Rough Theory

My two-year-old son is fascinated with dogs, and tends to plunge toward them with reckless abandon. I try to scout the reaction of the owner and the dog, and intervene where necessary to prevent unpleasant experiences – whether for my son, or the dog…

Yesterday, we went for a long walk, and had had several pleasant interactions with a series of small dogs, when my son suddenly bolted toward a barrel-chested Rottweiler. Well before he reached it, my son realised this was a very large dog, and began to reconsider whether he really wanted to get so close. The dog’s owner, though, beamed encouragement: “He’s really very gentle!” she called out, and then scrambled to throw her full weight on top of the dog, who was straining to get at my son. “Really! You can pat him!” she insisted, as it became increasingly clear that even her full weight wasn’t going to keep the dog down for long. And then, as the dog bucked her off, she finally turned her full attention to him and shouted: “Nietzsche! Behave!”

The incident made me wonder whether there were such a thing as a found fable…