Lucy has a new friend

This morning at 3:30 Lucy woke me up needing to go outside. I threw on some clothes and my glasses and took her out. She was acting a little strange, sniffing even more than usual, and her tail was down between her legs like she was nervous. She didn't immediately urinate so I took her around "the block" (our building). We got halfway around when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I stopped and looked and saw an animal that I thought was a dog, it was slightly taller than Lucy, with erect triangular ears, a long muzzle, lean frame, and a bushy tail. Lucy started growling, then barked and the animal turned and ran between the buildings into a wash. I still wasn't sure what it was because I was pretty sleepy, and started to head back to the house. Looking back I realized it was following us. This kinda freaked me out, and I picked up my pace a little, half-ran into the house. closed the door and yelled "Hey T, want to see a coyote?" I ran into the kitchen and saw it sniffing around outside our front door. Theresa jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen, but it was gone. Lucy was going nuts, barking and growling and sniffing under the door. A few minutes passed and we realized Lucy never peed. A little afraid it was still out there, and might be rabid, I went out first, with my pocket knife, and Theresa followed with Lucy once the coast was clear. We looked around, but did not see the coyote again. I had never heard of a black coyote, so we googled it, and sure enough though rare, they do exist ! We kind of want it to come back so we can get a better look (and maybe a picture) But we also don't want to run into it in the middle of the night if it's rabid.

6/22/09 UPDATE: I was talking to one of our neighbors who has a dog (that I had warned after this happened), and she told me that her friend lives in the condos closer to the mountains and a black coyote was stalking her friend while she walked her big golden-doodle. When she brought her dog in, the coyote hung out around the steps to her front door sniffing around ? It's gotta be the same one because black coyotes are rare.