Chasing Cars

There is a dog who lives in a house built into the side of a hill on the road to the cemetery. His main fun is to lie near the road in a head-down crouch waiting for cars and trucks to come by. When they do he makes a mad dash toward the right front wheel barking loudly. He only does this to vehicles heading toward town, I think, because those vehicles are the ones closest to him. It makes me nervous. Every time he makes his run at my truck I tense up waiting for the sound of a thud and feel of the trunk bouncing over his body because I am sure this will be the day he miss-times his attack and ends up under wheels.

Last week I was returning to town after running my dogs and as I got close to his house I could see him lying on the dirt driveway waiting for me. As I got closer he rose up in a crouching position getting ready to strike. At that moment I decided to slow down and then stop. As I did so the dog got a "what the hell are you doing" look on his face. I sat there looking at him as he looked back at me with worried eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't playing the game and it confused him. We looked at each other for a few more seconds and then he lay back down and looked way from me pretending I wasn't there at all. I slowly drove pass him and he ignored me the whole time.

Now each time I see him lying in wait I slow down. Sometime he don't realize it is me and he gets up into his attach position. The second I step on the brakes he lies down and calmly watches my as I drive by.

That is one smart dog.