I am so glad you feel that way Evelyn about your little girl having constant supervision outside. There are so many predators out there for small dogs. Cases in point: I saw a program on tv last year where a little boy was outside with his very small dog, it looked like a Chihuahua, when he heard a yip of pain and turned to see a large bird carrying his dog off in its talons. The family diligently searched for their very loved dog all that day, but to no avail. The mother was so upset with herself that she had not thought to protect their little dog more and it had come to such a terrible demise. Heartbroken, the family was feeling so sad the next day when they heard a scratching at their back door and there stood their precious little dog. Only minor scratches on it, they cannot imagine how their little one managed to escape its captor, but so overjoyed to their dog back. It was a tearjerker. I read another story where a woman let her little Maltese out one last time for the evening, in a fenced yard, and a racoon killed it. So sad. And just last month in January, maybe some of you saw this story, a man in Chicago was walking his Chihuahua, at night, and a great horned owl swept down and in a flash tried to carry his dog off. The owl drug his poor little dog down the sidewalk, but the man held tight as he could to his dog's leash and when the owl let go he grabbed his dog up in his arms. His Chihuahua had to be treated for puncture wounds where the owl's talons sunk in and he said his dog will no longer go out at night and who could blame the poor little guy. And this occurred when his owner was obviously right next to his dog. Once when I was watching my inside cat except for the occasional times I would allow her outside in what I thought was a secure back yard, while I watched from the kitchen window a large bird (we believe it was a peregrine falcon after seeing a large bird days later sitting in one of our trees, took pictures, and researched its identity), it swooped down, daytime, and attempted to grab her but because of her weight and very furry Persian fur, it was unsuccessful and I learned a very valuable lesson that day. It was a shocking scene. Also, it's been reported that many small dogs are scooped off of New York City balconies all the time by large predatory birds. The owners go out to collect their pet and he or she has just disappeared, forever. Such a painful way to lose a beloved pet. So many predators outside that our little dogs and cats are no match for due to their small size and perhaps we should all ALWAYS be outside with them, extremely close to their physical bodies, maybe even teathered with our pets at all times so that no pet owner's heart is broken in this manner or due to any of these scenarios. Predator animals and predatory birds are everywhere. In a message dated 2/14/2011 8:25:15 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
That said, she is never out alone, unsupervised, just in case she ever does find a way to get to the other side. Evelyn
