Do dogs play practical jokes too?
I never thought it was possible, until one dog pulled a practical joke on me. Infact it pulled two...
One day I was hurrying along on my way to work. Along the way, I have to pass through a gate to reach the road that runs along the other side of the compound wall that demarcates our colony. I was nearing this gate when I came across two dogs in front of me.
One dog was standing a few paces in front of me apparently interested in its own tail. I did not at first notice the other dog. It was nearly 10 meters away from me, slightly to my left hand side (at 10 o'clock direction). I noticed it when it suddenly got up. It stared at me for a second and then started running towards me very fast. Startled, I stopped in my tracks. I am not afraid of dogs... but I am afraid of dog-bites ;).
The dog did not break eye contact with me and kept coming fast... But I noticed it had changed its direction a bit, it was now headed towards the other dog that was in front of me... I heaved a sigh of relief...
The running dog shot ahead like a torpedo and slammed into the other dog. It head-butted the other dog who gave a startled yelp and stumbled back. But this did not stop the running dog who simply got deflected when it hit the other dog. This did change its direction though and it was now headed directly towards me!!!
My heart jumped into my throat as it came shooting towards me... and it skidded to a halt right in front of me at my feet, ducked its head down, and... "Khatchooo.." ... it sneezed/coughed...
Then it looked up at me with its head tilted to one side as if asking me how its performance was... My heart was thudding and I was shocked more with surprise when it sneezed than I would have been had it bitten me...
I came to my senses, side-stepped and began walking away towards the gate. I never looked back to see the expression on the dog's face... I do not know if dogs smirk too, and I did not wish to know...
But that was not the end.
The very next day, the same dog was there again. As I walked along towards the gate, it saw me and stood up... but it remained standing and so I kept walking. It was staring at me and I was staring at it.
I went through the gate and started walking along the path that runs along the compound wall. The dog was still staring at me from across the wall. I stared at it as I walked, instead of looking ahead, and wondered what was the dog up to, when I stepped smack into a pile of dog-shit... I looked down with disgust and then looked up again... The dog stared at me... I am no expert at reading canine facial expressions, but I think I saw it give a mischievous smile (or may be I imagined it)... then it turned away and walked off.
I kept rubbing my shoe to clean it up all the way to my office...
After that I never saw the dog again, atleast not in the vicinity of my home... It is my hypothesis that the dog liked pulling practical jokes and I was one of its victims... or may be it was its birthday on that day (the second day) and it wanted someone to cut its cake... literally ;)
I never thought it was possible, until one dog pulled a practical joke on me. Infact it pulled two...
One day I was hurrying along on my way to work. Along the way, I have to pass through a gate to reach the road that runs along the other side of the compound wall that demarcates our colony. I was nearing this gate when I came across two dogs in front of me.
One dog was standing a few paces in front of me apparently interested in its own tail. I did not at first notice the other dog. It was nearly 10 meters away from me, slightly to my left hand side (at 10 o'clock direction). I noticed it when it suddenly got up. It stared at me for a second and then started running towards me very fast. Startled, I stopped in my tracks. I am not afraid of dogs... but I am afraid of dog-bites ;).
The dog did not break eye contact with me and kept coming fast... But I noticed it had changed its direction a bit, it was now headed towards the other dog that was in front of me... I heaved a sigh of relief...
The running dog shot ahead like a torpedo and slammed into the other dog. It head-butted the other dog who gave a startled yelp and stumbled back. But this did not stop the running dog who simply got deflected when it hit the other dog. This did change its direction though and it was now headed directly towards me!!!
My heart jumped into my throat as it came shooting towards me... and it skidded to a halt right in front of me at my feet, ducked its head down, and... "Khatchooo.." ... it sneezed/coughed...
Then it looked up at me with its head tilted to one side as if asking me how its performance was... My heart was thudding and I was shocked more with surprise when it sneezed than I would have been had it bitten me...
I came to my senses, side-stepped and began walking away towards the gate. I never looked back to see the expression on the dog's face... I do not know if dogs smirk too, and I did not wish to know...
But that was not the end.
The very next day, the same dog was there again. As I walked along towards the gate, it saw me and stood up... but it remained standing and so I kept walking. It was staring at me and I was staring at it.
I went through the gate and started walking along the path that runs along the compound wall. The dog was still staring at me from across the wall. I stared at it as I walked, instead of looking ahead, and wondered what was the dog up to, when I stepped smack into a pile of dog-shit... I looked down with disgust and then looked up again... The dog stared at me... I am no expert at reading canine facial expressions, but I think I saw it give a mischievous smile (or may be I imagined it)... then it turned away and walked off.
I kept rubbing my shoe to clean it up all the way to my office...
After that I never saw the dog again, atleast not in the vicinity of my home... It is my hypothesis that the dog liked pulling practical jokes and I was one of its victims... or may be it was its birthday on that day (the second day) and it wanted someone to cut its cake... literally ;)
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