And now, on this episode of 'As the Dog Runs'....

....Mingus comes face-to-face with his mortal enemy,

A HORSE!!!

First of all, let me start by explaining Mingus a little better. If you've read Wildtomato's blog, Spindles and Spices, or any of my last couple of posts, you would know that Mingus smiles a lot, poses well for pictures, and he likes to run. But, I'm not sure if you know that Mingus does not make it a habit of barking. Or growling. Or doing much of anything besides smiling, running, and occasionally howling. As a matter of fact, I believe I remember hearing Wildtomato say that she had never actually heard Mingus growl. They had only heard him bark a couple of times, and it was more of a 'yelp' because he had gotten hurt or startled.

Then, on Saturday, we got to hear Mingus 'yelp.' David's brother was over with his daughter and it was a beautiful afternoon. David and his brother decided to toss a football across the yard. Apparently, Vespa likes football. Being task-oriented like she is, Vespa made it her 'job' to try to get the ball. As the ball flew back and forth between the brothers, Vespa would chase after it. She was never able to actually catch the ball, but that did not deter her from running back and forth, just happy to play along. Mingus also wanted to join in on the fun. Evidently, Vespa was not in the mood to share this particular activity with her doggy-brother. She bullied him over to the corner of the yard. She must have hurt him (or at least scared him) in the process. He let out a few yelps and cowered in the corner of the yard. He spent the duration of the 'game' standing under a tree watching longingly as Vespa chased the ball she would never catch. Vespa runs the show once again.

Yesterday was another beautiful day. Our niece was still here and the little boy from across the street came over to play. While 11YO was distracted in the house, 5YO and the neighbor boy thought they heard the ice cream man. They rushed out the gate without closing it. In the blink of an eye, Mingus had gotten out. Again. I rushed around to find some shoes and my sunglasses before heading outside to try to catch the dog. Before I can get out, my niece runs in to tell me that Mingus is attacking a horse. A horse?

Apparently, the timing was perfect so that a man on a horse happened to be walking past the house at the time of Mingus' escape. And we then discovered that Mingus does not like horses. Mingus was barking and circling that poor horse, the rider doing all he can to keep the horse from freaking out. And it seemed to be a young horse, too. I don't know much about horses, but the coat was a little fluffy-looking. And Mingus would not let the horse pass. Barking, circling, nipping at its legs...he was like a different dog. Just like when he's running, he did not recgonize his own name or any of his usual commands that he abides by. And I could not catch him.

David had to come out and grab ahold of the crazy dog. David grabbed him by the collar and Mingus immediately let out another 'yelp.' David grumbled as he led the dog out of the street and back home again.

Needless to say, I don't think that man and his horse will be walking past our house again anytime soon...

I'm still not sure what it was about the horse that had Mingus so freaked out. I can only assume he's never really seen a horse before, being a 'city dog' and all. Did he think the horse was a really large dog and just think it's wrong for a dog to be that big? Did he just smell too different and could that alone have freaked him out? I'm not sure we'll ever know the answer to that. What I do know now is that I think we can safely say that we've heard Mingus bark more than his owners ever have.

And they may never hear him bark that much again, so long as they avoid horses....