When I’m out running, I often come across several dogs. I have seen many weird and wonderful varieties in my year and a half as a jogger – from elegant, glossy-furred collies to those bull-dogs whose faces look as if they have suffered a high-speed collision with a wall. But what I saw this week was the strangest yet.
I was about fifteen minutes into my run and was making my way through the park. There was a woman a few metres in front of me, leading what initially appeared to be some kind of oversized hedgehog on a bright red lead. Interest flickered and I ran slightly faster, the distance between me and the curious creature decreasing with every step.
As I drew level with the woman, I realised that the animal was not a hedgehog but a dog, though it was unlike any canine that I had ever encountered in my life. It resembled a pompom, suspended a few inches above the ground by four stubby and extremely furry legs. Two black, beady eyes gazed up at me from the explosion of fur. It looked somewhat like this, but fluffier:
The woman leant down and released the walking afro from its lead. She produced a tennis ball from the pocket of her coat and threw it. I watched as the dog attempted to race after the ball but its legs were constricted by the great mass of fur that had consumed its body and all it could manage was a bumbling waddle. When it finally reached the ball, it struggled in vain to get a grip it with its miniscule mouth for several seconds. When such a mountainous feat was finally achieved, the ball consumed its entire face. The dog now looked a bit like this:
The walking cloud then struggled to return its prize to its owner. However, its eyesight was mostly obscured by the ball and it ran off at a tangent towards another person. It dropped the ball at this man’s feet, only to appear baffled when its restored vision revealed that the man was not its owner. The poor thing looked so confused!
When we were cavemen (you know, back in the day and all that), we used to run with magnificent tamed wolves. And here I was, running alongside what can only be described as a small furry marshmallow. Bit of a come down to say the least!
It was hard to believe that this creature was descended from the carnivorous wolf. The idea of the walking pompom embracing its predatory origins and chasing after, let’s say, a fox cub was mildly amusing to say the least. In fact, the fox cub would probably turn around and swallow the dog whole, only to choke on the great mass of fur.
However, I imagine that this dog has its uses. It would, for example, make an excellent foot-warmer if it sat on your feet on a cold night. I can also see how having such a dog would be therapeutic in today’s stress-filled society. Picture this: you’ve had a bad day, you’re stressed out of your mind, your head is pounding, you come home, you look at your pompom dog, it is cute, you feel soothed by its cuteness and you immediately feel calmer. It’s a win-win scenario.
Finally, and arguably most importantly, such dogs act as great sources of amusement for joggers like me!
All of the Interesting Things I See When Running 