The Story of Cubby and Perry

Perry, our 10 pound Chihuahua/Pomeranian, and Cubby, our 12-week old Husky, are best friends. The only time they are apart is when they are crated. They do everything together - play, eat, poop, sleep, hump...you get the picture.

On Sunday, three days ago, we almost lost our dear Perry (our Perry-poo, Perry-itis, Perry-meister, Little Dude - he has lots of pet names). All due to a stupid accident. Perry and Cubby were playing as usual. More like rough-housing, really. Stefan called both of them to come into the room we were sitting in. They tend to get into trouble when they aren't in sight. That's when Cubby started yelping in his scared puppy way, and from where I was sitting, it looked like Perry had grabbed onto Cubby's collar and wouldn't let go. That was not like our little Perry. He knows when to stop rough-housing, and he never plays so hard as to hurt Cubby. So we went out to see what was the matter.

What we saw and what happened next changed our lives forever. Cubby's lower jaw had gotten caught underneath Perry's collar, hence his frantic yelping. He had panicked, and was thrashing about. But even worse, Perry had somehow gotten twisted around, so his collar formed a figure-8, and he was being choked to death. I will never, ever forget my dear Perry's bulging eyes, or how his tongue was sticking out the side of his mouthwhile he rasped for air. He is so little, and Cubby, now who has 10 pounds on Perry, was too strong for our little Perry. Perry was merciless to what was happening to him. Now, Perry was wearing a quick-release collar, but as we struggled with the dogs, we could not find the latch. Things were getting really desperate. Both dogs were completely panicking, and would not stay still for a moment. Perry wet himself, and the fear stench came forth. As Stefan wrestled to turn Perry around, Perry pooped, and then I saw blood dripping onto the kitchen floor.

Stefan started screaming in a way that chilled me to the bone. "Cubby is killing Perry! He's killing Perry!" over and over again, he screamed and he tried to find that stupid collar latch. We were watching our little Perry die before our very eyes, and there was nothing we could do about it. The dogs would not calm down, and Perry was so terribly twisted that Stefan tried to flip him over, to get the figure-8 out of the collar. But Perry, in his panic, kept biting Stefan. I felt completely paralyzed and helpless. Stefan screamed for me to get a knife. I got up and went towards the kitchen counter. I felt like I was moving in slow motion. Before I got there, Stefan called out that he got Perry released. Somehow, he had managed to flip Perry, and as soon as that happened, Cubby's mouth was released under the collar and both dogs were free.

I felt like I was about to collapse. I don't think I've ever experienced that kind of adrenaline rush before, and instantly, I fell from the panic grip I had been in. All the energy drained from my body. I immediately took Perry's collar off him and in short order, we'd removed Cubby's collar and Yoda's collar.

For the next couple of days, I felt on the verge of tears as the vision of the terrible thing I had witnessed kept floating before me. I couldn't get Stefan's voice out of my head. There was such fear and panic in his voice, and it haunted me. I also focused on how close of a call this was. This could have happened when we weren't home, or when we were not close enough to get to them quick enough. Cubby could have broken Perry's neck during his thrash-about. I felt we were doing a good thing - dogs are supposed to wear collars, right? It shows they are loved and cared for if they get lost or loose, and it gives us something to hold onto and control when they get too rowdy. All those good intentions got thrown out the window. Never, will I ever collar my dogs again. I began to get an inkling of how parents must feel when they cry, "I just looked away for a minute!" No one knows when these things will happen, and no one is ever really prepared.

All is well, now. Perry lost a lot of fur around his neck, but it will grow back. He slept almost for the rest of the day, and we were relieved when he finally took a drink of water and ate some food. Cubby and Perry still play like they are best friends, and after a thorough sniff-over of the floor where the incident occurred, Perry feels at peace and is not afraid that walking over the spot will cause him further harm. They seem to have forgotten all about the incident.

Meanwhile, Stefan and I will always remember. I do not wish to remember, but I do not wish to forget, either.