The Day The Wonderdog Flew

October 30th, 2015

It was a Friday. I think it was the afternoon, but it may have been before the vet closed for lunch at 11. Temperature was probably in the low- to mid- 70's. 

It was a good day. Cosmo went to the vet for a status-check on his allergies. This was perhaps the cheapest vet visit we'd encountered in his entire life with us, totaling less than $30. It was too good to be true.

Since we'd had such a good visit - no shots, no new meds, no major weight changes - Cosmo was in a better mood than normal on the ride home. He was standing up, looking out the windows as the world passed by. I decided I'd lower the driver side rear window a bit so he could feel the wind in his face. We'd driven most of the 6.2 miles from vet's office to our driveway without any issues. Then, Cosmo lost his ever-loving mind.

Cosmo the Labracadoberman Wonderdog decided to try his hand at either aviation or levitation that day. My favorite dog to ever exist jumped out the window, hit the asphalt, and barrel-rolled at least 3 times before standing and walking to the side of the road looking a bit confused and panicked. I found out just how good the brakes were in the Sportage that day. I threw the small SUV in park, leapt out of the door screaming his name and tried to approach as calmly as possible to prevent startling him further. My heart was racing as I knelt and called him in the calmest shaky voice I could muster. For maybe the first time in his life, he came to me almost immediately. Surprisingly, he allowed me to pet him.

As one would expect, he had road rash and some open wounds. I opened the trunk hatch and made movement to lift him into the vehicle. At that moment, he tried to jump into the vehicle himself - a feat he is still unable to do even as he has lost weight and is in good health - and came up short, causing him to fall to the asphalt again. I crouched to the ground to reassure him he wasn't in trouble and I lifted him (all 70+lbs of him) into the trunk. After 3 frantic, unanswered calls to my parents, I called the vet and explained what happened. They said they'd be waiting for me.

In the end, there were no broken bones. He had some nasty cuts and scrapes which meant more antibiotics, but luckily, we were on a rural road going only about 30mph with no traffic that time of day, or this story could have been his last.

This dog...

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