My eyes were on the rearview mirror as I reversed the car when the head popped into view. Two eyes, two long ears and a mouth that seemed to be smiling at me.

Throwing the car in park, I was out the door and scanning the perimeter for a human owner before you could say dog.

We’re in that stage of life when each car trip becomes a lesson for a teenager on the cusp of driving stage, and we talk often about the need to constantly scan the roadway and roadside both for possible impediments.

The sheer amount of calculating that is going on in the average (good) driver’s head at any given moment is enough to make any high school geometry teacher proud.

But as the owner — who I spotted within seconds — of this wayward pup reminded me after I’d grabbed his pup’s collar and he’d successfully hooked the leash in place, there are two types of people when it comes to loose dogs.

As I basked in the chance to pet this new-found friend’s silken ears, he shared an insight learned by dog owners everywhere:

There are those drivers who stop to help, throwing the car in park, throwing the door open, and throwing themselves into puppy wrangling.

Then there are those drivers who slow down to avoid hitting the dog, maneuver their car around the wandering creature, then speed off, never to be seen again.

I would add in a third type, or perhaps a subset of type 1: Those of us whose driver calculations are extended when we spot a dog running loose. Our first concern is not hitting the creature with our car, but the risk assessment is occurring in concert with a quick scan of the area to determine whether there’s a house nearby or an owner at hand. Is this pup a stray? A lost dog with an owner trying to find them? Are they on their own lawn but at risk of darting into the roadway? Are they on their own lawn with an invisible fence?

I’m type three and trying to raise another type three to add to the world.

Which one are you?