That was no cat

SHE WAS LACY THEN; NOW, SHE'S DIXIE.

I got a scare tonight when I took Dixie for a late walk. Dixie saw something ahead of us that I couldn't see, and she was pulling mightily to get close to it.

At first, I thought it was a big squirrel or a small cat, because of the tail. Then I realized that this "cat" wasn't pure black and white, but it had a white stripe.

And it was no cat.

Dixie kept trying to get to it, and the skunk wasn't trying to get away. It bushed up its tail — a bad sign — but at least the tail was pointed away from us.

I immediately pulled Dixie mightily in the other direction, and I moved faster than I've gone in years. I didn't give Dixie her usual time to stop and sniff. It seemed like it took us seconds to get back to the car port.

I looked back; nothing. Good. Wonderful.

I'll have to be more careful in the future. Dixie obviously had never encountered a skunk before. Hopefully, she never will again.

• Woof! (translation: Go away, kid; you bother me)

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• ... said the spider to ...

, • The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Good Samaritan

• The PRESS cap and my friend Mike

• Watching TV

• No luck with Billy Sims

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing