They say the smaller the dog, the bigger the bark – and sometimes that big bark comes in handy!
When Sharon Dooling’s two dogs were targeted by a dognapper, it was incredibly lucky that her little chihuahua was quick to raise the alarm.
Sharon shared her shocking story with CBC News, and we can’t believe how close she was to never seeing one of her beloved dogs again.
Sharon’s dogs were in their own backyard when the attempted dognapping happened.
“I put the dogs outside, and I had the door closed for about 30 seconds,” Sharon recalled. “Within that 30 seconds, my chihuahua, Carley, started to bark hysterically.”
Irritated by the noise, Sharon headed outside to tell Carly to be quiet – but she was met with an alarming discovery.
“I actually came out to her to get mad at her barking – but as I came out, I saw Silas, my other dog just go around the corner of the house,” Sharon recalled.
At this point, Sharon wasn’t fully aware of what was going on. But as she rounded the corner, everything became clear.
“As I got where he was, there was a gentleman with him in his hand,” Sharon said. “He had grabbed his leash, and had his own leash hooked up to his (Silas’) leash, and was dragging him down the driveway.”
When Sharon asked the man what he was doing, he told her that he was taking his dog.
“Not on my watch,” Sharon thought.
The man was around 5’8″ in height, and Sharon knew that she wouldn’t have the strength to wrestle the dog out of his hands. In the frantic moment, as she anticipated losing her dog forever, she did the only thing she could think of to get Silas back.
It was fight, flight, or freeze – and brave Sharon chose to fight.
“In the moment I went over and I panicked,” Sharon recalled. “I pushed him and pushed him in the face, and I took my dog back. There was no way I was going to let him take my dog.”
The man seemed startled that Sharon had even approached him, and as she took her dog back, he turned and ran down the street.
Sharon was left shaken up after her experience, and as she looked back on it all, she realized what a big help Carly had been.
“I would never have known if she hadn’t have barked, and as a friend said to me, ‘Never underestimate the power of a yappy chihuahua.’ And it’s true! She’s my guard dog,” Sharon said.
Since it was dark outside Sharon’s house, she hadn’t been able to identify the man who’d tried to take her dog. He’d also been wearing a hoodie, which obscured his hair and threw his face into shadow.
This incident happened back in 2015, so we’re hopeful that since then, the man behind the dognapping has been caught. No one deserves to lose their pets to these heartless people.
Thank goodness for Carly’s frantic barking! Take a look at Sharon’s interview below.
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