Don't let dogs loose ... even if you think it's calm now

[siobhan222]

I just heard barking from outside our screened in patio and saw our cats freaking out. I ran down and saw 2 dogs running around outside totally freaked out. One dog was a boxer/pit bull mix which normally would frighten me but he definitely seemed really friendly and calm. I didn't know what to make of it. There's a power plant behind some woods behind our house and I heard a guy's voice calling "Skipper" and figured that might be a dog's name. I yelled to him that his dogs were here. He made his way through the woods (not easily) guided by our voices and my husband and I got one of the dogs onto the patio. Then, the other one (a beagle) stayed right around although we couldn't get him in.The owner finally made it here. He worked for FPL and thought his dogs would be fine running around there while he checked something at work. Not! The dogs went nuts and ran from him. He was really devastated with this storm coming. Needless to say, he was sooooo grateful that we were able to guide him to his dogs and to calm the dogs down.

But this is a lesson for any pet owner. It's *NOT* safe to let dogs loose anywhere that isn't fenced in -- not even for a minute! Dogs are feeling this pressure and they're frightened and liable to run.

Siobhan in PBG