Hiker...My Protector

Well now I know that Hiker will protect me if anyone ever tries to attack me. Hiker and I went for a hike in Towsley Canyon with Jean this morning. We hiked up to the Narrows and we stopped to rest just off the trail on the rocks along the dry creek bed. We were off on a small side trail that isn't really even a trail. The main trail was across the creek bed from us. Well while we were sitting there, some guy who was jogging through the canyon decided he was going to take the side trail where we were sitting instead of staying on the main trail. This was a bad decision on his part because there is not much of a trail where we were sitting and so there was not much room for him to pass. He would have been better off staying on the main trail. So here he comes running toward us. Hiker had been sitting on the rocks with me and she stood up and started growling at this guy because he is running right at us like he's about to attack us or something. Most people with common sense would stop and turn back if they heard a dog growling at them, but not this guy. I'm sure Hiker thought he was going to harm us in some way. Her growling should have been enough warning for him to stop and go back to the main trail, but he kept jogging toward us. Jean told him to wait a second and she would get up out of his way because there was not that much room for him to go by us where we were sitting. But he did not say anything or even slow down. I was trying to pull Hiker up close to me so I could hold onto her. Just as he got next to me, Hiker grabbed on to his pant leg. He had on sweat pants so she got a mouthful of cloth. She was on her leash and I was still pulling her back. The guy started flailing around which made Hiker even more mad and I guess she did nip his leg a little, but she didn't really bite him. Jean thought the guy was going to fall into the rocks. He kicked at Hiker, which was not a good idea because he was making matters worse, and he started cussing me out and telling me I should not take a vicious dog out in public. Hiker is NOT vicious! She has never reacted to anyone like that in the 13 months I have had her. She has always been friendly with people she meets along the trail and even lets them pet her. Jean and I agreed that she only “attacked” this guy because she thought he was going to hurt us, plus the way he was running at us and then started kicking, any dog would have reacted the way Hiker did. I had always wondered how she would react if someone tried to hurt me and now I know. I was a little nervous however that he was going to report the incident at the ranger station, but we didn't see him again when we headed back down the trail. We met a family on the trail who had a “domesticated Dingo” named Dixie. She was a very pretty dog. They told us that their neighbor had two dogs just like Hiker and that they just had a litter of puppies and that the guy was going to give them away free to good homes. Jean kept trying to talk me into getting one to be Hiker's playmate, but I don't want or need another dog.

Beautiful in Towsley Canyon

Hiker looking up at Jean while we were in the canyon