glockmail
08-28-2013, 11:17 PM
I have an agreement with a good friend to trade dog sitting when we go on our respective vacations. I have a 21# rescued terrier mix, well behaved, and he has a 60# rescued setter mix, "Vinnie" also well behaved (but a big dummie). :laugh:
This has been going well for nearly two years.
His daughter adopted another rescue dog, a ten year old female lab mix. A year later she moved to Wyoming, lives in an apartment, and can't have a dog, so now her parents, my friends, have two dogs. The "new" dog "Zoe" is a sweetie. Or so I thought.
She is a rescue dog because she had run away and could not be found by a previous owner. She's an escape artist and can wiggle out of a collar or harness. She now has not just one but two ID "chips". She dominates other dogs: a leader.
Both dogs were dropped off at my house at 8am last Friday, per prior agreement while the owners flew to Wyoming to visit said daughter. I'm not big on leashes, and walk my dog in the woods out back without a leash and have for years. Vinnie handles this arrangement well. I was warned about Zoe, so at 4pm, our usual walk time, I took all three, Zoe on a leash.
I have a glorified deer track through the dense woods and she got tangled up in dozens of trees. It was frustrating for the both of us.
We got back an hour later and at 5:30 I had to load some crap into my Jeep. Zoe escaped and takes Vinnie with her, and they bolt into the woods like their asses were on fire.
I'm not going into details, but I searched by foot, car, and my large network of neighbors and friends to find these two dogs. I walked at least ten miles through dense woods, thorns and poison ivy, and burned a half tank of gas. Nothing worked. 46 hours later they showed up on my front porch, exhausted and embarrassed. And of course dirty and stinky.
They slept for 2 days, basically, taking breaks to eat, drink, piss and shit. I cleaned their sorry asses up. Zoe appeared to be changed by the experience, hanging on me, under my desk at work, keeping me in her sight for three solid days.
"Oh, she was lovey-dovey."
My friends plane was delayed today coming back from Wyoming. Instead of getting back here to pick up the dogs at 4:45, they were two hours late. At noon I let the dogs out in the yard, no leash or fence, and they enjoyed the sun, rolling around in the grass. Then back in the house for more food and rest. At 4:00 pm I drove them to the town dog park to run around in a large fenced area. No leash from the car to the park. Vinnie chased a ball about a mile and Zoe watched, too lethargic to move fast.
I got back back home at 5:00, opened the rear hatch and the two dogs took off into the woods like their asses were on fire.
This was 15 fucking damn minutes after their owners were originally supposed to arrive.
Again I won't go into details, but the three of us searched, using the techniques and route learned by experience. No luck.
They returned back about 9 pm this evening. I was in the garage working hot metal and my wife found them in the front yard. She let them in the house to contain them. In the 30 seconds that they were there, on the way to the basement they deposited more dirt than a tornado. I called my fiend up and told him to bring his dirty car and pick them up.
This has been going well for nearly two years.
His daughter adopted another rescue dog, a ten year old female lab mix. A year later she moved to Wyoming, lives in an apartment, and can't have a dog, so now her parents, my friends, have two dogs. The "new" dog "Zoe" is a sweetie. Or so I thought.
She is a rescue dog because she had run away and could not be found by a previous owner. She's an escape artist and can wiggle out of a collar or harness. She now has not just one but two ID "chips". She dominates other dogs: a leader.
Both dogs were dropped off at my house at 8am last Friday, per prior agreement while the owners flew to Wyoming to visit said daughter. I'm not big on leashes, and walk my dog in the woods out back without a leash and have for years. Vinnie handles this arrangement well. I was warned about Zoe, so at 4pm, our usual walk time, I took all three, Zoe on a leash.
I have a glorified deer track through the dense woods and she got tangled up in dozens of trees. It was frustrating for the both of us.
We got back an hour later and at 5:30 I had to load some crap into my Jeep. Zoe escaped and takes Vinnie with her, and they bolt into the woods like their asses were on fire.
I'm not going into details, but I searched by foot, car, and my large network of neighbors and friends to find these two dogs. I walked at least ten miles through dense woods, thorns and poison ivy, and burned a half tank of gas. Nothing worked. 46 hours later they showed up on my front porch, exhausted and embarrassed. And of course dirty and stinky.
They slept for 2 days, basically, taking breaks to eat, drink, piss and shit. I cleaned their sorry asses up. Zoe appeared to be changed by the experience, hanging on me, under my desk at work, keeping me in her sight for three solid days.
"Oh, she was lovey-dovey."
My friends plane was delayed today coming back from Wyoming. Instead of getting back here to pick up the dogs at 4:45, they were two hours late. At noon I let the dogs out in the yard, no leash or fence, and they enjoyed the sun, rolling around in the grass. Then back in the house for more food and rest. At 4:00 pm I drove them to the town dog park to run around in a large fenced area. No leash from the car to the park. Vinnie chased a ball about a mile and Zoe watched, too lethargic to move fast.
I got back back home at 5:00, opened the rear hatch and the two dogs took off into the woods like their asses were on fire.
This was 15 fucking damn minutes after their owners were originally supposed to arrive.
Again I won't go into details, but the three of us searched, using the techniques and route learned by experience. No luck.
They returned back about 9 pm this evening. I was in the garage working hot metal and my wife found them in the front yard. She let them in the house to contain them. In the 30 seconds that they were there, on the way to the basement they deposited more dirt than a tornado. I called my fiend up and told him to bring his dirty car and pick them up.