Published June 5, 2026 03:13AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
This story discusses sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual violence, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline toll-free from anywhere in the U.S. at 1-800-656-4673.<\/em><\/p>\n Some people might put my dog, Saylor, in the \u201creactive\u201d category. Going on a walk with my girl has never been a relaxing endeavor or a casual neighborhood stroll. It\u2019s more of a full-body, hypervigilant mission to suss out every scary person, place, or thing within a two-mile radius of our home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Off leash? We could (would) never.<\/p>\n In her defense, as far as I can tell, Saylor was just born nervous and anxiety-ridden. She\u2019s been by my side since she was about ten weeks old, when a friend-of-a-friend spied her wandering alone on the side of a Northern Arizona highway. This good samaritan stopped the car, scooped Saylor up, and through a series of social media posts and light arm twisting, a mangy, parasite-ridden loveable little floof somehow ended up at my house.<\/p>\n That was ten years ago. Saylor has been alerting me to stranger danger ever since. It can come in the form of a small child wearing a tutu, any type of lawn ornament or holiday decor, or a man, or any man or masculine-presenting person who exists in the world. She does not discriminate when it comes to the male species. To Saylor, they are all bad news,\u00a0and she must tell me about it immediately, by barking ferociously in the direction of this specific variety of oncoming threat.<\/p>\n Let me be clear: Saylor is very vocal, but never aggressive.<\/p>\n Saylor doesn\u2019t have a dainty bark, nor is she a petite canine. She\u2019s never even tried to bite a human or another dog, but she looks and sounds like she\u2019s capable of ripping your face off if necessary. I rarely get through a walk without shouting, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry!\u201d to at least two innocent pedestrians or the entire block, depending on the time of day and how many people are doing yardwork. I\u2019ll never know their names or have the opportunity to introduce myself. To these neighbors, I\u2019ll forever be the weird dog lady on the corner.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve tried every \u201creactive dog training\u201d trick in the book: positive reinforcement, treats aplenty, exposure therapy, professional help. I\u2019ve thrown time, money, and a never-ending supply of love to help my best friend cope with her fears. Sometimes it works, but often it doesn\u2019t. Unless they\u2019re dropping filet mignon on the ground, she\u2019s never going to enjoy the company of men. So we\u2019ve learned to adapt\u2014and apologize when we need to.<\/p>\n All of this is to say that when we lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, given the chance, I\u2019d always opt to take her deep into the forest for her daily exercise. It was only slightly more inconvenient, but way more peaceful\u2014for her and for me. We rarely came across small children wearing tutus while hiking up a mountain or traversing a hidden alpine meadow.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, we regularly encountered men (it turns out, they like hiking, too). Most of the time, when we saw one out in the wild, we could roam off-trail, hide behind a tree, and continue on with nary a yelp. One day, however, we were walking on a wide dirt road on our way to the trailhead when a man,\u00a0wielding a giant water bottle, carrying a substantial backpack, cloaked in a baseball cap and sunglasses, was marching straight toward us. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and every trigger in Saylor\u2019s book coming our way. You can guess what happened next.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry,\u201d I said, as I wrangled my little Cujo (who, I\u2019ll reiterate, is always <\/em>leashed) from about 24 feet across the road.<\/p>\n The man continued swinging his three-liter thermos (I will forever call this dude \u201cWater Bottle Man\u201d in my head), glaring directly at my dog through his oversized shades, then at me. It only agitated her more. Even though she was under my control, she moved beyond her usual ruckus to a growl and a snarl. She meant business. Back off and keep moving, Water Bottle Man.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t take kindly to the interaction, shouting some expletives at me about being a bad dog owner. At that point, I knew Saylor had done her job. And did it well.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not a bad dog owner. But I am <\/em>a single woman in this world who has every reason to fear strange men in the forest\u2014or anywhere else we coexist. Man\u00a0or bear?<\/a> Always the bear. And if my dog barking at either keeps danger at bay, I\u2019m never going to stop her from expressing her discontent.<\/p>\n In the end, I\u2019ve decided that although I will never encourage Saylor\u2019s behavior, I\u2019ve found plenty of evidence that I don\u2019t need to discourage her, either.<\/p>\n Just a few weeks before this incident, I was visiting my mother across the country and had gone for a run on a nearby rails-to-trails path. As I entered a secluded, but typically well-trafficked section of the route, an inebriated man on a bicycle pulled up alongside me and repeatedly screamed that he was going to sexually assault me. It was terrifying. Two other (male) runners witnessed it and did nothing. They kept running. As I increased my pace to an all-out sprint and ran as fast as I could to a populated road, he got off his bike and sat on the ground, continuing to yell horrifying threats at me until I was blessedly out of sight.<\/p>\n I never wished for Saylor\u2019s company and her ferocious bark more than I did that day. And after I returned from that trip, it was months before\u00a0I went on any solo outings without her. I was shaken\u2014and well aware that my experience wasn\u2019t at all unique among female runners<\/a> (or hikers, walkers, cyclists\u2026). Indeed, according to 2024 review in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse<\/em><\/a>, most sexual violence is perpetrated by men against women. It\u2019s the tax we pay for daring to enjoy the great outdoors as women. We all have a story.<\/p>\n So, is it rude to allow my dog to bark at people? Maybe. More than a few folks have told me as much. But I\u2019d counter that it\u2019s more inappropriate for men to threaten the safety of women out in the wilderness. If my dog deters the worst from happening, more power to her. Bark away, my reactive friend. Until the male species is better trained, I won\u2019t stop you.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n![\"erin](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/saylor2.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
<\/figure>\n![\"saylor](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/saylor5-scaled.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)