A little dog facing daily dangers

MY POODLE pup Wan-Wan and I are on our daily walk down the jigsaw puzzle of small, short sois towards Sukhumvit. Suddenly, the dog stops. She sits. She looks at me.

There’s a problem, but what is it?

Wan is tiny, only three kilos. Could she be tired? She also has problems with the knees on her back legs. Could she be hurting?

Wan expects me to understand. I don’t. Instead, I pick her up and keep on walking. A few metres later, Wan licks my face, indicating that I can put her down now.

Suddenly I understand. On our walks, she’s memorised which dog lives behind which gate. Now, she’s decided she doesn’t want to walk past a gate holding back noisy dogs. To her, it doesn’t matter that they can’t get out. They’re discussing ways to pull her apart, and she’s reluctant to come near them.

I – and other people, too – forget how terrifying the world might seem to a tiny animal. I can walk past children playing in the soi. I do watch them, just in case they start running without seeing the dog, but I’m not worried about them.

Wan, though, grows apprehensive. Too many children have run up behind her. Then they lean over to pet her. They’re gentle, but Wan is startled. She hasn’t heard them coming.

How do you think a little dog feels when a strange person suddenly touches her without her seeing them first?

She has no problem if they come up to her from the front. With her love of children and small animals, she’s happy to dance for them and even to throw herself on her back and show them her belly. She just doesn’t like surprises.

I don’t like surprises either. As we walk down the street, I watch for bicycles, motorcycles, cars and pedestrians. They may or may not spot the small dog trotting along, and end up tripping over her. I worry especially about children just out of school. They’re so happy to be free of the classroom that they dance around the street, laughing and telling jokes, not really looking down at their feet.

As we walk, we see other people walking their dogs. It’s a sign of our times, perhaps, but as they walk, they’re on their mobile phones. How can you pay attention to your surroundings and protect your dog if you’re talking on the phone?

And how can you notice when your dog does his business in front of someone’s home?

I’m annoyed. On our walks, I carry a bottle of water and lots of paper towels to handle any mess that my dog makes. I understand that homeowners would be unhappy even by the small “presents” my dog leaves.

Alas. The homeowners are still angry with me. They see the mess by their gate and assume that Wan has left it behind, when the culprit is someone else’s small dog.

I suppose I’m complaining a bit today because of another danger my little dog faces, a real shock.

At a convenience store the other day, while Wan and I waited at the counter, a woman came up to me, reached over and tried to take the leash from me.

To keep the leash under my control, I wrap one end around my wrist and my hand. The woman couldn’t tug it away it from me.

Unsuccessful in her robbery attempt but still smiling, she wandered out of the store.

Who would have thought that walking a small dog would pose so many dangers?