I was reminded to be present recently when I was taking my dog Digger for a walk.

Walking the Dog

It was a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne, and I had Digger on a lead. I noticed a woman walking her dog on the opposite side of the road. Her dog was not on a lead and wandering into the middle of the road and then back again. The road was not busy, but I did think it strange that the owner did not call her dog back, especially when the dog did it twice.

It was then that I noticed that the woman was looking at her phone constantly. Her attention was glued to her screen.

When she turned right our paths crossed. The woman kept walking without looking up from her phone, while her dog stayed behind to have a welcome sniff with Digger.

In the blink of an eye…

In the blink of an eye, the other dog attacked Digger and was holding him down with his jaw around the back of his neck. It was only a couple of seconds, but I immediately screamed at the dog and a young man at a nearby car also yelled out.

This got the woman’s attention, and she finally got off her phone to call for her dog. The young man yelled at her saying her dog had just attacked another dog. As she came closer, he suggested to her that she should get off her phone.

Although Digger was fine, I was shaken. The woman apologised and the young man once again told her that she should get off her phone because her dog had also been wandering onto the road (clearly, he had seen what I had seen).

Be Present

I don’t know what the woman was watching on her phone that took her attention away from her dog. A dog that wasn’t on a leash, was walking next to a road and a shared bike path. It also stopped her from enjoying what was a glorious sunny winter’s day.

I know I have also been guilty of being on my phone while taking Digger for a walk. I’m guilty of not being present, regardless of whether that is at work or at home. But I thought it might be a story worth sharing to remind us all to be present. So, we can avoid danger, take in the beauty around us and enjoy the moment.

P.S. For those interested in my upcoming public training, my Strategic Storytelling and Powerful Presentations workshops are now open for registrations.