This tail [sic] is a few months old. I've been trying to recreate the scene so that photo-evidence could be provided. But, alas, the reenactments have been a failure. So here's the story, sans pictures.
Penny enjoys her neighborhood walks. Between the leaves and the snow, there's always somewhere for her to make {snow, grass, leaf} angels. But the real draw for the neighborhood is, unquestionably, the wildlife. Penny took to it immediately: chasing rabbits and squirrels from her very first days in DC (including one time knocking a very pregnant Sandra over in her quest to say hello to a bunny). Penny hasn't seen the foxes, but she probably knows they're around, and she seems totally oblivious to the bear that lurked in our neighborhood shortly after our arrival. Deer, on the other paw, are definitely on her radar. She's chased them through the neighborhood a few times. With each additional encounter, you could slowly see her getting more confident.
One day (right around Thanksgiving), Penny struck doggy-gold. We were walking around on the street next to ours [well, some clarification is needed: I was walking on the sidewalk, minding my own business, while Penny ran across every front yard and between the houses]. We turned a corner and Penny was face to hoof with an 8-point buck. [I kid you not. It was massive.] Penny and the deer were no more than two feet apart; the deer towered over her. Far from cowering, Penny seized the moment. When else could she play with a deer? Confused by Penny's lack of concern, the deer bolted. Penny took off too, hot on the trail. Down the front yard! Onto the sidewalk! Along the sidewalk until the next street! Into the next street! Up into the cul-de-sac! Penny was running ferociously after the much faster deer. [I gave some futile pursuit behind the two of them, but they were already out of my sight within a few seconds.]
When I finally made it to the cul-de-sac, another dog owner and his daughter were walking their (peaceful, docile, obedient) dog. They were awestruck. First, the man said, he'd never seen a deer that large. [He was the one who said it was an 8-pointer; presumably, they had more time to witness the scene as the deer and Penny ran towards and past them.] Second, he'd never seen a dog so happy. She had this look like, "I'm king of the world."
When I finally retrieved her from behind someone's house, Penny was beaming. She was out-of-breath, sure, but she also gave the distinct impression of pride, like she stood up to the Goliath on my behalf and chased him back to Gath.
