By: Sharon Aron Baron

Noel Reis lives on a quiet cul de sac in the estates section of the Woodlands Country Club where homes back up to one of the two 18-hole golf courses in the community.

On Thursday, she never expected that when her husband Cary let their Yorkie “Bitty” out, it could have been the last time she saw her precious dog.

Bitty usually doesn’t get up early, but on Thursday around 4:30 a.m., she suddenly had to go, so Cary took her out. Noel believes that Bitty probably heard something outside and wanted to investigate since, despite her small stature, she’s the dominant dog out of their three.

Once outside, Noel said she heard Bitty growl and then heard her high pitched cry which made her leap from her bed. Cary, who was on the patio, ran towards the dog and saw that a coyote had pinned her to the ground. He quickly scared the coyote off the dog, sending it running away.

“Thankfully, he scared it off and it didn’t run off with our five-pound Yorkie” she said.

Fortunately, Bitty had no puncture wounds on her, however she did have blood on her back. Noel shaved the area and cleaned it thoroughly, but could not find a wound, leading her to believe the coyote already had blood on it. She also called her vet in the morning making sure that Bitty was up-to-date on immunizations.

Noel believes that the gate to their pool area was accidentally left open by one of the children which allowed the coyote to get into the patio area.

“We are very thankful that it turned out the way it did,” said Noel who wants others to to be cautious about letting their pets outside. “Many of our neighbors have little little dogs, and if this happened on our patio it can happen on theirs.”