Pregnant woman (nearly) mauled by vicious dogs

I could see the headlines already:  Pregnant woman attacked and killed by pack of dogs.  But then in French, as this took place in France, you see.

We were on holiday in the South of France in a tiny hamlet called Cazo (but I'll tell you more about that at a later stage), pregnant with Son#3. The husband took Thing 1 and Thing 2 for a walk in the vineyards (doesn't that just sound too idyllic?), and I stayed at the holiday home (more about that later too). 

After a while I thought I might go look for them.  Lots of deep wells dotted all over the Languedoc, not really the kind of countryside where you can let the kids run and roam freely as you never know if they do a drop & disappear down some old, deep well.  Same goes for the husband.

Just after I left the house, a pack of Collies stormed down the dusty road all barking and frenzied.  In a panic, I picked up a rock.  But then the thought entered my mind that there were about 10 dogs, and my athletic history proves that I probably wouldn't take out all 10 dogs with just one rock.  Other measures were needed.    


All I could think of was the Supernanny, Jo Frost, and her Voice of Authority that you are supposed to use with your kids to get them to do what you want (easier said than done).


WIth a swift 'Arret!' (because you have to speak French to French dogs, they also refuse to speak English), calm was magically restored and I even went for a walk down the dusty road with all 10 dogs happily following their new leader (that would be me).  It was a modern-day miracle. I might just alert the Catholic Church:  Saint Yo, herder of dogs.

Just goes to show what a bit of confidence (and a deep voice) can do.


Now to apply this to my kids...