R.I.P., Chica

We had to put our dog Chica down yesterday -- she got hit by a car (I assume) and dragged herself home, two days after disappearing, with a shattered hind leg. Even if we could have afforded to get the leg x-rayed and all that, I doubt it would have been reparable. I feel just awful... she was a pain in the butt a lot of the time (she barked a lot) but she was so sweet, and now Lucy (our other dog) misses her something awful.

Chica was an escape artist, see, and would roam the town at will after squeezing under the gate or through an invisible gap in the fence, often with Lucy who would simply jump over the fence and run with her. I tried everything but couldn't keep her from finding some tiny gap to wriggle through, and she was just dumb about streets, and I so saw this coming. A few weeks ago I bought a tie-out to keep her tied up so she wouldn't keep escaping, but it seemed cruel... and she figured out how to slip the collar anyway (a perfectly fitted choke-chain, no less; she'd already ditched four or five collars by then)... We have a big yard, lots of room to run and play, but it never was enough for Chica, and God forbid we try to take a walk and leave her behind -- I'd be ten yards down the street and I'd hear the gate rattle and then here came Chica loping down the street with her tongue hanging out and her tail wagging in big loopy circles. Every time a car came by, I'd have to call her sharply, grab her collar (if she hadn't ditched it yet) and hold her till the car passed, or she'd just stroll out in front of it.

So, yeah, I saw it coming. I feel bad that I never spent enough time with her, doing some basic training and all that. She needed more than I had to give -- she was always a bit insecure (hence the barking, and also some recent snarling dominance battles with Lucy, who's a good 30 pounds heavier) -- and so I feel like I failed her. She wasn't even two yet -- still a puppy, but starting to mature into a good (if rough-around-the-edges) dog. Chica, I'm so sorry. I miss your pretty blue eyes and happy chatty bark, and I miss watching you and Lucy roughhousing in the yard and, yes, chasing rabbits through the fields across town. Happy trails to you.