I find it difficult reading stories about pet deaths or watching Animal Planet's program Animal Cops or Emergency Vets show. A story in the Gothamist about a dog that went missing after being dropped off at a doggy spa and was eventually found dead, gave me chills. I could not imagine what the owner of the dog must have felt like when hearing that her dog was missing while she was on vacation in California. When I am away on vacation or business, I am not constantly calling my friend who watches Milo, however, when I see my caller ID flashing my friend's number, I jump to answer the phone. Of course, I am over-reacting and it could be a parent with a child scenario, etc.
I have been told by many that I am over-protective of Milo and that he is spoiled a great deal. I have heard many stories about dogs running off while playing in a yard and getting hit by cars or never to be found again. Yes- Milo is trained and in most cases, when he is at the dog run, he will come to me when called. But, a dog run is an enclosed area. I often see people walking their dogs in the park without a leash and wonder what would they do if the dog took off to chase a squirrel and was half-way through the park with the owner yelling the dog's name in a frantic attempt to grab the dog.
Is it a chance that every dog owner has to take? I will be moving to a house next month with a large front yard that has a fence. The fence is not tall and someone suggested it might be too low for Milo and that he could jump over the fence- which is right off the street! Perhaps it would be wise to think positive and know that Milo would not do such a thing. Maybe we as dog owners should question why our dog would run-away?
