That Dog is A Thief!

On a beautiful fall Saturday, several years ago, my wife and I were presenting at a professional conference in Salt Lake and decided we had just enough time to walk up City Creek Canyon for a quick picnic on our lunch break. We bought a couple of sandwiches from the hotel and walked up the canyon to find a picnic table where we could sit quietly, enjoy the scenery and our time together laughing and just being silly. 


We found the perfect place to sit and relax and refresh ourselves before we had to get back to our meetings. We had barely sat down when it happened. It happened so fast. We didn’t hear anything, nor did we see anything, until it was too late.


Without any warning a full-grown German Shepherd was running on a dirt trail close to where we were sitting. According to the rules of the park, dogs were required to be on a leash, but this dog was running without any leash and when it saw my wife (who happened to be sitting closer to the trail than me) and got a whiff of her sandwich he ran directly toward her and snatched it just as she was about to take her first bite. She didn’t even get to open her salivating mouth for the anticipated bite before the dog leapt towards her, grabbed the sandwich, swallowed it, and ran away. We were both shocked and taken by surprise.


Running a short distance behind the dog was its owner, a young woman carrying the leash. Her big smile and loud chuckle let us know that she thought her dog’s actions were funny and she appeared to be enjoying the moment as she ran past without a word of apology or an offer to buy another sandwich.


We sat there for a moment, stunned, not believing what just happened, then frustration started to surface which eventually turned to a bit of anger. A few minutes later, after a discussion on the rudeness and inconsideration of some people, we changed our attitude about the incident and started laughing. It was too funny not to enjoy the humor of the moment. We noticed that as we laughed the anger was gone and so was the bitterness towards the young lady who owned the rude dog.


Today we still laugh about that incident and laugh nearly as hard as we did that day. We still feel frustrated when we think about the woman’s behavior, but we don’t let it bother us. We will never know why she didn’t stop and talk to us, but we feel ok about her decision because she gave us such a great story to use as a teaching moment for our grandchildren.


As parents, let’s teach our children the importance of being aware of their actions and mindful of the consequences their actions may have on others. It’s much easier to prevent hurt feelings or avoid creating an enemy when we are mindful of what we are doing. It’s relatively easy to stop and apologize for a wrong, like, for instance, a dog stealing a sandwich, but without rectifying the offense, hurt feelings can all too quickly simmer and become a serious problem. Let’s help our children recognize potential offenses and take action to apologize and repair the harm, preventing further hurt feelings down the road. Prevention is much easier than the cure.


Happy Failing Forward,

Calvert


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