"Johnmscalzi" at By The Way... has requested journal stories about Amusing Animal Attacks.
I'm so proud of Puppy I can't resist telling this story.
I first discovered her as a six or eight week old abandoned pup, living in my garage and eating my garbage. I lived in a cabin in the woods at the time, and I thought at first it was raccoons. I lured her close enough to capture with a hotdog. I didn't name her because I was absolutely in no position to keep a dog, and didn't want to get attached, so I just called her "Puppy" while I searched for a suitable home for her.
A year later, I discovered I had an extraodinarily intelligent 70-lb all-black Australian Kelpie best friend, named Puppy.
Several years later, mother-in-law (Ex#2) hosted a party to introduce her newborn grandbaby (by Ex#2's sister) to the family and community. From the first moment Puppy saw the baby, she was wildly in love. Her nose was never more than six inches from the baby. MIL had set up chairs in a circle for all the women, and they passed the baby from woman to woman so they could all cuddle her and coo. This was fine with Puppy, but she wanted to climb into laps and lick the baby, so I told her to sit.
So she sat in front of the woman holding the baby, with her chin resting on the woman's knee, and as the baby was passed to the next woman, Puppy scooted on her behind to sit in front of her.
The baby finally arrived back at the MIL, who was sitting with her back to a door, about 10 feet behind her, that led to a landing for the narrow "service stairs". (This being a big old farmhouse, there were beautiful curving "guest stairs" at the front of the house that no one ever used, and steep narrow back stairs from the kitchen). MIL was holding the baby at her shoulder, in "burping position", so Puppy sat straight up in front of her, with her ears up and a big smile on her open mouth.
And then ......
The door to the landing opened, and the grandfather appeared. None of the women noticed him. He approached the baby (who was facing over the MIL's shoulder) in a slight crouch, with one arm extended, making wriggly grabbing gestures, and strange "gitchy gitchy" noises.
What happened next happened so fast I couldn't have stopped it. I saw Puppy's mouth close, and her tail stop wagging (it hadn't stopped since the baby first appeared.) She glanced rapidly back and forth between the FIL and the MIL, decided the MIL didn't see the danger, and then her ears went back, her body tensed, she tucked her head down, and she LEAPT! From a seated position! Straight over the MIL's shoulder and the baby's head!
She hit the FIL high on his chest with her front paws, and hit his chin with the top of her tucked head. He staggered back into a counter, turned, ran for the landing door, slammed it behind him and ... I didn't know a 60+-year old man could climb stairs that fast.
Puppy had made no sound. As soon as the FIL had turned away, Puppy resumed her happy face and waggy tail, and sat in her spot in front of the MIL and baby.
Everyone else was shocked. I laughed and hugged Puppy and told her she was a very good girl.
The MIL was later very angry with me for not scolding Puppy. I thought she had done exactly the right thing in exactly the right way. If she had seen the same threat outside, she might have barked, but she knew she wasn't to bark indoors, and I suspect she didn't want to startle the baby, ... so she did what she had to do in that instant to save the baby from the ogre.
Puppy died at age 20ish from kidney failure. I still miss her.
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