April 28, 2003
9:00 p.m.
Okay, here's a new thing: Dusty is afraid of the subway grates in the sidewalk. She never used to be, or not that I noticed anyways. But today, as we were walking to the subway to go to High Park, she stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. "What's wrong?" I asked her gently.
"It's the grate." A passing pedestrian told me. "My schnauzer hate them." I mulled over this for a few seconds (not only the information, but the fact that it was provided by another schnauzer owner who was coincidentally passing by right at that *very moment*).
I coaxed Dusty over the grate, with a food lure and lots of praise. She's so funny about it. I can almost see her hold her breath and close her eyes as she walks over (she sort of averts her gaze - "I...can't...look!").
All of this fear and she's not a bit phased by the sight of a subway train hurtling out of the tunnel toward her. If anything, she seems to be exhilarated by it. Go figure!
We had some excitement in the park today. As we were walking up Spring Road to go back to the subway, we watched a child go down the big hill full speed and then totally tank near the bottom. She scraped up her hand terribly, plus both elbows and knees. Poor thing.
Myself and one other adult stayed with her (and her brother) until an adult was able to come pick her up. I think she had a good scare and will be wearing wrist guards and knee pads in the future.