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Why your Pet’s should never leave your sight

So recently I had a pretty real eye opening experience this past month in how the pets we know and love only real defense against the food chain is us...

Backstory

A little backstory, My parent’s were gone for the weekend and into the week after as well as my sister and her husband both working weekends as nurses. so their dog (GracIe) was usually at our house as well with our dog (Sophie) while they were both working all weekend and usually wouldn't be home to take care of her. Also, My backyard is a fully enclosed with a 6 ft- chain link fence that borders a canyon (Info is important for Context). 

(Also the dogs name are used just for ease of writing)

The Story

This happened all Saturday morning before I was to head into work that day. I had awoken in my usual half-asleep, half -awake daze knowing the dogs usually had to go to the bathroom in the morning since my dad would usually take them out when he left for work at 4 a.m. Knowing we have a fence we usually let the dogs out to do their business and they’ll come back in when their done.. After I let them out I turned around to go get the work clothes I would need for the ensuing day but before I even opened the dryer door I heard two barks some of the loudest pitches and volumes I had ever heard from either of those dogs. Now usually barking wouldnt be something that wouldn’t get me especially worried about them but just the tone and volume of it immediately just set something off in me that knew something that was happening... 

Running from the garage to the kitchen to outside, during this Sophie runs past me at full speed without even looking at me and runs upstairs all the while the other dog is still in the backyard barking and screaming full volume. In the process of going to the kitchen to the backyard, I had grabbed a BB gun we keep by the back door. My dad honestly bought this thing cause it was a model of one he owned when he was much younger that they recently for an anniversary or something made a brand new “reinvented” edition and now we use it as a way to scare away any animal predators that come into our fenced backyard.  Grabbing this outta instinct I wasn't expecting it to actually do anything let alone no ones actually used the thing other thing shooting cans and such but as I ran outside and Cocked a BB into the chamber I saw the tail end of something with brown-grayish fur that was about 40 pounds bigger and a completely different color fur then my sister dog Gracie. I say, “HEY” in the loudest scream and tone I could muster half out of desperation/fear and half out of Anger starting to get some grasp of what’s going on right in front of my eyes. Almost as if it hears me it turns around and looking me in the eyes its got my sister’s dog in its mouth with its teeth in its stomach. Now right now as im looking at my sisters dog in this coyotes mouth this thing looks like is all it needs to do is turn around and it can take off with it no problem. My sisters dog is doing everything it can in the few seconds I get a look at it, kicking, screaming, crying, just trying to get away from this thing she honestly probably had never seen before in her life. After a few seconds of me seeing what was happening that is when I had acted, I aimed the BB gun at its face since now it was beginning to turn and walk away but because of that it turned right into my shot and I saw it wince at its side while simultaneously allowing the struggling dog to kick itself free. 

Almost as if she knew exactly what I needed her to do Gracie then instantly Ran away top speed away from the coyote while I at the same time ran at the coyote with this this BB gun over my head ready to club the thing if its about to chase after her for more. Seeing the dog run away and this crazy kid running at it screaming with a wooden metal bat thing probably was too much for this what looked to be fully grown coyote so I watched it jump over the fence and run away with ease before turning around and attending to my dog. 

The next chain events happened as you assume they would happen me seeing if she is okay followed by the appearance the blood spots and the eventual taking of her to a close animal hospital to really make sure everything is gonna be okay..The story however has a happy ending with Gracie coming out of the ordeal with only a few bite incision marks that were stapled shut and given an ultrasound to make sure their was no damage other then those. So all in all all she had were a few staples and a couple bandages she had to wear over the week. So for her I am glad that is all that happened but for me it was really an eye opening experience. It was something that I never wanna put myself or put an animal under my care through ever again. It’s crazy to see and think about but these dogs we spend our time and our life with are very fragile beasts when it comes to food-chain and especially considering all we do to different animals ecosystems in the world around us. Having a dog I have spent years loving feeding and spending time with is something that I will never let become another animals meal. This may be one long giant rant about something that ended up all being my fault in the first place but that event caused me to realize how greatly these dogs depend on us even in something as simple as letting them out to do go to the bathroom.

So now is when I should tell you to get some info to keep your dogs safe not only when walking your dogs but also when their doing their business (If you have a backyard where other animals can get to it[EVEN IF ITS Fenced]) 

Google is really helpful for this sites like

American Kennel Club having helpful tips to keep your little buddies safe

One of my favorite being the coyote vests for smaller dogs. Which the story of that product in of itself is a pretty sad one. After a family lost their dog too a coyote attack they vowed to make these vests so other families didnt have to go through the same things they had to go through.

You can buy the coyote vests or even look at them: here.

Well thats enough for my rant on keeping our little friends and buddies safe. While I have been talking about dogs this whole time this honestly could apply to cats just as well knowing that some cats tend to stay outside a whole lot more then dogs tend to do. Just keep an eye on your little buddies or try to do your best to make sure they are protected against some of the dangers that the world might throw their direction.