Wednesday 2 June 2010

It's Gonna Be A Glorious Day I Feel My Luck Could Change

We're only one day into the month and already June is way more awesome than May. You see, I was feeling very mopey and unlucky after the finger-vs-knife incident and then last night happened.

Last night my parents came over for dinner and we decided to walk the dogs. I was holding Stella's leash and my dad had Wolfgang's leash, when the puppies spotted another dog a few blocks ahead of us. When Stella encounters another dog, she gets a bit excited and wants to sniff and play. When Wolfgang encounters another dog, he gets territorial and protective of me. He's not aggressive at all but he does bark quite a bit. As soon as the other dog is within sniffing distance, Wolfgang turns into the perfect gentleman and wags his tail and is quite happy to play with the other dog, it's just the initial encounter that makes him unsure and shouty.

So. Last night the dogs spot the other dog and Wolfgang got all barky and loud so we stopped walking. My dad bent down to shush Wolfgang and Wolfgang got all squirmy and somehow the combination of a taut leash and a twisty puppy resulted in Wolfgang managing to ninja his way out of his harness. He didn't even hesitate; he took off running (across 4 lanes of traffic) after the other dog, who by this time was long gone. My brain was still processing what happened when my dad took off running (across 4 lanes of traffic) after him.

Here's the thing, I know what you're supposed to do in this situation. I know that running away from your dog prompts your dog to chase you, so if you run away from the danger the theory is that your dog will follow you to safety. But last night, in the heat of the moment, my thought process was pretty much this: "Puppy. In traffic. Dad. In traffic." And repeat.

So I stood there, frozen, until Wolfgang realized that I wasn't following him (his territorial / protective nature means that he doesn't want to be too far from me - no really, this is a dog that will whine at the bathroom door until I open it) and stopped. And then ran back towards me (across 4 lanes of traffic.) I managed to grab him as he ran past me and the whole thing was over in under a minute.

I feel so lucky. My dad, bless his heart, didn't even look before running into the street and Wolfgang still looks like this:

instead of, you know, flatter. I feel very lucky, indeed.

17 comments:

  1. holy science is that pup ever lucky! time to start duct taping the harness to him....

    ReplyDelete
  2. jeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzus! hoooraaa all is well

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sweet bejeeezus, that stuff makes my heart race. The other day, I was walking SoMi, when she spotted a squirrel. If we're on a residential street, I'll often drop her leash, so she can turn into hunter SoMi. Usually, she just runs after the squirrel, who runs up the nearest tree. Only this time, the squirrel ran out into the street. My instinct? Yell at SoMi to stay. Guess the guttural growl in my voice scared my dog, because she stopped before stepping foot in the street. Thankfully.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So glad your little pup is okay. That story had me so anxious for him. Ugh. Dogs running through traffic is like my worst nightmare, and sob-worthy, even if there's a happy ending.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Reading that story had me all stressed out for your lovely pup.

    Must be the pessimist in me but I was thinking that's a horrible way to start June, with your Dad and dog darting out into the dangerous traffic! But your fur-baby and father are both okay so all is good in the world and the terrorists do not win. Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wolfie has magic powers! So glad the little guy is ok. I don't even want to think about what I would do in a situation like that.

    Here's to an awesome June!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, MAN. I'm so glad that both Wolfgang and your Dad are OK. Phew.

    ReplyDelete
  8. HOLY JEEBUS LADY. i'm so glad everyone is okay, MY GOODNESS. you poor things. well, except for wolfgang, who i'm assuming was completely unfazed by the incident.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AAAGGHHHHH that's a stressful story. I was so worrying about Wolfgang and your dad and picturing that horrible Frogger video gang that I could never get the hang of and always got splatted. Thank goodness for June!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, I'm so glad everyone's ok! It's going to be a good month for you..I've got a feeling!

    ReplyDelete
  11. JAYSUS that would be SO scary! So glad everyone is ok!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Perhaps your father also needs a leash? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Now THAT'S a mischievous little face!! Yikes! So glad everyone's okay!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had a dog that would dart out if the door was even a smidge ajar. One time she pushed past me, took off running towards the busy street with a bad blind spot and myself and my landlord who had come to the door took off running after her. I was bare footed. NOT AWESOME. SO SCARY. I feel for you. Glad the little stinker is ok!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Holy shit! Scary. Glad everyone is safe.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Luke has "escaped" a total of three times. Each time I thought I was going to die. Either from running as fast as I could to catch up to him, or a broken heart from losing him or watching him get hit by a car. So scary. I'm glad Wolfgang is okay! Phew!

    ReplyDelete
  17. That's the scariest thing ever! I can't believe he broke out of his harness! Ninja indeed! I'm SO glad everything turned out OK and that sweet Wolfgang is his cute self and not flatter!

    ReplyDelete