A childhood belief about in the street

I lived in Caerau(Ely)Cardiff until I was 7,but when I came of school age (5) the local catholic school was in North Ely(St Francis) which was a bit of a walk.This was the early 60's so my mother took me for the first few days & then it was deemed quite safe to go with the rest of the kids.There was a shop near my house called "The Hilldip".Anyway after school one day me & my friend,yes I'll name him Peter Cook,were walking home through a gully & I got bit by a dog,he told me(and we are both 47 now) that I would be dead by the time I reached "The Hilldip" I was 6 years old and I walked all around Ely that afternoon just to avoid that shop,just to stay alive,I live in another part of Cardiff now & so does Peter but the times I've driven past "The Hilldip" & shuddered,by the way Peter Cook still thinks its quite funny