Rabbithawk

So Kayak decided to see if I could fly today. Actually, he simply saw the rabbit and assumed that I did too. I was, of course, admiring the flowers. So he took off like a shot, on his Flexi-Lead, the menacing whining of which caused a flashback. When I was 13 or so, my best dog friend was Maggie, a Weimerainer and a dog who was one of a kind. Fraught with no small number of strange anxiety issues, Maggie was and is famous to this day for chewing walls down to the stud, chasing reflections, chasing flashlights, chasing squirrels over 30 foot drops to concrete, chasing ducks, eating remote controls and batteries, STEALING BAGELS WHEN ONE TURNS THEIR HEAD FOR 3.4 seconds, running across pool covers (and sinking,) and other such things that make one turn red with anger, and then with laughter. In any case, there was a day when I had Maggie on a Flexi-Lead, just like Kayak's. She took off, just like Kayak did, at Ultra-Top-Speed. Maggie was running to her mom, Kayak was running after a rabbit, but the result was the same. I went airborne. Completely horizontal in the air, before crashing to the ground and being dragged some 5-10 feet. With Maggie, I landed in woodchips, and only dropped her leash finally when her mom yelled to that it was okay to do so. Fast forward to today, with Kayak, and I landed in sharp, pointy gravel, and not wanting him to join the rabbit in going wherever it is rabbits go, I had to hang on. The force of the yank was enough to completely stun me, feeling as though I had been tackled. The force of hitting the ground was also terrific, and I writhed in pain, trying to catch my breath. Kayak, being NOT of Lassie's bloodline or training, utterly ignored me, wanting only to find the rabbit. Finally getting up, I surveyed the damage. Scraped knee (see above) scraped wrist, scraped elbow, scraped hip. Owwww. I couldn't be mad at him though, I just wasn't paying attention. That's why beagle mixes go on leashes. BTW, Kayak wears a harness instead of a collar for walking for just this reason- so he doesn't collapse his trachea trying to yank my body airborne.