My 2 yr old Shih-tzu (Mikey) is terrified of hot air balloons. Friday, a balloon went over my house and was only 50 ft in the air. He was so scared and was racing around and ran to the back door. It all happend so fast that I didn't realize what was going on. I immediately took him into the house and he ran behind the couch. I got him out from behind the couch and held him for a few minutes, trying to calm him down. He was frozen in a fetal-like position. I put him in the car (he loves car rides) and drove him around for about 30 minutes in attempt redirect his attention. Three days later, he is still not the same....he is still scared and will not go into the back yard very readily; once I had to put his lead on him. He won't play and is not himself...it is so sad.

Please help me help him!

Rhonda
Noblesville, IN

Dear Rhonda,

You may not be aware of this, but Mikey is something of a celebrity in canine-circles. You humans have a similar hero named Paul Revere. Dogs and Cats may not always see eye-to-eye, but we do have an alliance when it comes to protecting our humans against our mutual foe, the Squirrels.

On September 21, an Indiana-based squadron of flying squirrels attempted to commandeer a hot air balloon in an attempt to try a new approach for dropping acorns when there were no convenient trees. They were just moments away from their attempt when a Shih-tzu on the ground (Mikey) spotted them and sounded the alarm, providing enough warning for the local dog relay to put in a call for assistance from the local aviary.

If the squirrels had succeeded in capturing the balloon, it would have shifted the balance of power tremendously. No dog anywhere would be able to go outside without being at risk of being pelted with acorns. Nor would our humans be safe -- the squirrels are enemies of us all. Given this, and the risk of acorn-pelting Mikey took at the time (the squirrels had a large supply with them), it's not very surprising (though certainly sad nonetheless) that Mikey is suffering from bouts of post-traumatic shock.

So please give Mikey an extra biscuit and tell him "Good Boy!" for all of us.

WOOF!
Wylie