The Avoidance Walk- another lesson from my dog

Our dog, Abbie, has acquired a new behavior lately. When she sees another dog approaching on our walk, she crouches down as low as she can go and just waits for the dog/owner to get close enough, and then... she pounces on them, pulling with the force of a Mack truck ( my shoulders can attest to the fact. I no longer need to lift weights on my left side...) Needless to say, this is extremely disconcerting to both the canine prey and also the owners that look at me like I have grown two heads. How can one dog be so out of control? ( I'm sure it is hilarious watching me flail as I am pulling back with two hands with all my strength , as Abbie is at a full force throttle towards her intended victim.) If I thought that she would just greet the dog friendly like , sniffing privates and exchanging tail wags, I would let her go. Unfortunately, she has become crotchety in her ripe ole age of 56 (how I can soon relate..) and I never know if her greeting will be one of niceness or of growls and attack mode. Ugh.

So I have entered into a new phase of my walking her, and it is called avoid any dog at any time. I have been known to cut through the woods, traipse across muddy fields, or take the looonnng way around the park if I see a dog approaching. Makes for some interesting walks....

Made me think of the times that I have gone out of my way in life to avoid something unpleasant- the detours I have taken to avoid a possible conflict. How often to we allow ourselves to veer off our direct path, to avoid some obstacle that may or may not harm us?
What if I just crouched down and waited for the imagined disaster to happen? I may be surprised that it never comes to friution. And if it does, I am in a position to look around and see my best course of action.

What are you avoiding? How far do you go out of your way to avoid conflict?