Our response strongly influences
what happens next.
We shape the future
by the way we respond to the present.
There is typically more at stake
in any moment
than getting our way in the moment.
Imagining likely scenarios
and practicing our response
to each one
provides us with the experience
of having worked our way through
practice rounds before we go live.
I practice fending off dog attacks
every time I go with a camera
into the woods.
My first strategy is sweet-talking
my assailant,
calling out, "Come on, Mikey! Come on!
Where's the ball! (Bouncing an imaginary ball,
then pretending to throw it).
If that has no effect, I back up slowly,
still sweet-talking.
It it is an all-out attack,
I'll have one or two stainless steel
forearm crutches at the ready.
My targets are: Throat, Chest, Nose, Eyes
in that order.
And may the oldest contestant win.
–0–
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 
What kind of woods are you wandering into, with lose wild dogs?
I hope you will be careful and that it never comes to need using those crutches for self defence. But if it does come to that, I would hope that you come out unscathed 🙂
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The dogs aren’t wild, they are unleashed by their owners to range as they will inspite of “Dogs must be leashed at all times!” signs posted along the trails.
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My friend who walks the shore near Marina del Rey (Los Angeles, CA) carries pepper spray and a strong walking stick. The lifeguards admit it is a common problem that people bring their dogs and let them loose on the beach, even though there are signs prohibiting it. They say there just aren’t enough police to patrol the beaches, so there are no consequences to enforce the signs.
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It’s like that everywhere. Donald Trump violates laws all the time and is not held accountable because there is no enforcement. The Department of Justice is a joke. Laws that are not enforced, or are erratically enforced (e.g. with a racial bias) are the bane of democracy.
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