When I was a teenager in the 70's, my mom and I would take one of my infant nieces in the carriage and walk to the local grocery store. Our dog plus 5 of the neighborhood dogs would accompany us. We would park my niece in the carriage in front of the store, and the 6 dogs would lie in a circle surrounding the baby. We did our shopping, came out and she was there still asleep, and all the pups were still there. There was no way anyone was going to walk off with that baby!
Not the same thing, but the circle of dogs reminded me.
Many, years ago my friend's father, who was a GP was asked to make a home visit to a traveller's camp (I told you it was many years ago).
Anyway, he got there and the entire camp seemed to be deserted. He wasn't even sure which 'van it was, but he followed the vague instructions he had been given, and knocked on the door of what he hoped was the right one, but thinking, if it's the wrong one, perhaps there'll be someone to tell me where to go.
He knocked and waited, knocked and waited, knocked and waited and finally thought "No-one here - I might as well leave," Turned round and found that he had been entirely, silently encircled by a pack of dogs. He reckoned there were at least twenty. Not one of them made a sound. They all just stood watching him.
He didn't know whether to walk through them to his car and go (they hadn't shown any aggression) or just wait. He decided that discretion was the better part of valour and just waited. It was about half an hour before anyone returned to the camp. During that time the dogs didn't move (and nor did he!). They just stood in silence and watched him.
At last a group of travellers returned. It was the right van but the sick person had decided they were well enough to go out with the rest of them. However one of the men told him - "You're lucky you stayed put. You'd taken one step off, or made a move and the lot of them would have had you."
He regarded this incident as his closest ever brush with death.
