How to scare the life out of Rip's Girl

[Rip's Girl]

Last night, at about 3AM, Ripley woke me up and wanted to go outside. Well, it was raining and I was grouchy so I didn't do a perimeter check on the yard first, and I just opened the door..
The first thing he ran to was the gate, and I didn't notice that it was partially open until he slipped right through it.

I freaked out, since the probability of his performing a recall in a strange environment is about .005% and I chased after him.. It was raining hard and I never would have been able to find him if he hadn't been barking his head off..
I found him standing as tall as he could, growling, and I picked him up and said "RIPLEY!", and just as I relaxed, because I had him, a bush exploded 5 feet in front of me, startled the living daylights out of me, and a coyote took off towards the open desert. It had been watching Ripley and freaked out when it heard my voice. I am so lucky that I got him right then, because he would have been coyote bait if I had waited any longer.

So, I've learned my lesson well.. Never let the small dog outside without checking the gates first. :shiver:

[Ritz459]

That would have freaked me out too. :shiver: Luckly my two dogs are bigger than the coyotes around here so the coyotes are scared of them, not the other way around. I'm glad you got him back in one piece!!

[Lil'Paws]

OMG, It would have scared me too.

[kjm]

Whoa. I'm glad you got him back. I would have panicked too.

[Carrie]

OMG!!!!! How scary. You should probably not only check the gates, but take him out on a leash. That coyote knows there's an easy meal around now. They are persistant and cunning. Could the coyote jump over a gate or dig under? Geeeeeeze!!!! How scary. I'm so glad you got him back.

[sthrnbelle]

You are both lucky! I probably would have had a heart attack...

I could see my dogs doing the same thing...they all think they are ten feet tall and bullet-proof.

[Rip's Girl]

He's been on a leash all morning. This boy isn't leaving my sight.. Coyotes can't jump over our fence unless they are quite determined and athletic. It's a 6ft block wall/wroght (sp?) iron fence, and the gates are solid wroght iron and wood, also 6ft tall.. I think it's going to be on-leash at night until he improves his recall, I couldn't stand to go through that again and possibly lose him.. I don't know what I would do without him.

[gaddylovesdogs]

Oh how scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PitBullie09]

Man..I would hae been screaming my head off! lol

[sunny98]

WOW! that is reall scarry! I am glad it worked out ok. I have never had that problem but I have let my dog out at night before without doing the smell test. You know the one to check for skunks! It happened to me 3 or 4 times when I lived in CA. And it was always that one time I didn't check because I was too tired or figured there would be no skunks around. Boy was that a mistake! I would take me an additional hour just to get the smell down to a tolerable level to let her back in the house. So far since I moved to WA I haven't seen or smelled any skunks in my neighborhood!

Erin, Sunny and the gang!

[Pugdawg1]

Yikes.. those darn coyotes are so smart, and can be so determined if they spot a snack like a little dog. We have them around here, hard on the stray pet population. We have a 6 ft privacy fence in back and its reinforced on the bottom, gates are kept padlocked, but I still walk out with mine. I hear those coyotes at night sometimes, I think they like to hunt around the hot springs a couple blocks down the road.
I know of a pug that was mauled by a coyote, but "lived to tell the tale". Your little Ripley is one lucky pooch!

[Carrie]

"Coyotes can't jump over our fence unless they are quite determined and athletic."

Confussious say, "Never underestimate the cunning coyote." LOL.

[stardust]

yikes... glad everything turned out ok, but wow i would have been terrified if i were you..