A Very Scary Morning!

Okay, I know most of you are going to think I'm crazy but I get up at the crack of dark thirty to walk our dog. I do this a minimum of 5 days a week. (I try to get a bit more sleep on the week-end.) It's cooler and, honestly, it's usually calmer.

Not this morning. Nope. We got probably half-way through the shortest route we take when we were startled. A neighbor was out at his car and, well, I won't tell you just yet what set off Miffy, our dog, but she became scared. She backed out of her collar and took off running.

I called her. I whistled. I yelled. I ran off after her. All the way back home. I checked the front yard. I checked the back yard. I grabbed a flashlight and the car keys and started driving the neighborhood looking for her and calling her name.

I finally spotted her and drove down the side street she was on. As I approached, I called her and she stopped for a second and took off running again. I drove up next to her and tried calling her again. She started running even faster. She was in absolute terror and wouldn't stop!

I had to speed to catch up with her. When I finally did, I knew I had to pass her and get out of the car if I had any chance of snapping her out of her fear. I parked the car and shut off the engine, hoping she wouldn't be so afraid with it off. I jumped out of the car with her leash and collar and said the one thing I thought might get her to realize who I was: "Miffy, do you want to go?"

"Go" is Miffy's absolutely favorite word. We have to spell it around her because she just loves to go for walks and ride in the car. Yes, the same car she was so scared of this morning. I don't think it was the car itself. I think she was just so scared to begin with that all she could focus on was getting away until she finally snapped out of it.

So just what had her so terrified?

. . . a puppy.

Yes, a puppy that wanted to play with her. LOL!

Now, I must tell you this was a dalmation who was bigger than her but he didn't do anything I would consider threatening or dominant. He just wanted to play and when Miffy took off running, he went with her which only made the whole thing worse.

A puppy? I don't get it myself. She's played with other dogs before. In Michigan, we had a regular doggie visitor and they were the best of friends. I know she likes to be the one in charge and has no problem meeting new dogs if she gets to take the initiative but a puppy? I don't get it. She was so terrified this morning, I thought she was going to have another seizure. I know she was certainly hot and tired when we finally got back home.

It won't happen again, though. I went to the pet store this morning and now Miffy now has a harness she can't slip out of just in case she gets scared again. LOL!