Fearless

Most of the time as we are walking Sonya's tail remains straight up or straight out. It is a large fluffy white tail that I call her "flag." It bounces around and lets everyone know she is happy and proud to be out walking. In fact it is where I got the name for this blog because when her flag is raised it announces "Sonya is walking" to the world.
There have been very few times when the flag drops. And just like any other flag when it is lowered you know something isn't quite right. An unusual noise or situation, often perceived as frightening will do the trick. My dog almost exudes self-confidence. After all, what does she have to be afraid of? Highway overpasses for one.
During these extended daylight hours our walks have become longer adventures through more and more of the streets of our town. There is a major highway which follows the river that our town borders. The highway is, of course, loud and noisy. But we live far enough away that the noise is sort of a low humm in the background. As you walk closer to the overpass you can hear the cars racing by, but still the noise is not so bad. Under the overpass however, cars do not sound like cars but more like booming cannons. And the echo can make it sound as if they surround you. With Sonya's big ears the noise must be deafening. The first time she saw it, her tail lowered straight down. It took several approaches before she would walk under the very scary highway. Even now, whenever we walk under it, she does so with her flag lowered half-way.
A more sudden lowering came in the form of a larger dog. Normally, Sonya is keen to jump into play mode whenever she meets another dog. Often her approaches are met with enthusiasm, but once in a while they are flatly denied. On another of our longer walks we rounded an unfamiliar corner to be met with the rambunctious barking of what I could see was a large German Shepard. Sonya could not see him clearly through the shrubs that bordered his yard. She energetically searched for an opening in the shrubbery and turned in as soon as she found it. One look at the large, menacing Shepard and the tail rapidly shot down. She backed out of the shrubbery as quickly as she turned into it, and proceeded with our walk pretending nothing had happened. Her pace barely even slowed. And as I laughed she picked up the pace even more.
These moments are few and never last for very long. Before I know it my confident, courageous dog is back, and her tail resumes its upright and waving position to let the world know she is once again walking.