Well, I’m really not a dog lover; but when my daughter and future son-in-law asked me to dog sit their 120 lb. Newfoundland dog, Becky, for two weeks what else could I say but “yes.” Becky came with pages of instructions “what to do” and “what not to do” so I decided that the best place to take care of Becky was at our cabin on Badger Lake. I was assured that Becky would not run away when I let her out to do her “business,” but I didn’t want to take a chance on anything happening to Becky so I put one of her snap collars on a rope and tied it to a post on the back deck. I would snap this collar on her when taking her outside. Everything was going fine until day 10 – I had things under control and was looking forward to the end of my commitment. On that night, Becky nudged me to get me to wake up at 4:30 a.m. This was the first time this had happened so I got up thinking she had to go outside. I turned on the outside lights – still half asleep – and Becky and I went to the back door. When I opened the screen door, I shook my head because there was Becky in the driveway! I couldn’t remember her passing by me, but I raced to snap the collar on her and stood on the back deck waiting for her to do her “business.” She crossed in front of me and scrubbed her head on the side of the cabin and pawed at the collar. The next thing I knew the collar was on the ground, and Becky was running through the woods. NOW I’M AWAKE! I rushed into the cabin to get a treat and the second leash - only to find Becky sitting in the front room looking at me! WOW what did I put a collar on in the drive way - a bear cub? No, it must have been another dog, but what are the chances of a large, black dog being at the cabin at 4:30 a.m. The next day our neighbour was telling us about the bear cub that he saw in the back of his pickup early that week. Now you can decide – did I or did I not put the collar on a bear cub?   Submitted By: Betty Mercer