A horrible, horrible thing happened this weekend and I don't know how to handle it! My daughter and I were driving in the left lane of the highway with our beloved lab-mix, Boomer in the back of the truck (on our way home from the vet).

As always, I had Boomer hooked in the bed of the truck with his leash. Well, a semi truck was in front of me, and one of its tires blew and the whole retread flew back and hit my front bumper, jerking the truck a bit to the left. A few seconds later, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw Boomer's scared face as he was running down the center divide of the highway. I pulled into the center divide and ran back to find him, but he had darted through the oleander bushes and was hit and killed on the southbound side.

Apparently, what happened is Boomer was either knocked out of the back when the truck jerked or the sound of the tire blowing scared him and he jumped out. Either way, from the look of the scratches on the side of the truck, he hung there for a few seconds until he was able to pull his head through his leash. I didn't see him fall out, or him hanging... I guess that's for the best, because I'm sure I would've slammed on my brakes... and who knows what would've happened then.

Anyway, I drove around to the southbound side, and waited for a break in the traffic to pull him to the side of the highway. A very nice lady stopped and helped me. She even gave me a towel from her truck and helped me cover and load Boomer into my truck so I could take him to the animal shelter. In my mind, I know this was just an awful accident, but in my heart, I can't help but feel responsible, like I just couldn't get to him in time to save him! It all happened so fast.

My husband keeps telling me that I did everything right, it was just some freak thing that happened and, that no matter how much we try to domesticate them, they're still animals, and he did what a scared animal does... blindly runs. But the whole thing keeps running through my mind... and over and over again. I can see his scared, little face, and it just tears me up! Have you ever heard of something like this happening? I see those people with their dogs loose in the backs of their trucks, and it makes me a nervous wreck. I thought I was doing the right thing keeping Boomer hooked in, but now, it makes me sick to think that he fell out and hung there for a few seconds! I am sick with grief... and I think guilt. I need professional advice.