Afraid of a Smell???

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

We  live in a suburban area that still serves as a home to many forms of wildlife. Tara has become familiar with the smell of the deer, skunks, raccoons, quail, rabbits, etc. that frequent our property. She has never shown any fear or concern with these animals.

Yesterday we were in our "lower lot" which is a bit of a wild area and she smelled something that absolutely terrified her!  She smelled it and tucked her tail and RAN like the wind!  When she got about 30 feet away she stopped and then crept back for another whiff. Then off she would go again! It reminded me of a child watching a horror movie...terrified but too mesmerized to leave! She kept repeating this cycle until I made her stop and took her inside the house. Then she just wanted to go back outside and be terrified again! WTD?

In the past, and it has been a few years now, we did have a cougar roaming the neighborhood that was snatching cats out of fenced backyards and killed a horse about 1/2 mile from my house. I certainly hope we are not going to repeat that experience...

I can't recall ever having a dog do this before. Do your doodles react this way to certain smells? What in the world could it be? Would it have to be some type of predator to cause this amount of fear? Any ideas?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Laurie, Fudge, and Vern, were wondering about your where- a-bouts ( see discussion) and lurked in your yard.  Tara smells them.  She is Tara-A-Fied

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

LOL!!! That MUST be it!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, Joanne!

[Sharon & Monty]

OMG THATS HILARIOUS!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

LOL, Joanne :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ricki, could she have seen a snake? The way they move can frighten dogs, especially if they've never come across one before.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

No, no visible snake...I was standing right by her and believe me I would have tucked my tail and run too if there had been a snake there! LOL

[Ellen Patrick]

It could be there was another dog whom she'd been in a fight with and smelled that dog again. I've never heard of any dog being able to "sniff out" predatory animals ...

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Well, she's never been in a dog fight and she is normally happy to see a dog although she is not big on interacting with them-but not terrified. She is 3 years old and I have never seen her react this way before to anything even when she was a pup.

I think horses and other animals can differentiate between safe animal smells and predator smells so I was wondering if dogs could too...

[F, Calla & Luca]

Killed a horse. Holy Doodle! If Tara was around when you discussed the cougar no wonder she'd be brazed. She'd just be an hors d'oeuvre.

Tar-a-fied, love it. And the L, F V trio could possibly do that. Tara might worry what the next blog will bring.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yes, there is still a bit of the Wild West remaining here in Oregon!!  A friend who lives about a mile from me walked out his front door to go to work one day and found a cougar laying across the hood of his truck!!! Apparently it was attracted to the heat from the motor.

We should have a word for "fear of Laurie's blogs"! Blogified maybe...or blogaphobia?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'll vote for blogophobia.