I am seeing red. My boyfriend and I took the dogs for a hike with our friend and his little dog. The trail we hike on is an all purpose trail for walking, biking, ATVs in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter. We always keep an eye and an ear ahead and behind us for snowmobiles, but the trail is mostly pretty straight and open so generally we spot them from a mile away. All the snowmobiles and ATVs I have seen out on these trails have been very conscientious and responsible... sticking to the posted speed limit (30 km/hr) and slowing down well in advance when they see people. We are nearing the end of the season. It was very cold today but we have had days above zero so there has been a lot of melt and re-freeze. We saw a couple of snowmobiles out and we leashed the dogs while they slowed down and passed.
We were walking back and approaching a curve in the trail. This guy comes FLYING around the corner at probably 50-60 km/hr. Summit was walking just 2 feet in front of me in the middle of the trail. My boyfriend honestly thought the guy was going to stop and didn't grab Summit (who was his responsibility on this hike... which was nice because normally it is just me and I have to watch both dogs). I was just 2 feet away and when it was obvious that this guy was not in control I jumped forward to try to grab Summit, but the guy clipped his hind end and spun him around and knocked him down before skidding to a stop.
His excuse? He tried to stop but it was icy. Well then you were driving too fast for the conditions! If it is icy and you can't stop quickly you have no business flying around a blind corner at greater than the posted speed limit. He could have just as easily hit a person (we had seen other people walking and skiing on the trails) or a child. Fortunately, he had the sense not to say something like "well if he was on a leash..." because he was literally almost beside me and was just walking down the middle of the trail, not jumping around... it's not like he jumped out in front of the machine. If he'd been on a leash things probably would have been worse... would have pulled me into the accident as well, or jerked his neck really badly.
Fortunately, Summit seems fine. He was able to walk the rest of the way to the car where I bandaged his one leg where he had a very small puncture wound. His colour is good. I was concerned at first because he flinched when I palpated his abdomen, but he doesn't seem to have any internal bleeding. He's had some pain killers and I'm going out to the pet store later to get him a special treat. Poor old man is going to be 9 in a month and a half.
Oh yeah... and today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me. I guess my present is that my dog wasn't seriously injured. I'm honestly livid right now.
Here's my poor old man resting after a snack, some pain killers, and a leg bandage.
We were walking back and approaching a curve in the trail. This guy comes FLYING around the corner at probably 50-60 km/hr. Summit was walking just 2 feet in front of me in the middle of the trail. My boyfriend honestly thought the guy was going to stop and didn't grab Summit (who was his responsibility on this hike... which was nice because normally it is just me and I have to watch both dogs). I was just 2 feet away and when it was obvious that this guy was not in control I jumped forward to try to grab Summit, but the guy clipped his hind end and spun him around and knocked him down before skidding to a stop.
His excuse? He tried to stop but it was icy. Well then you were driving too fast for the conditions! If it is icy and you can't stop quickly you have no business flying around a blind corner at greater than the posted speed limit. He could have just as easily hit a person (we had seen other people walking and skiing on the trails) or a child. Fortunately, he had the sense not to say something like "well if he was on a leash..." because he was literally almost beside me and was just walking down the middle of the trail, not jumping around... it's not like he jumped out in front of the machine. If he'd been on a leash things probably would have been worse... would have pulled me into the accident as well, or jerked his neck really badly.
Fortunately, Summit seems fine. He was able to walk the rest of the way to the car where I bandaged his one leg where he had a very small puncture wound. His colour is good. I was concerned at first because he flinched when I palpated his abdomen, but he doesn't seem to have any internal bleeding. He's had some pain killers and I'm going out to the pet store later to get him a special treat. Poor old man is going to be 9 in a month and a half.
Oh yeah... and today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me. I guess my present is that my dog wasn't seriously injured. I'm honestly livid right now.
Here's my poor old man resting after a snack, some pain killers, and a leg bandage.
He pretty much came home yesterday like nothing had happened. He limped on the one hind leg for a few minutes as we walked out to the car but since then hasn't taken a wrong step. I thought he would have a lot more bruising than he does. The two little punctures are healing up nicely. He never missed a beat with his appetite either.
