This morning I took Maddie for a run. She did great - didn't try to approach any other dogs or people, stayed right with me, obeyed all "wait" commands - it was great!
And then we got to the park.
Background history here:
Maddie knows she has free reign while I run the loop at the park. I let her off her leash and while she stays "with me" - she ventures off to smell things and such.
And usually she finds a squirrel to chase.
Those squirrels taunt her like birthday cake to a person on a diet. She HAS to catch one.
A few weeks ago she almost got one but she was running so fast she flipped over herself when she caught it and it got away.
Today was a make-up day for her.
We were on the back stretch of the loop and she took off. She chased that squirrel around a bush and tripped it up a little in the process. It ran across the street and she was in hot pursuit! JUST as the squirrel got to the base of a tree, Maddie got it! She actually got it! I was a little scared because she was shaking that squirrel from side to side trying to shake the life from it (but I was a little proud, too, because that's all she seems to live for). But she was shaking it so hard (by the tail) that it flung out of her mouth. When she realized she didn't have it anymore, the squirrel had already come around and scurried (barely) up the tree.
Defeat.
I felt so sorry for her. She kept looking back to see if it was coming down. But I called her on and she continued in her morning jog.
Sad, sad day for Maddie.
Wonderfully lucky day for the squirrel.