text: First time posting. Would love some feedback. I have this dog. He's a big, long-haired dog with mucky, matted fur. When he walks, his shoulders move like pistons one after the other. His head is sunken low and prowling. He's not a very well-behaved dog. When we walk together I have him on a stong, leather lead. But he pulls and barks at everything and anybody that passes. The leather lead twists and creaks with the strain as he rears up on his hind legs. His hair stands up in tufts on each of his bulging shoulders. He barks like a bear roaring from its cave. His snarls launch spit like a boiling cauldron. His lips roll back to reveal the protruding teeth like daggers. I try to hold him back with all my might and I feel like my arm is going to pop out of its socket. My white-knuckled hand is clasped around the lead with some kind of a death grip. I don't know why I don't let go. I can't really. Perhaps it's because I remember he used to be a calm dog. I don't know why I still go walking with this dog when all he does is cause so much trouble and stir. Maybe I know that if I don't, the dog will start barking and snarling at me. Sometimes, people come to walk with me and the dog. But it's never plain sailing. Either the dog will bark at them and scare them off. Or whilst I'm wrestling the dog this way, my companion might slip off that way, recognizing that I wasn't listening to them. Then one day, someone came to walk this dog with me and did something so strange. They took the lead from my hand and started to walk him. Much to my surprise, out flopped his clumsy tongue and he trotted about sniffing the flowers and basking in the sunshine. He shook off his muck to reveal his shimmering coat and looked up at us walking along beside him. Now, this was my dog! My arm felt so light and heavy at the same time from the suddenly relinquished strain on it. I chatted for hours with my friend and we walked the park twice. How incredible it was to have a dog like this! I had missed all the wonderful trees and colours in the park and listening to what this person was saying to me. How could this person so carelessly clasp that battered lead? I held this person's hand delicately and swung it through the crisp, carefree air. They smiled with teeth like a glacier. Eyes like beams and walking with such grace they could have been dancing across a pond on lily pads. But then this person stopped coming for walks with me and the dog. The barking and snarling and jumping returned. Every rapturous ring would bounce around in my head and pierce my ears. Worse than before. My arm had gotten weaker, but the dog was still as strong as an ox. I couldn't resist his pulls and tugs anymore and he dragged me around from side to side like a helpless dandelion in the wind. The beady eyes were watching the struggle from their perch. The dog started to bark at me! I could see the ridges on the roof of his mouth and the deadening weight in his eyes. As nice as it was, I started to feel that I should never let anyone else walk this dog other than me, lest I forget how to handle his lead. Edit: put in some paragraphs per suggestion from the great feedback.