Yesterday I was going golfing with my dh and son who was visiting, so I thought I'd take the furbabies for a walk before we left them at home. Getting Toby to walk is sometimes a challenge as he has LP and doesn't always want to cooperate. Lola is always trying to break free and run a marathon so she's not an issue. Yesterday Toby was doing awesome, trotting along like he owned the world. We turned the corner onto our own block and he was in the home stretch, which always means he tries to walk as fast as he can. Then I heard someone yelling a name, and it got more urgent the second time. I turned and saw a beagle already in the middle of the boulevard headed for us. Of course the owner is telling me "he won't hurt them". I managed to grab Lola up by her leash (thank God for firm harnesses!) but couldn't get Toby in time. I can't even begin to tell you what that felt like. I was trying to kick the beagle away but didn't want to kick Toby by mistake. I kept trying to pull him up but Lola was fighting me trying to get down there to protect her brother I guess, so I was trying to hold onto her. The owner of the beagle got him and picked him up and I got Toby. He was so scared, the screeching he was doing was sickening. I checked him all over and didn't find any serious injuries, but the poor thing was so scared he pooed all over me, was shaking so bad it broke my heart. We got home and he was a little spooked, but after awhile he seemed ok. He woke me up during the night pacing on the bed, so I took him out thinking he had to potty. We came back in, and he was hiding under the bed, then he'd get behind my pillow, shaking like a leaf. This went on for about 2 hours, I kept holding him and talking to him. He finally settled down and fell asleep in my arms. He has never acted this way before. DH loves to tell me that dogs don't have the same memory capacity humans do, but I always argue. I think the whole issue during the night was from the trauma. What do you guys think? Toby seems ok now, sleeping on the couch, but is there anything I should be doing to avoid him having the same problems tonight? BTW, I will NEVER take my dogs for a walk again without carrying pepper spray with me. I know it only took a couple of minutes but it really seemed like forever
