Followed and chased this morning by stranger.

[x0emiroxy0x]

I am still shaking as I write this,

I walk the same route with Rocky every morning/afternoon, it is about a mile long, takes about 45 minutes to do.

There is a track across the street from my apartment where people run, so only people with dogs use this route usually. as I came out of my apartment there was a man standing across the street watching wearing black pants, black hoodie completely drawn over his face, only thing showing was his bushy yellow beard.

Slightly odd, but we kept walking. 2 minutes later Rocky turns around and growls. The man is about 40 yards behind us with hands in his pockets, head down.

It was sprinkling, no one else was out. We are usually the only ones who walk in the rain. I started jogging with Rocky, pretty quickly, for about 100-150 yards. Suddenly Rocky growls and I stop. The man is still 40 yards behind us. Which means he was jogging after us and then stopped and started walking when I turned around.

I had just passed the key-coded entrance to my friends apt. next door to mine. I have no where else to go but continue our walk which leads us behind that apartment where there are no businesses, just a rarely used street. We started walking very fast, Rocky tried to poop and pee, I made him keep walking because I was sure the man had bad intentions.

When we got to the next corner, he was merely 20-30 yards behind us. There is a key coded gate about 50 yards after turning the corner. I heard a truck and hoped it was coming out the gate. took off as soon as we turned the corner. sprinted into the gate as it closed behind the truck. the guy in the truck jumped out and the man had started sprinting behind me. the guy in the truck told me later that when he jumped out, the guy wheeled around and sprinted back in the direction we had come from.

i was hysterically crying at this point and rocky was whining and jumping on me because i was freaking him out. the guy in the truck was in one of the fraternitys i had been to freshman year, vagually remembered him and accepted the ride back to my apartment.

called my mom crying. only thing i managed to get out was 'a man chased me' then couldnt talk any more. she flipped out until i got the whole story out and told me to go to the police station. there were 2 rapes and 1 rape and kidnapping this semester and last semester on and off campus and only one man was caught. went to the police station to fill out a report and reported it to my apartmnet.

dont think that your intimidating german shepherd will intimidate everyeone.

the police said that this guy most likely had been watching me, knew my routine. knew that i walked rain or shine. they asked how rocky reacts to strangers on walks---he completely ignores them and walks on the other side of me. has "huffed" from time to time at a larger person---they said he probably saw this and assumed he was harmless, would just "huff" and keep going.

dont let this happen to you. walk with mace and/or knife. this is the first day i ever didn't have one or both of those. i stupidly was too lazy to get them out of my car, i had brought them on our last walk when we drove to the trails. it was 8am, completely bright outside. cant believe how stupid and careless i was.

my boyfriend said i should have screamed or turned and faced him and said "stop following me. my dog will bite"....i didnt do this because i wsa too focused on being socially correct...didnt want a man to feel bad because i thought he was following me and he wasnt (before i knew he was for sure). once i realized he was i should have done something instead of keep on walking like i was scared.

[Emoore]

Honey, carrying mace is a good start, but your strongest weapon is your God-given instinct and intuition. ALWAYS trust your instinct over being socially correct. The minute you walked out of your apartment, your instinct was telling you that man was bad news. A man who has good intentions will back off and apolgize if a lady tells him he's making her uncomfortable. He won't be offended or angry. Hopefully in the future you can trust your instinct a little more and walk right back into your apartment if somebody gives you a bad feeling.

There is nothing to be lost by turning around and walking back into the house, by waiting on the next elevator, by asking a security guard to escort you to your car, etc.

I'm so glad you're ok. What a scary experience!

[GSDGunner]

OMG! You poor thing. That is so scary. Thank God that guy in the truck was there when he was.
I am so glad you went to the police too. Maybe they'll step up patrols in your area. You're right though, just because you have a GSD means nothing. If he really intended you harm, he could easily have taken Rocky out of the picture.
I'm glad you're okay.

[Zisso]

Scary scary stuff! I am so sorry this happened to you!

I have learned a couple things about my dogs this week that I totally didn't expect. I have always thought that Nadia would be the one to protect me but now I think it would be Zisso.

I don't know what I would have done in your situation. I can say that I am the type of person that would probably turn and confront the guy loudly. Guess I need my dogs trained for PP first!

[Stevenzachsmom]

How terrifying! I'm so glad you are OK. Emoore is right. Trust your instinct. I grew up in Baltimore City. I learned to always be alert and always be aware of my surroundings. Do you carry your cell phone? If you suspect someone is up to no good, call the police. I assure you, the police would rather you call.

[Daisy&Lucky's Mom]

Originally Posted by Zisso

Scary scary stuff! I am so sorry this happened to you!

I have learned a couple things about my dogs this week that I totally didn't expect. I have always thought that Nadia would be the one to protect me but now I think it would be Zisso.

I don't know what I would have done in your situation. I can say that I am the type of person that would probably turn and confront the guy loudly. Guess I need my dogs trained for PP first!

Exactly. Let people know when your leaving and have your cell phone w/ you . So glad you are ok.Do they have any self defense classes or safety classes on campus.

[Caledon]

Glad you were very observant and your radar went off with this guy. Change your route and your rountine. I bet this guy has been watching you for a while and just now decided to get close.

Something like this happened to me 30 years ago and I can still remember the feelings I had when I realized he was following me. Made me more aware of my surroundings and I always watch people around me.

[LaRen616]

I am glad that you are ok!

I am a paranoid person so I am always looking around and suspecting everyone. I probably would not have returned home, I would have gone to a business or the police station, I would not want to go back home knowing that freak was still out there.

I dont go anywhere alone, especially at night.

[BlackCat]

So glad you are ok and it is a very good thing you reported it to the police. Often something like this may seem to you to be an isolated incident, but to the police it is another piece in a puzzle. Give Rocky a big hug. It sounds like he was freaked out, too.

[fuzzybunny]

I'm so glad you're safe. How terrifying. I had a similar situation occur 13 years ago and it changes you.