Happy (and a little sad) Easter!

You all know Jovie, our sweet little pup.  The first picture was taken the night we got her- it is my favorite Jovie picture of all times.  She was only four months old and God used her to bring such joy to my aching heart at the time.  She is such a sweet puppy- loves to sit on my lap, loves to cuddle, loves to follow me around the house- an all around precious girl.  Fast forward two years to this past Easter Sunday.  The whole family was outback while our nephews were climbing around on the play ground.  We were taking some family pictures for Easter, too.  At one point some kids and their dog came running out and I got all excited because I could tell the dog was a half pug of some sort.  I thought it would be great for that dog to play with Jovie, but she was tied up on our patio.  

Well shortly thereafter Jovie started pulling on her leash and whining.  I jogged down the hill to check out the situation, and even checked behind our neighbor's grill to see if anything was there.  Nothing.  I assumed Jovie wanted to lick the grease that had dripped out from the grill, so I decided to let her off the leash.  It's always good for her to be able to run around, get some energy out, and meet other dogs.  

Well after I jogged back up the hill, I turned back around and saw Jovie running full steam ahead and heard Chuck yell, "Jovie NO!"  It all switched into slow motion after that when I realized Jovie was chasing a BABY BUNNY!  I watched the poor little thing leap into the air twice all the while I was running as fast as I could after our dog SCREAMING at the top of my lungs, "NO! JOVIE NO!"  It was almost like I  could hear my panic screaming voice outside of myself.  

It was too late.  By the time Chuck got ahold of Jovie and she dropped the baby bunny, it was twitching and bleeding and didn't stand a chance.  I.was.HORRIFIED.  Little kids were running over and I was trying to get them to go away.  Some neighbor lady ended up swooping in asking me for a plastic bag so she could dispose of it.  Awful.  I hope the poor little thing didn't suffer long.  It absolutely breaks my heart to think of my sweet little puppy KILLING a baby bunny.  The horrors.  And on Easter Sunday of all days.  It was like she killed the Easter Bunny's baby!  Strangely enough, I had already seen two dead baby bunnies on the side walk earlier in the week, so obviously somebody else's pet had had their way with them, too.  

I just can't get over the fact that my precious baby girl would do that.  Chuck says it's the cycle of life- it's nature- but it's just not how I pictured my sweet pet.  I feel bad because I've been looking at her differently all week.  I'm just so upset that would do that.  A friend of mine shared that Jovie probably thought the bunny was a stuffed animal, like her chew toy, so I'm going to believe that.