Ooh, I need a thread like this today. @_@
So quick background, I work at a boarding kennel. You leave your precious pooches with us when you go on vacations.
I'm used to handling large dogs and even multiple large dogs at once; for example we have two rowdy boxers that board with us occasionally and I can handle them with no issue. However, I only weigh 115 lbs soaking wet, and one of my (usually) favorite Chocolate Labs was boarding today. So I leashed him and began walking him to the play yard where we take them to stretch, relax and do their doggy business. The thing about this Lab, named Sam, is he's easily 135+ lbs. Again, not the heaviest I've handled; we have a regular that's a St. Bernard who weighs double that, to say nothing of the Mastiffs that board here.
However, when Sam sees a door or gate of any kind, he will get to that gate even if you're being dragged face-first behind him. xD Usually I keep myself upright pretty well but I've been feeling sick lately,and barely made it to work this morning. So he took off for the gate to the play yard with me in tow, and I managed to keep up. I then opened the gate - usually he'll step into the smaller half of the play yard and sniff around long enough for me to close and latch the gate. But today since I was the only one walking the dogs I had he second gate which separates two halves of the yard open. The wind caught it and he noticed, 'hey, a door! OH BOY!' and took off. I, who was trying to close the wooden gate, tried to stand firm but the wind also caught my gate and it smashed into my face.
So between that and being sick today was a mixed bag. The owners of the two Boxers came to pick up their pups and when my co-worker brought them out, I commented on how much fun they were to walk. The woman - who was around 5' 11"ish easy - looked at me and said, "You walk them by yourself!?"
I nodded and smiled, saying how sweet and energetic they were, to which she responded, "good god, I have to have my husband help me; I can't hang on to both at once!" So apparently she was impressed. xD