The One Mistake With My Dog I’ll Never Stop Thinking About
How one terrifying moment led me to rethink control, connection, and the way I live with my dogs.
I’ve made more mistakes than I can count with my dogs. But there is only one that I look back on and deeply regret.
Otis was 6 months old when he almost got hit by a car. It was one of those moments where time slowed down and I could see a disaster coming but couldn’t move fast enough. We had just run into one of his dog friends outside of our Washington DC apartment building. In their joyful greeting, the two dogs’ leashes got a little tangled, and to avoid hurting the dogs, we both dropped the leashes to untangle them. In that moment, they both took off running after one another – right into the street.
I didn’t live on a super busy or large street, but there was a curve that people tended to speed around. The two dogs were darting across the street right on the other side of that blind curve as a car was starting to round it. Despite running as fast as I could, all I could do was hope the car could break in time. Luckily, they did. I managed to get a hold of their leashes on the other side of the street, but it shook me.
I came back upstairs to my apartment with tears in my eyes and told my partner, Ben, “I’m so sorry. I messed up and almost got Otis killed. I am so sorry.” I was so overwhelmed with fear and shame and relief.
The Panic That Sent Me Searching
That night, I remember looking up how to make sure a dog would come no matter what. Suddenly, I was terrified that my dog could die if he didn’t turn on a dime when I called him.
At the time, I knew nothing about training. I called around to different trainers, and unfortunately for me, found one who said all the things my terrified brain needed to hear. So I scheduled Otis for a board and train.
