A Walk with French Toast: A Strangely Short Stroll

Picking up where I left off, the second dog I walked was a gorgeous husky who, at the time, didn’t even have a name, just “Unknown” on his kennel card.

(A few days later, I found out the shelter graced him with the name French Toast. Mmm, yummy!)

A staff member informed me that French Toast had recently come off stray hold, meaning this would be his very first walk. 

It was also an opportunity for the shelter to get a sense of his temperament.

I’ll admit, I was a little hesitant when I heard that no one really knew his personality yet and that I’d be the first one taking him out into an overstimulating environment. 

The only insight the staff had was, “He seems pretty friendly.”

“This should be fun…,” I thought, trying to spin an unpredictable situation into something positive.

Now, let me tell you, French Toast is a beauty.

You can’t help but stop and stare at him, he has a commanding presence, maybe because of those icy blue eyes of his . . .

(Sorry for going on a tangent about his striking traits but seriously, this boy is a real stunner!)

Anyways, back to the story.

So I took a chance and ended up having a strange outing with French Toast.

Before heading out, I stopped by the treat station to refill my stash. 

While there, I ran into the two volunteers I’d met earlier.

We ended up chatting for about five minutes, during which French Toast was impressively patient, though, to be fair, he was pretty occupied sniffing and sampling the treats scattered on the ground.

Once again, the volunteers and I, said our goodbyes.

And it was finally time for me and Frenchy to set off on our walk.

I wish I could say we enjoyed a nice 30-minute stroll, but… nope. 

We lasted a whopping 15 minutes.

And not even a real 15 minutes walk, I just walked Frenchy back and forth near the shelter the entire time.

Why, you ask?

Well, French Toast has a little habit, he loves biting his leash and tugging at it like it’s a game of tug-of-war. 

The problem? 

His mouth was way too close to where my hand was on the leash.

Photo by Kobi Kadosh on Unsplash

I didn’t feel comfortable venturing too far, so I stuck close to the shelter, just in case things escalated.

I must admit, I was getting flashbacks of the Vinny incident.

My instinct told me to cut the walk short, but part of me felt guilty. 

Fifteen minutes wasn’t much exercise for an active husky.

The weird thing was, he had been walking just fine at first. 

There were no warning signs: no frustration, no over-excitement. 

Then, suddenly, as we neared a power grid area, something flipped.

Out of nowhere, he let out a quick bark, turned toward me, grabbed the leash in his mouth, and started jumping in the air.

It was… odd.

I immediately turned away from him and walked in the opposite direction, heading back to the shelter. 

Just like that, he dropped the leash and returned to normal.

We had barely made it five minutes before we were back at the shelter entrance.

That’s when my old friend, People Pleaser, resurfaced.

“Maybe I should give French Toast another chance,” I thought. “He seems calmer now.”

So, I turned around to give him a few more minutes of outdoor time.

Bad idea.

As soon as we got near the power grid again, he resorted right back to biting and tugging the leash.

That was my cue.

This walk was officially over.

I’m not sure what triggered his behavior. 

Maybe he was overstimulated by the environment? 

Maybe he just wasn’t impressed with our super exciting back-and-forth route?

Either way, I walked away grateful, grateful that I didn’t end up with any bite marks or scratches.

I just got toasted by a dog named French Toast.

I didn’t mange to take any photos of French Toast but I do have a short clip of him!

VIDEO COMING SOON!

Sit, Stay, Share – Let’s Howl!

Have you ever walked a dog that had an unexpected quirk or behavior? 

How did you handle it?

Share your experience in the comments below!

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This adventure took place in mid February, 2025