Run like the wind!

I have to tell you about Rigel's great escape yesterday! We were out on my parents' farm to do some work and my mom decided that the sheep needed to be moved to a different pasture. So I put Rigel in the house with the guys working on the house and went to help my mom with the sheep. After about 15 minutes outside, in the middle of the farm animals, I could feel a .... disturbance in the force. The chickens and ducks started going crazy! So I looked around for an animal or a hawk or some other threat to the animals, only to see my 7lb yorkie running along the fence trying to get to me. One of the guard donkeys isn't sure he's a dog, but the chickens and ducks are sure of it! So I yelled his name so he knew exactly where I was. He ran to me as I made my way to the gate. He was panting so hard as the chickens and ducks went nuts around us. He smelled like dog and wind. His heart was pounding as I held him close. He had found his way out of the house.

Rigel is not a farm dog. Not even close. I worry about him so much when we're on the farm. There are so many dangers to a 7lb yorkie even though there isn't another car in sight - hawks, snakes, big (read:HUGE) bugs, bobcats (!!!), animals that would kick at him, other stray dogs NOT on a leash or in a pin (stray dogs are ALL OVER this county). And I doubt he knows about any of the dangers because he is a city dog. He's been raised on a leash, unfortunately. I'm so scared that he will take off after a bird and be lost forever. So even on the farm, all the acres and acres of nothingness, Rigel is on a leash. My father says I should trust my dog more, but I love him more than I trust him. And I know he loves to chase birds. He's off his leash at the farm occasionally, but definitely not around the animals, and we're all outside to yell and chase after him if we need to.

I would be devastated if something happened to Rigel. But I just had to laugh at him, panting like crazy, as I imagined his great escape to find me. He's a brave little man. But I'm afraid that will also be his demise!