My guest blogger Nick enjoys the solitude of trail running – until this week when he bumped into a pack of dogs including one that went for his arm flesh. Now he’s questioning whether there should be a tighter rein on dog walkers and their dog walking numbers. What do you think?

He writes: Midweek trail runs are generally a guarantee of solitude for much of the time, even on the outskirts of Glasgow. When I run, one of my favourite routes, rising up through the lanes from Milngavie into the Lennox Forest, down to the cycle track and home via Strathblane, I can generally expect a couple of nods from lone walkers at most on 23km of quiet trail.

The weekly long run is a staple of most runners’ programmes and there are some advantages to doing them alone. “Long and easy paced” seems more achievable when the competitive element is absent. It seems that, no matter how sociable and friendly the run starts, two or three male runners will always end up like a group of Kenyans rounding the last bend with the silver medal slipping from their grasp.

I won’t repeat FionaOutdoors’ pithy phrase describing the psychology of men training together. (From FionaOutdoors: That is because it is not for family reading otherwise I would state it here!).

Run alone and you have no reason to rush past the scenery. Your slow run is done slowly and does you the maximum good.

This week then, as I jogged through the forest wondering if I shouldn’t slow down even more, I didn’t expect to hear uproar from the bend in the trail ahead. It came from a very sizeable pack of dogs, 12 or 15 strong, swirling around one lady. Only one was on a lead, while the rest ran amok and fought one another.

I have no concerns about dogs. I have one myself and regularly run with him, but I guess that like children and body odour, we prefer our own.

Some of these dogs were pretty big and as I reached the pack they seemed to be taking an excited interest in me. “Just run through. They might bark but they won’t bother you,” is the reassuring mantra of anyone in charge of an animal, from a mouse to a Siberian tiger.

I slowed to a walk and tried to wade through the sea of dogs with an air of confidence. Unfortunately some of the animals weren’t getting the message and seemed to identify me as prey. A large shaggy brute leapt up and sank its teeth into my forearm.

Breaking free before any blood appeared to excite them further, I glowered at the dog walker and quickly put some space between me and the pack.

Professional dog walking seems to be the growth industry of modern times, presumably being a fairly cheap business to set up when you need extra income. And if you can charge £10 for an hour’s walk the temptation must be to fill up the van and do 15 dogs at a time.

I know there has been some controversy over charges for businesses like dog walkers and personal trainers who use public parks. It’s hard to see how that could be applied to the Scottish countryside, and I am sure we would not welcome that type of regulation, but commonsense needs to be used before venturing out with so many animals that you are liable to lose control.

What do they do if they meet a group of children?

So enjoy your long slow runs, but keep some speed in reserve in case you need it.