I don't really have many people to talk to about this but I finished my run with my run club and as I was leaving to go back to my car when I saw a Shiba Inu run towards me. I thought to myself: "that is a beautiful dog". Then I noticed no leash on the dog and then I saw two young adult men (I'm 40, everyone younger than me looks like a teenager so I dunno) run as fast as they could and they screamed, "STOP THAT DOG!"
I've never owned a dog so I knelt down to the dog running towards me (behind me is traffic) and I spread my arms to block it and slowly wrapped my arms around the dog trying not to spook it. I put my fingers into the hole in the collar (where the leash hook would go ... I don't own a dog ... so I don't know what the names are) while trying to comfort a dog that wanted absolutely nothing to do with me.
The two boys eventually caught up and I noticed neither had a leash and both kept a distance from me. One of them keeled over and the other one was trying to catch their breath while making a phone call. I said, "where's the leash?" They were like, "it's not our dog we're door-to-door salespeople". Apparently, they knocked on a door and the dog darted out and they tried their best to catch it. The one not keeled over in pain phoned the owner (I have no idea how he had her number) but she eventually arrived and picked up the dog.
The owner didn't really say thank you or made eye contact with me at all. She took her dog and put it into the back of the car. I didn't really blame her for that. I can just imagine the shock and everything not really registering.
I just thought it was a funny incident on my side and I was just happy to help.
Just know you had a HUGE positive impact on a pet-owners life today. They will be thinking about you for years.