Walking a dog in the woods alone and getting spooked

[ALittleBitCreeped]

Hi;
So there's this woods next to me which I regularly take my dog in and usually I feel okay and very safe walking through them. It's the type of woods were you usually come past another dog walker every 5 minutes so relatively popular.

It's almost like a "two-layer" woods. Not sure how else to describe it but basically you walk up some steep steps and there's another path above.

I don't usually go up this part but today I randomly decided to go up the steps.
As it was during school and typical work hours, the woods was really quiet and I hadn't seen anybody at all.

So we got to the top and were walking and there was still nobody about.
We got to a part that was a long narrow path which you could see from afar whether anybody was coming; nobody was there so I extended the leed as far as it could go and my dog was loving running down the path.
She started walking towards a muddy part and as I got closer I called her to come back.
As I did so, I turned around and there was a man walking on his own and he was not too far behind.

I just suddenly felt spooked that 1 minute ago nobody was there and all of a sudden he was there and not too far behind us.

I then started walking quite quickly and hurrying the dog more than I would usually and then took the shortcut out of the woods. I didnt look back as I walked.

I've never ever felt like this before and I felt like a right idiot afterwards as DP said he was probably just on a walk whilst It was a quiet time of day.

He probably was and I probably made myself look like a right idiot doing a sprint walk after seeing him didn't I?

Always good to trust your instincts even if you do end up looking like a wally.

He almost certainly was just on a walk himself, or going from one place to another via the woods. However, it’s easy to get spooked in those circumstances so I don’t think you’re being unreasonable.

Trust your instincts.

I meet men on our walks walking their dogs all the time and I've never felt spooked like I had today; it just overcame me!
Looking back the man probably thought what a right wally i was but something about him just made me feel scared haha

Never worry about trusting your instincts OP. Sometimes I get spooked when I'm alone with the dogs deep in the woods - it's a bit unnerving not being able to see who's immediately around you. I once encountered a man in full camouflage gear crouching on the floor in the middle of a path. I assume he was a photographer (and the dog thought he wanted to play ) but he gave me a fright and when he didn't make move or make eye contact I scurried past him dragging idiot dog with me.

I would have done the same, sadly.

@ALittleBitCreeped

I meet men on our walks walking their dogs all the time and I've never felt spooked like I had today; it just overcame me! Looking back the man probably thought what a right wally i was but something about him just made me feel scared haha

If he had bad intentions it doesn't matter what he thought, just be happy you got away, if he had no intentions he probably didnt actually think anything of you because he didnt notice you.

If you want to know more about why you were spooked this time read gavin de Becker's book the gift of fear.

Just fairly recently I had a horrible time in a park with my dog. I could see a man loitering by a wall and looking at me. Scared the shit out of me and a few hours later a "friend" text me to tell me that obviously dog walking involved a lot of smoking and not actually walking very far.
I ripped the shit out of him. Like women say all the bloody time don't loiter in strange places, cross the road so we dont think you are following us etc etc and here he was loitering, watching intently and he wondered why I smoked so much and didnt go far into the park and out of sight? Ffs it's like yeah we hear you, oh no I didnt think you meant me personally.

Always trust your instincts

Trust your instincts OP.

I was followed along a footpath by a random man who came out of nowhere. I think he was hiding in the bushes.

My dog who is very shy and quiet growled so low and deep in her throat and her hackles were up. I’ve never heard anything like it but it scared him off.

I did report it to the police but I don’t know if anything came of it.

Better safe than sorry, OP. It doesn't matter what the random man thinks- you're here to tell the tale due to your instincts.

@ALittleBitCreeped

I meet men on our walks walking their dogs all the time and I've never felt spooked like I had today; it just overcame me! Looking back the man probably thought what a right wally i was but something about him just made me feel scared haha

Only a very stupid man would fail to understand why you acted as you did.

He was probably a fast walker, but hanging back as didn't want to look creepy, but then you legged it so... I wouldn't read too much into it. People do like walking, even men without dogs you know!

I had an odd encounter with someone whilst I was out on a walk recently. I suspect he was just walking, same way I was just out for a walk, but just the fact he was there freaked me out. I got away from the woods onto farmland PDQ and into a field with horses in it.

Then the tables turned. It was funny. He was scared of the horses and I wasn't. So they gravitated to me and I walked along with them for a bit whilst they grouped around me. He got out of their field as quickly as possible. I stayed and gave them big hugs until he was a way off. I think he was innocent of anything but as a woman walking alone you can never be sure. One of the things I love about horses though is that they do level the playing field. He was scared of them, I wasn't.