Like a child, but without the growing up

Posted on December 5, 2005 by Gene

Sometimes, having a chihuahua means keeping your eye on him.
This afternoon and evening, Diego had been laying in his basket, bundled up under the blanket with his head hanging out looking forlorn. He hadn’t left it for hours, even when I sat down to dinner he didn’t run in and beg. He barked and barked when there were noises from next door.
Finally, a few minutes ago, I called him for a walk. He raised his head and moaned a bit, and I went over to put the leash on his collar… and discovered that he had a loose string from the afghan wrapped around his neck. He had been trapped there in his basket for at least the last 3 hours, if not more.
This has happened before; I once found him trapped on my bed when his collar got caught on a knitted bedspread, and I had horrible nightmares of him jumping off the bed and hanging himself. That bedspread is gone, and using a pair of pliers I closed up all the gaps in his collar and tag that could snag.
Still, I worry about him the same way that parents worry about children. If it’s not running in traffic, it’s choking on an unravelled string.