Please Don't Interrupt My Zen

Last week, Matilda and I encountered an unleashed Rottweiler roaming the neighborhood by himself and leaving his business all over the place.  The dog lives down the street from us and I used to see his owners walk him in the evening.  When I stopped seeing them, I thought that maybe they moved or something happened to the dog.  Nope.  They just let him out to handle his business.  Since their yard isn't fenced, he just roams freely.

This irritates me to the Nth degree.

First of all, this is a total disregard for the safety of the dog and those that the dog might encounter.  A dog around the corner from us got hit by a car six weeks ago.  He jumped the fence and ran out into the street and got hit.  The driver kept going.  The dog now has problems with his back legs and hips and may need surgery.  This Rottweiller could've gotten hurt or killed.  He could've been the cause of a serious car accident.

What if the dog had come across someone and felt threatened?  He could've bitten someone.

I've been able to avoid the dog when I've seen him, but if Matilda had seen him, I would've had a real situation on my hands. Tildy doesn't really like other dogs.  She doesn't care how much bigger they are, she'll growl, show her teeth, and get ready for a brawl.  And Lord help the dog that looks like he's out to get me!  The last time that happened, she bit the nose of a pit bull puppy.

Secondly, it is completely disrespectful, in my opinion, to just let your dog poop wherever he feels like it and not be there to pick it up. I've stepped in enough piles of poop to feel quite strongly about it.  I hate it when I see folks at the park letting their dogs poop in the same places where kids run barefoot. It's just wrong.

I think what irritated me the most in the moment that I spotted the dog, was that it interrupted the zen-like flow of my morning walk with Tildy.  That's normally the time of day that I take in the wonders of nature and have my private little talk with God.  It's also the time that good ideas tend to pop into my head.  Seeing the dog immediately made me defensive and scared. That's a horrible way to start the day.

I'll end my rant here.  I hope we never encounter this dog again, but I'm pretty sure we will.