Public Enemy

We had an interesting development during our after-dinner walk tonight. As we left our driveway we heard the ominous noise of a hard-panting dog quickly approaching from behind. I only had a moment to panic the oncoming canine attack before the friendly head popped between us reaching for a pat-- tail wagging happily. We quickly noticed that his long, pink tongue was covered with black spots, so we decided to call him "Manchas", which is Spanish for "Spots" (oh so original). I'm not sure why we immediately named a dog that had a collar and obviously belonged to somewhat else, but I think a feeling of responsibilty formed quickly. Before we knew it, Manchas was following close by us as we walked, until a car would drive by. A strange force seemed to draw him out in front of the cars, where he proudly pranced as if he owned the road, with no innate sense as to the importance of getting out of the way of traffic. Well, because he was close to us, the drivers would assume that he was ours which resulted in many evil glares for letting our dog roam free in the road. This must have happened 3 or 4 times before he found a new interest-- terrorizing a young man with his small daughter by running quickly at them (wanting only love!). Again, we received the cold stares due to our brazen audacity to let our dog run after a small, innocent child. 5th neighborhood enemy in a 5 minute time frame. We were beginning to become quite embarassed by our new companion, but about halfway through our jaunt, he found 2 dogs behind fences to be much more compatable, and we lost sight of him. We'll miss you Manchas.