Dogs Have 9 Lives Too

Took the dog out tonight 3:30 am, our usual middle of the night trek outside. Let's face it, when you get to be as old as he is, (17 years old!) you have to get up at least once a night because thats one of the bummers about aging. I don't mind taking him, I can do it half asleep, on come the slippers and jeans, out the door we go. Round trip is usually only 3-4 minutes. We have this chore down pat. Gives me a chance to get a drink of water and make a trip of my own before he and I climb back into bed before the warm spot under the blankets loses its warmth.

So we are out tonight. I standing in the entry way, he out doing his duty. It's cold out, and there is not a soul around, no cars, no noise, nothing. I lean against the building as I wait, playing with the steam that my breath creates in the cold air, trying to see how long it will last before it fades away. As I wait for him it finally dawns on me that its taking longer than usual, so I step off the walkway and onto the lawn to get his attention and hurry him a long.

That's when I saw it. Crouched low and creeping closer is a fox. My dog is oblivious to this, he is about ten feet from me, and that fox is creeping up maybe fifteen feet from him in the opposite direction climbing the slope from a culvert. The fox was not alarmed by me at all, not even as I dodge for the dog and scoop up a healthy sized rock. When the rock impacted the fox's hip then and only then did he take off, darting off maybe 25 feet and turning back again. I stand 3 feet from my dog, and he looks up at me as he continues doing his job, completely ignorant of the danger near by. Incredulously the damn fox crouches and starts slinking my way again, low, not afraid of me in the least. This time the rock I grab and throw cracks him on the head, hard, right against the ear, and the fox yelps and takes off around the corner of the building.

The dog finishes up and I pick him up and carry him back inside. Once safely in the hall my dog runs upstairs and I walk out the front door in time to see the fox streaking by up the sidewalk in front of the building. Picking up one last rock, a bigger one, I hurl it in his direction. The rock strikes an empty dumpster and makes a wonderful booming sound which terrifies the hell out of the fox and he disappears for good. Satisfied I go back inside where my dog dances at the top of the stairwell happily waiting for his pokey owner.

Crawling back into bed I rub my dog's tummy as he goes back to sleep and I reflect on what just happened. I have not seen fox around here before. Deer and elk occasionally ramble thru the complex, some coyotes live maybe a half mile away over in the game preserve and we had a skunk around last spring, but other than that I don't normally see critters around. My dog sighs in that deep way that only old dogs do. "You were five seconds away from being dead you know..." I say to him. "Don't you EVER do that again!" Snoring is the only reply I hear as the dog returns to sleep. He feels secure that his Mom is his protector and will always keep him from harm. Little does he know how close I came to failing him in that aspect. Cat's are said to have nine lives, but after tonight I am willing to bet dogs do too.