the fence. The fence is about 15-20 feet high with sharp spikes. Yet I fled away from the promenade. As I started running, the dog barked even more loudly.

This happened for several days. The moment the dog noticed me, he would begin barking loudly, jumping up and down, always running towards the fence. I made a rule to leave the promenade the moment I would spot him from a distance. One day, my little son came for a walk and headed streight for the fence. The dog was barking. I was worried that that the dog might hurt the child, even though a strong fence was there between them. By the time I reached the fence, the dog had stopped barking. My son and the dog were playing with each other. When I reached there, the dog barked again but only mildly. My son forced me to touch the dog through the fence. I was scared but I did it. The dog waved his tail.

And then I suddenly wondered about all those days when I would run away from the fence. Maybe the dog never wanted to hurt me. Maybe he just beckoned me for company since we were the only two beings around there evey dawn. Since I did not understand his language, I took it for a message of enmity. There was no hostility in his mind. If only I could try to understand his language, I would be walking without fears all those mornings.

I had been going late for walk in the last few days. This morning I woke up early looked for the dog on the other side of the fence. He was not there. I felt alone walking along without any company at dawn.