Lately, I've run my dogs in Puppia harnesses to protect their necks from the martingale collars. This morning, however, Shaye slipped her harness when she stopped to pee: just turned around like lightning and backed right out of it!. It took me and half the people around and outside to catch her. She ran down to the garbage dumpsters at the back of our development, and by the time I got there she had her head through a plastic bag that "missed" the throw evidently, was digging in whatever that was, and when I grabbed the bag she tore out of it and ran all over the empty fields nearby, between houses, up and down the streets, everywhere, but always running back to the area, just out of reach. I first thought if I drove the cart away from her, she'd follow and want to jump in to ride. Hah - no such luck. So I drove back to the field she was in, and when she stopped to poop I nearly had her, but just as I grabbed, she bolted. Some woman with a jack russell terrier was out walking with her dog, and Shaye ran up to her trying to get at the jack russell, which the woman picked up so Shaye she couldn't reach her. She said her dog is very unfriendly. Two guys were outside putting lights up on their house close by and they tried to tempt Shaye with treats, but she'd get real near to them and then bounce away - too smart for that routine, I guess. We had traffic stopped because they were afraid she'd come barreling out between houses and run across the street and they'd hit her. She would not come to me of course, that meant being brought home and that little burst of freedom was just too wonderful in her mind. Thank God we live in a close-knit little community and everyone drives slow and watches out for such stuff. Eventually the woman with the jack russell put her dog in her house, and came back with a piece of bacon to about 20 feet away from me. Shaye did go up to get the bacon and she grabbed her. If it wasn't for that, I'm afraid she'd still be running around. And, even after all that, when we got into the house, her first steps were right to the cupboard for a treat. Oh yeah, that was likely. Plus all through this nightmare poor Gemma, my b-mix, sat right on the seat of the golf cart and never tried to chase Shaye, didn't make a lurch for her own freedom, didn't bark or anything else. She just sat there watching, probably thinking "what's wrong with that bitch?". What a good girl. In retrospect, my thoughts on all the remarks people were making: "what a beautiful dog," "wow isn't she fast?" all fall into the category of be careful of what you wish for as I consider how much and for how long I wanted a basenji before I got Shaye.
