Home Zookeeper

When Trooper was around 9 months old or so … plenty strong enough to knock me on my feet if he’d chosen … we took all three doggies to a local park for a nice long hike. So Kodiak and Trooper go in the back of the truck, Quinn goes in front with us. It’s not always easy to get the dogs out of the truck (at least it was a lot harder then…Trooper now “knows” how to sit and stay before I let him out … sometimes) and as hubby is lowering the truck bed door Trooper jumps OVER my shoulder, hits the ground, and starts to run…

TOWARDS THE FREEWAY!!!

Complete and total panic with no rational thought is the first reaction when this happens. I don’t even know what we did with the other two dogs while we both ran after Trooper. Finally I had a coherent thought and realized that chasing him was the exact opposite thing I needed to do so I started calling his name and running the other way. Thank GOD he followed … we grabbed him by the neck scruff and got his leash on and that has never happened again.

Until yesterday.

I pull into the driveway at agility (it’s a very rocky, pot holed driveway) and start looking for a place to park. As I glance back in my side mirror I see this blur of fur outside the car.

Yeah…Trooper JUMPED OUT OF THE f*&()&() CAR!!!

At first I thought that I’d hit him but he kept going to I threw the car into a space, rolled up the windows (I had Bullet with me too and she’d have followed), got out of the car and started screaming like a banshee.

I was so flippin’ scared and angry. I am not a cussing type of person but I was letting the expletives fly. He hadn’t just run off and was sniffing around the parking area looking all innocent. I knew that he knew I was pissed though because as I’m yelling at him to come to me RIGHT NOW he’s slinking toward me with his head down and ears back … “Uh Oh…Mama is MAD” look on his face.

When he got to me I grabbed his leash (he almost always has a leash on when we drive anywhere) and drag him back to the car where I FORCE him back in (yes…forced…he did not want to get back inside but I AM alpha and he WILL do my bidding!).

He had to sit and wait until I said “ok” before he got out of the car.

I *think* that is when I started breathing again. It took me about 10 minutes to really calm down. One of the trainers told me that if I couldn’t calm down I might as well go home…which is true. He had already forgotten what happened and was excited to work so I had to take some deep breaths and switch my mindset.

But dear Lord in heaven above I was scared. I never in a million years thought he’d do that.

And from now on the windows will only be open a crack!