Luna and the Black Widow (shudder)

Luna and Stinky Hedgehog

Those of you who read my blog know that I love and adore my two dogs Luna and Angel. Those of you who know me really well, know that my world revolves around Luna and Angel. And, much to my family's chagrin, most of the time I like my dogs more than I like people, the sun pretty much rises and sets around them, I treat them better than anyone else, and I love them with all my heart. Tough life, I know.

Luna, particularly, is the love of my life. She is my first dog - an American Eskimo, whom I adopted from the Doberman shelter of all places. I don't think there's one thing I don't adore about her. She has brought so much love and happiness into our home... I can't even begin to express it. There just aren't enough words. She's also brought chaos, fur, noise, energy, a pretty big dose of naughtiness (I love her naughtiness), laughter, and an endless supply of personality. Luna has a huge personality.

I love her funny ways - that's probably her most endearing quality. She will nap next to the wall with her little chicken legs sticking straight up. She greets everyone that enters our house with one of her "babies". She loves to have her tummy scratched and will sit up like an Easter Bunny until someone notices and scratches her. She will make a cozy nest out of pillows and blankets or, her favorite, clean laundry. She'll run around with her bone hanging out of her mouth so it looks like she's smoking a stoagie. She runs like a bullet, always has a smile on her face, exudes joy, and her paws smell like buttered popcorn. She is definitely my comic relief. And she loves unconditionally. Not a day goes by when I don't give thanks for her presence in my life.
So on Saturday, when we were on the front porch, and I turned around just in time to see Luna nipping at a HUGE black widow that was crawling up the wall... I think I nearly had a heart attack. The black widow was going nuts because something was bothering it, and it so easily could have bit Luna right then and there. I wasn't quite sure if it had or hadn't. I quickly pushed Luna away and kicked the living daylights out of the black widow.
Now, normally I am a spider lover. In fact, I'm quite a spider advocate. If I find one in the house I will carefully scoop it up in my hands and put it back outside in the bushes. But not black widows - NO. I know how dangerous they are, and the damage they can inflict. Unfortunately, our garage and the perimeter of our house has scores of them. We are always on black widow patrol.
I inspected Luna's mouth to make sure nothing was starting to swell or if she had any signs of being bitten, but she was just fine. Her usual happy self, jumping around looking for her next adventure, none the wiser. As for me, my heart didn't return to normal for about 20 minutes. She's just a smallish dog - only about 20 pounds. That would have been a lot of venom for her little body. I could have lost my very best little friend in the blink of an eye. The thought of losing Luna like that nearly did me in.
I'm not even sure why I'm writing this post. I know all of us have to deal with near hits and misses all the time. I know that loss is part of life too. And that someday it will be time to say goodbye to my precious Luna. But I guess I'm just so relieved and so thankful that Luna is all right. I know that probably sounds so dramatic. And if you're not a dog lover it probably sounds ridiculous. That's okay. Luna, I love you with all my heart. I'm so grateful you are okay.

❤ ❤ ❤