Dog Sledding

This post by Jennifer Flaten

It’s November 19th and here in Wisconsin we’ve had a glorious fall. Most days were unseasonable warm, sunny and full of gorgeous fall color, but the party is ending. This weekend snow is in the forecast.

Now, I don’t mind snow, in a decorative sense. I would be most pleased if the snow would fall in tidy piles on the grass and landscape and stay off the roads and sidewalks. Of course, that is adult me, who has to drive in it and shovel it talking. The childhood me loved snow, the more the merrier. I have several fond memories of bundling up in my snowsuit a and playing outside in the snow.

One of my most vivid memories is of my grandpa taking me for a walk in the snow. He loaded me into my red plastic sled and with our big German Shepard mix dog at his side pulled me along the unplowed road. We walked along the road checking on the neighbor’s houses. Our neighbor’s were all summer people who asked my grandfather to keep an eye on their houses during the off season.

 

After checking on the neighbor’s, we returned home. Our house lay at the bottom of a hill, so our driveway had a considerable slope. On that day, my grandfather decided it would be fun to play eskimo. I am not sure if he actually thought the dog would enjoy it, or if he was just tired of dragging me along in my sled.

Anyway, at the top of the hill, we stopped and he hooked the sled’s tow line to the dog’s collar. Then proceed to walk on expecting my “sled” dog to follow.

 

The dog obliged this foolishness and walked few steps. I loved it. I remember giggling and encouraging to dog to walk more and she did.

So for a few glorious minutes, I rode like a Russian prince and then the dog decided she’d had enough of that and took off. She went at a brisk pace down the hill. On a flat surface it might have been okay, but we were still on the hill and I quickly gained speed. As we zipped down the driveway, at first I thought it was wonderfully thrilling, but it didn’t take long before I was terrified.

 

The dog was headed directly for our open garage, problem is there was a car parked in front of it. The dog was fine, she was going to pass by the side of the car, my sled on the other hand, was on a collision course with the car.

I had no way of steering the dog, and even though my grandfather was hurrying to catch up I was certain we were going to crash into the car.

Now, looking back at it, I know I should have rolled out of the sled, but at the time I never thought of that, instead as the dog approached the car i just laid back and hoped I could slide under the car.

Luckily, I didn’t get to find out if my plan would work because the dog stopped just short of the car.

After that I decided that if my grandfather asked me to accompany him on a walk I would definitely walk, not ride in a sled.

Browse my jewelry on Esty