Yesterday during our hike I heard the sound that no dog owner ever wants to hear: the cries of a terrified and/or injured pup. I took off down the trail and was intercepted by Tippy, who had been running at full speed toward me. She turned around and raced to an opening in the bushes at the edge of the path, leading to a steep slope. Then she waited until I could see her before continuing into the bushes. Somehow I managed to pause before plummeting down after my dogs, and listened and looked. I didn't hear any noises of another creature down with my pup, which was good, but I could hear thrashing noises along with Elsie's cries. By then SB had found a safer area to enter the slope and was slowly making his way to Elsie while I edged forward at my location in hopes of being able to see the dogs.
A small tree was shaking back and forth, indicating that she was caught in something. I cannot tell you how relieved I was that she wasn't at the bottom of a cliff. Before SB could reach her, she managed to free herself and was frantically running about the area. She eventually came into view and both she and Tippy shot up and back onto the path like little rockets. SB gave her a thorough pat down and squeezed on her limbs and undercarriage. Thankfully there were no cries of pain. We aren't sure of what the problem was but it seemed most likely that she had fallen into a hole that may have been obscured by all of the brush. After a few minutes of staying close to us, she forgot about the trauma and was off running about with her sister.
I took a bit longer to get over the trauma of hearing her crying loudly and out of sight. Afterward, we remembered how Tippy had come running for us and wondered if she was fleeing or coming to fetch us to help her sister. I prefer to think that she was going to get help. After all, she did turn back as soon as she saw me and went right back to where Elsie was trapped. She's just like Lassie, if Lassie liked to chew gum, dig egg shells out of the trash, and bark in her sleep.
A small tree was shaking back and forth, indicating that she was caught in something. I cannot tell you how relieved I was that she wasn't at the bottom of a cliff. Before SB could reach her, she managed to free herself and was frantically running about the area. She eventually came into view and both she and Tippy shot up and back onto the path like little rockets. SB gave her a thorough pat down and squeezed on her limbs and undercarriage. Thankfully there were no cries of pain. We aren't sure of what the problem was but it seemed most likely that she had fallen into a hole that may have been obscured by all of the brush. After a few minutes of staying close to us, she forgot about the trauma and was off running about with her sister.
I took a bit longer to get over the trauma of hearing her crying loudly and out of sight. Afterward, we remembered how Tippy had come running for us and wondered if she was fleeing or coming to fetch us to help her sister. I prefer to think that she was going to get help. After all, she did turn back as soon as she saw me and went right back to where Elsie was trapped. She's just like Lassie, if Lassie liked to chew gum, dig egg shells out of the trash, and bark in her sleep.
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