Life Is Funny: Hot Air Balloons
Monday, October 26, 2009 at 8:31AM MAD21 By MAD21
We take our dog, Bailey, with us on most road trips. Whether it's just a short trip to the store or to pick up the girls from school, or an all day adventure, she loves to jump into the back of the jeep and dangle her head out the window. She is definitely a dog who loves to be with her family no matter where we go.
During the warmer months, we have hot air balloons that fly over our house quite often. This was not a problem until one particular afternoon about two years ago, one of those said balloons was flying lower than normal and set off their burner. I had no idea how loud those things were up close! Well, unfortunately, Bailey was outside when it happened. Let's just say I thought she was going to come straight through the glass sliding door trying to get inside.
This event was so traumatizing to Bailey, that now those three words (hot air balloon) are banned from being spoken in her presence. That is unless you want a 55 pound dog trying to crawl inside your skin with you. But occasionally, we forget that she is around when we see the balloons and have to take 10-15 minutes to calm her down.
One afternoon we were out driving with the girls. Bailey was riding along happily dangling her head out the window just like you see in the cartoons. After we'd been driving for awhile, I happened to look outside my window and saw a balloon flying right over us. In a moment of insanity, I said, "Hey look, girls! It's a HOT AIR BALLOON!" The next thing we knew, Bailey had jumped her way around the back of the girls' seats while still in her own seat belt (yes, our dog wears a seat belt made for dogs while riding in the car), and was trying to hide under whatever she could crawl under. To say she was freaking out is an understatement.
We found a place to pull over and I got out to help her get back to her spot in the car and clean up the mess she'd made. I thought the girls would be upset or scared at what happened. I mean, think about it... You are strapped into your seat so you can't move out of the way, and a 55 pound ball of freaking out dog is jumping all over you in the car. But nope. After the initial shock of having her jump over the seat, they were giggling like crazy. I'm sure it's sad to laugh at the expense of your dog who is truly scared out of her mind, but she was SO cute when it was all over.
Needless to say, I'm more careful to be aware of where the dog is when I say certain things. The girls even know and laugh about it anytime we see a balloon. They always say, "Don't say the words! You know it'll make Bailey go crazy!"
My friend and fellow blogger Wendy at Weight..What? has a fun carnival at her blog called "Life is Funny." Every Monday we talk about something in life that we find funny. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.
Reader Comments (3)
Poor Baily...
Have you considered getting your dog counseling? ;o) But how cool to live where there are a lot of hot air balloons! (Did I scare your dog?)
Wendy... HaHaHa. In all fairness, she acts just as excited when she hears the names of people (and her doggie best friend/neighbor Dixie) she loves.