No lack of other people out walking their dogs in Billberry Creek Ravine this morning. True, it wasn't as early as the past several mornings when we went out before breakfast, but still earlier than we're wont to be out there in the woods, sheltered from the heat of a midsummer sun under the capaciously verdant canopy of the forest. Yesterday's suffocating closeness was a corker. In comparison, today was amazingly pleasant, with a good stiff breeze.

The humidity had been relieved and walking along the woodland trails was far more comfortable than it has been of late. And so, we saw quite a few people out and about with their dogs, some we've never come across before, but mostly people we've come to know over the years, some more than others.

They ranged, the doggy woodland visitors, from Yorkie-size to hounds. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the larger dogs, the wire-haired pointers, the Newfoundland mixes, the Labradors tend to be quieter and better-behaved than the smaller dogs. The big boys don't yap incessantly like our two little poodles do at initial encounter, nor do they tend to evince hostility toward dogs they don't know. The larger dogs have a tendency to skirt around the trails, delving deep into the woods to avoid having to come directly in contact with the aggressive little dogs.

And some of those large dogs are just plain frightened of the menace voiced by these small dogs raising their voices in ire at the presence of their larger brothers and sisters. Compensation for their size; don't mess with me, small as I am, or you'll be sorry. In fact, on the rare occasion when a large dog gets really annoyed with the irritating presumption of the little ones he'll return their bellicosity and then the little fellows expeditiously turn tail and make themselves scarce.

That isn't always the outcome, unfortunately. Sometimes there are large dogs of a breed known for their unpredictability and viciousness that turn on other dogs, not necessarily tiny dogs such as Yorkies or Poodles or Shih Tzus. One of our oldtime ravine walking friends had an unfortunate experience last Sunday. Walking their three Border Collies they seldom have problems because this pair really knows how to discipline their dogs quietly and without fuss; these are well-behaved dogs.

One of the dogs, though they were originally all from the same litter, was a rescue, and badly in need of hostile behaviour modification. It took them a lot of patience and time before their third dog was as reliable as its siblings in curbing its temper. Unfortunately, it was that very dog, named Carter, who turned out to be the subject of a violent physical attack.

On Sunday mornings there is a group of neighbours who have become accustomed to going out as a trail-walking group with their dogs, a really motley assortment of breeds, ranging from an impressive-sized Great Dane to a minuscule Chihuahua, with Dalmations, Golden Retrievers, hounds and terriers, all romping about in a rough approximation of a pack, through the ravine with their walking companions.

Among them was someone with two Chows. One of the Chows suddenly attacked Carter and wrought significant damage before it could be pried off the much smaller dog. Who was taken immediately to an emergency veterinarian clinic nearby which charges $250 up front just to walk in the door. The surgery that followed and the stitches that closed the dog's wounds came to ten times that initial charge.  Now our friends are anticipating having to socialize Carter all over again, once the trauma of the attack wears off completely. He has been exhibiting some elements of recidivism that they're aware of.

A rare and unfortunate occurrence on these trails used by so many appreciative and grateful neighbourhood residents.