Coyotes!!

When Petey moved in with us, his previous owner agreed to have an underground fence installed. Petey quickly learned the boundaries, and in time we stopped put the collar on him. If he began to stray beyond his limits, we'd get the collar out and threaten to put it back on him. For the most part, Petey stays in his yard so we've gotten quite relaxed about letting him out on his on particularly in the evenings when he almost always runs to the other side of the driveway to take care of business. We can stand at the door and watch.

He is rarely outside by himself any other time. On the weekends in the summer when he likes to lay in the driveway and soak up the sun, we are generally out there with him. The only time he's on a leash is if we are going for a walk.

But those days are over. Coyotes have been spotted in our neighborhood. When we learned that they'd been spotted a block over, we started going out with Petey all the time even at night. Last night one was spotted in our front yard. Petey & I had already been outside and were safe and snug in the bed so there is no chilling tale of horror. Since they are right in our yard, we can't take the chance. Petey doesn't know how small he is, and what a nice meal he'd make for a hungry coyote.