During the car ride, my dog was staring at me and barking loudly, and then I noticed that she was looking at something else, something scary 😱😱
The morning started off calmly. I started the engine, checked the mirrors, and looked at my golden beauty in the passenger seat. Bella always loved car rides — she sits quietly, looks out the window, sometimes puts her head on my lap. Obedient, smart, never causes problems.
“So, Bella, let’s go on business?” I smiled, starting the car.
She wagged her tail in response, but instead of turning to the window, she stared straight at me.
After about five minutes, her gaze became almost piercing. She sat with her head slightly bowed, and stared into my eyes, as if she was trying to say something.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I chuckled. “Did I forget to turn on the turn signal?”
In response, she barked. Not a short warning “woof”, but loudly, insistently, as if she was arguing with me.
“Quiet, Bella,” I asked, casting a quick glance at the road. “What did you start?”
But she didn’t calm down. The barking became more frequent, louder, and I was starting to get irritated. Usually she’s silent in the car, but here… it was as if she was nervous.
“Are you hungry, perhaps?” I tried to guess, “or do you just want to sleep?”
Bella didn’t react to my words. She only leaned forward a little, continuing to look straight at me. And there was something in her gaze that made me feel uneasy inside.
“Listen, you’re scaring me already…” I said, and without taking one hand off the steering wheel, I lightly ran my palm over her muzzle.
And then I noticed. Her eyes weren’t just directed at me… She was looking at something else, something very scary. I stopped the car abruptly and saw this… 😱😱 Continued in the first comment 👇👇
I carefully returned my hand to the steering wheel, but the feeling of anxiety did not go away. Bella was still sitting, unblinking, and sometimes looking at me, sometimes sharply throwing her gaze somewhere down, to the pedal area.
– What, is there something down there? – I mechanically looked down, although from where I was sitting I couldn’t really see anything.
She barked loudly again, then turned her gaze to the road ahead, as if she was rushing me to make a decision. It was the first time I had seen her so persistent.
– Okay, okay, – I muttered and carefully pulled over to the side of the road.
Having stopped, I got out of the car and opened the hood, but at first glance everything was in order. Then I looked under the bottom. There, under the front wheel, a cloudy liquid was slowly dripping onto the asphalt.
— Brake… — I exhaled.
I sat down, ran my fingers over the drop — the smell confirmed my fears. One of the brake hoses was torn, and the fluid was leaking right onto the road.
A thought flashed through my mind: if I had continued driving, especially on the highway, the brakes could have failed completely.
I raised my head and looked at Bella. She was sitting in the passenger seat, slightly leaning out in my direction, and calmly but attentively watching me.
— Well, girl, you are my guardian angel today, — I said, stroking her head.
And only then did I realize that this strange bark and look were not a whim at all — she was simply saving our lives.
