Having read last weeks dog walker/jogger thread with great interest. I have two questions I would love feedback from walkers with dogs please.
I am a smallish women and not a spring chicken so I am NOT fast. I also suffer an exercise induced bronchial wheeze that means I am a) breathing loudly and b) find it hard to speak while jogging or immediately on stopping.
I jog on a shared path for pedestrians and cyclists it is wide in some parts, very narrow in others. As I come up behind walkers, I always look behind me for cyclists and then slowly run on the opposite side of the path as I overtake (starting several metres behind). I have tried calling out but it comes out abruptly because of my wheezing. And it has scared more people than it helped. I want to do the right thing and not scare anyone.
If I had one of those bike bells on my fingers would this be a good idea? Or would it cause dogs to take an interest in me and encourage them to follow me, bark or be aggressive?
Also If I am on a 2 metre wide path and the owner is on one side and their dog is on the other, I always feel uncertain and uncomfortable jogging between them. Mostly there is no issues. Is there an etiquette for this or is this quite ok?