Puppy Drama

One of the best things about staying at home is being able to exercise Una early in the day as opposed to waiting until after a long day at work. We usually walk the 1/2 mile up our street to the foothill trails (see above photo). Una is a great hiking dog because her "husky" instincts give her the stamina for long walks while her "samoyed" instincts keep her within my eyesight even while off-leash. When I stop walking or turn around, she stays with me or comes to rest by my side. I have often thought she was an angel until today.

The trail we prefer runs parallel to a row of houses, overlooking their backyards. Una causes quite a stir with the dogs that live in these houses. She enjoys provoking them, walking up to the fences and gates and sniffing, wagging her tail at them as they snarl and bounce and try to kill her through the barrier. There are two boston terriers and a boxer with red eyes that pose the biggest threat: the boxer seems to jump higher each week and one day I guess he'll make it over that wall. But the most obnoxious dogs are these two Scottish terriers who live in a gigantic, gorgeously manicured xeroscaped yard. When they see Una, they scream like harpies for the duration of her presence and some time thereafter.

This morning we were hiking along; Una said "hello" to the friends I mentioned and the usual racket followed. We went all the way to our stopping point, turned around, and headed back. I was listening to my ipod and tromping along when I realized I hadn't seen Una for several minutes--as I said before, this is unusual. So I backtracked to see if she had found some carrion or other disgusting stuff to eat or roll in. No trace. I couldn't hear the jingling of her 5 different mandatory City Tags. I turned around and kept going, shouting her name. No Una.

So I thought I'd hike up to higher ground to see if I could catch a glimpse of her. Picture an 8 month pregnant girl scrambling up the jagged rocks of the lower Sandias shouting as she goes. Not pretty. By this time I was in full panic-mode, picturing Una surrounded by a pack of Wild Coyotes, white fur flying. Or in the hands--er, grip of a rattle snake. Maybe she had cried out and My Ipod had drowned her little dog voice. No, it wouldn't have mattered anyhow; the two Scotty dogs were making so much noise (watching me run up back and forth and up the cliffs) it wouldn't have made a difference.

After about 20 minutes of random bouldering, hiking, and generally freaking out, I heard a man's voice. I was high enough on the rocks to see a white flash in the terriers' yard. I ran down to the gate and saw a man talking on the phone while the terriers continued to scream. After a few awkward "sirs?" I got his attention and he said "is this your dog?" Oh, those words were music to my ears. I called Una's name and she came skipping up to me while the terriers nipped at her heels. "I was just leaving you a message" he said. Yay! The heart-shaped pendant containing her name and our phone number worked! Yay! He didn't call animal control! Well, with two dogs like that, he must have more patience than me.

I apologized, he passed Una back through the gate, and we walked home together. I'm thankful for a blog; as a stay-at-home I want to call everyone I know and relay the story, but just typing it out got it through my system OK. I'm proud of myself for not going into labor over this.