Puppy Business

I started this blog because every now and then, some pretty crazy adventures happen to me. Whether it is getting pulled over and the cop being friends with my mom, or narrowly escaping a beat down at Tiny Town, I always find my way to the middle of the most outrageous situations, and that is what happened yesterday afternoon...

Hubby called around 4:00 yesterday to let me know he was coming home early and to see if we would wait for him so we could go on a family walk. Naturally, I was thrilled...well after being initially annoyed since Anne and I were going to meet up to take the girls for a walk.

About 15 minutes later hubby rushes through the door and is greeted with ecstatic cheers from A, welcoming daddy home.  Of course, all my annoyance at missing a girls' walk went rushing out the door the minute I heard how happy A was and saw the goofy smile plastered on my hubby's face.

A few minutes  later we headed out the door with A snuggled in her stroller, the dog jumping up and down on her least, and a few layers for extra warmth. As you know, we were having roast chicken last night, so I had our beautiful bird trimmed and tied and roasting away, giving us a little extra time to do our normal 60 minute loop before it was ready.

We were about 20 minutes in, walking at a pretty good clip when this Weimaraner comes tearing out of one of the alleys headed right for Preston. Now, Preston is a lab, so she is pretty easy going, except when she is on a leash and the other dog is not, then her alpha qualities come into full focus... typically resulting in some serious teeth gnashing. In the hopes of avoiding this, hubby jogs off a half block and the Weim get's distracted by another dog. Phew...safe at last.

 I stay where I am for a few minutes expecting the owner to come running out of the alley to fetch her dog, but nothing. Then I start to worry....the Weim doesn't have a collar on, it is now about 5:15 and is starting to get pretty dark, and she (I saw her pee so I had a good guess) is tearing all around the streets and sidewalks. Although we are walking in a very quiet neighborhood, I still don't want to take any chances.

I ask the other people on the street if anyone knows this dog or where she might live and one lady points one direction while another person points the other...humm.

By this point all of my animal loving hormones are kicking and I tell hubby I am not leaving till this dog is safe. From a porch a little ways away a lady calls over and says she things the dog is Brice, and lives about four blocks up the street. Naturally I call out the supposed name and the dog comes running towards A and me, it is at this point I realize the dog is only about 1 or 2 years old and still has some serious puppy beans!

I call the dog while running up the four blocks with A, and she races ahead then back to me the whole time, giving me hope that we have found where this dog lives. When we get up to the street a car is pulling up with an older mom and a 9 (ish) year old boy. I ask them if they know the dog and if it is Brice, and the mom looks and shakes her head, letting me know Brice is much bigger and thicker. Great, back to square one...and now I don't have a name to call the dog. As I try to keep the Weim corralled while asking around, I find I am having no luck at either.

Finally I ask the mom, whose name is Pate, short for Patricia, if she has a dog and if it would be possible to keep it in her back yard till I can locate the owners, just to make sure nothing will happen to the cute pup. She agrees, although a little hesitantly since she has never had a dog and isn't sure what to do with it. I think it helps sway her decision when A pipes up from her stroller that she loooves pate and asks for some for a snack. Yeah, I know, my kid has some fancy taste! Anyway, back to the story...I give Pate my cell and tell her to call me in a few hours if I am unable to locate the owner and I will come and get the dog.

Okay, so secretly in my head I am kinda starting to picture this adorable Weim with Preston running around our house, but hubby must have sniffed it out and looks at me and shakes his head. Shoot. Okay, well time to find the owner.

After the dog is safe in the yard, we head off down the street again where we found her initially. After asking about 10 people on the street, none of whom seem to have ever seen a Weim in the neighborhood, I am beginning to think it is time to start knocking on doors.  Then, out of nowhere a high school boy comes walking out of the alley looking all around. I yell over to him if he is looking for a dog and he says, "yes!". After my initial relief at finding the owner of the dog I start walking him up to the house where, Chloe (told you it was a girl!) is being kept, when I realize he is empty handed and this spunky little girl is not wearing a collar. I send him home to grab a collar and leash before we continue up to get Chloe.

Now, it seemed like we had been searching for a while, but realistically it was probably only about 15-20 minutes, but to no avail these sweet "non-dog owners" who were looking after Chloe were out in the back yard playing with her and feeding her a "snack" of chicken. Apparently Pate's husband and her son thought Chloe looked hungry and figured chicken would be a suitable snack. My best guess, is we see a new dog in their yard pretty soon :)

So after reunited Chloe and her owner, we head for home hoping the chicken isn't burning down our house, and pleased at our detective work for the evening. As we walk in our door, peeling off layers as we do, we can smell the aroma of perfectly roast chicken and know we made some family pretty happy tonight to have their adorable little dog back at home, safe and sound.

xoxo

Daily Mom