Country Dogs and City Dogs

Every long-time runner is aware of the different attitudes toward runners by country dogs and dogs in big cities  
The latter, particularly in very large cities, will mostly ignore you, they’ve seen it all before
The country dogs are inclined to give the runner a hard time, perhaps part of a country animal lore
In any event, in 1971, I entered a 20 mile race in rural St Mary’s county

To build up my endurance in the expectation of running a full marathon the next year
I didn’t expect to run very fast, and in fact was the last finisher
About a mile before the end a small dog bit me,
his last chance to instill in a runner a dose of fear

I checked with my doctor who said there hadn’t been a reported case of rabies
in this area for 30 years,
He also asked about the demeanor of the dog, which didn’t seem rough
The dog seemed to me to be calm in fact
But intent on sending a message to an unknown runner to stay away from his turf

In any event about four weeks after the race I was shocked to read in the local paper that
A case of rabies had been reported in the area where I was bitten
I again checked with my doctor who told me the anti-rabies shots are largely ineffective after this period
And to stay calm until some more time had gone by

Which I largely did but not without moments of fear
In my 40 years of running I never again experienced a dog bite, you see
But when running in rural areas, I was always on high alert
Always checking if a dog was in my rear, trying to catch up with me