A Case of Mistaken Identity

It's a husky, it's a chihuahua, it's... a wild coyote? The newest little addition to our family has a hazy past and determining which breeds contribute to her mixed-breed status has become a bit of a hobby.

There is something wild looking about her and I'm not the only one who thinks so. She is nicknamed the "little fox" by one friend and was mistaken for a wild coyote by a neighbor. 

Seriously, a wild coyote, a lost baby wild coyote.  Now, I have seen real coyotes wandering though here, so I understand how this misunderstanding could occur.

The other day, the little Princess opened the back door to go play when out shot our little 30-lb dog like a bullet. She was out of sight before I could say, "Come back here pup!"

The dog, like my kids, doesn't generally respond to me calling her. She acts as if she can't hear me at all. Don't you love that? It's like saying, "Homework time girls!" There's simply no response.

I can't exactly go chasing her and leave my three-year-old alone to fend for herself or wreck the house. And I can't, even if I were in marathon running shape, catch this dog. She is the fastest little dog I have ever seen. She's faster than all of her dog friends. And she has quite a few.  

So, as I'm standing on the deck, leash in hand, trying to spot her darting through the woods I hear a bit of a ruckus out by the road where the school bus just pulled away. Kids were yelling and car doors were slamming.

I check around front to see if the dog had turned up there and a neighbor pulls into my driveway, asking if I have a little dog that looks like a coyote and is running free. Umm, yeah, most people say she looks like a little wolf or fox, but coyote works too. Actually, she looks most like a jackal, but I wasn't about to point that out.

It seems she spotted the dog, running wild through the neighborhood and was afraid that she would attack the kids as they got off the bus, so she piled them all into the car and drove them home.

The next morning I took my daughter out to her bus stop with the dog on a leash and a different neighbor came over with her camera and asked to take a picture, to prove to her son that the dog was indeed a dog and not a wild kid-eating coyote. He was worried that the "coyote might hurt the little girls who lived in the house at the end of the road." That would be my girls, of course. How cute is he?

Now no one is afraid anymore and they all come running over to pet "the little coyote" when they see us walking with her. We may never know what strange mix of breeds created this sweet and speedy dog, but I do love coming home to that doggie in my window.

What's your best guess?