Doggie Diaries 4 U: July 2011

I have to admit, I had no idea what this article was going to be about. I was at the beach, totally relaxed, with not a care in the world. I sat down to write this article several times and I was drawing a complete blank. I sat and looked at the empty screen and try as I might there was nothing. I put this down to being at the beach house with all of the beach visits and relaxing why should I think of anything. That is when it happened. I was outside charging the AC for my truck when out of nowhere this little Jack Russell dashed over to me, tail wagging, happily bouncing in place. Those that own a Jack Russell can attest to the bouncing in place. My dogs were in the back yard at the time and as soon as they saw this little guy they went nuts. Jasmine (my black lab), to my amazement, forced her large frame under the fence and came running over to meet my new found friend. The Jack Russell didn’t run, or even flinch at the sight of this big dog bounding his way. He just turned toward her and continued to bounce in place. Jasmine and the Jack Russell took turns sniffing and they hit it off, it looked like Jasmine made a new friend. Frankie (our husky) remained in the back yard with little interest in anything happening on the other side of the fence.

The little Jack Russell was friendly, obviously well fed, yet he had no collar. I stooped down to pet him and he began to bounce higher, I didn’t think it possible, in place eating up all the attention. I picked him up and was greeted with a barrage of licks. At this point my wife, Nicole, came out to see what all the fuss was about. She saw me holding my new friend who was now going out of his mind to meet the new human on the scene. Nicole looked at me and said, what do we do now? She gathered up a very happy and excited Jasmine and put her in the back yard. I took our new friend to meet Frankie in the back yard. Frankie sniffed the much smaller dog looked at me and wandered to another part of the yard with a very happy Jack Russell in tow. Frankie was being her usual aloof self. I swear Frankie is more cat than dog sometimes. With all three of the dogs out of harm’s way in the back yard, I began to formulate a plan of action.

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog you will know that I wrote an article on what to do if you find a stray dog. I thought this the perfect opportunity to put that article to the test. The fact that the little guy didn’t have a collar was going to make things difficult. I knew he must have been recently lost because he was well fed and groomed, he was obviously not a vicious dog, he was however very bouncy, but that was kind of endearing. I figured his owners were frantically searching for their lost bundle of bounce. I got in my truck and slowly went up and down the streets expanding my search outward from where I first encountered the Jack Russell. I asked everyone I saw. I asked the man up the street who was watering his garden, he said the dog wasn’t his but he would ask around. I pointed him in the direction of my house. I asked a couple out for a stroll and they gave me a similar response. I saw an old man in a truck, and he seemed to be looking for something. I pulled alongside and asked him if he lost his dog. He said no, he was just out for a drive. He had a poodle mix in the front seat with him yipping away. He said he would keep his eyes out. I continued my search for another 10 minutes, I doubled back to retrace my route thinking I may have missed the searching owners. I again passed the man who was watering his garden when my phone rang. I answered it and it was my wife. She was frantic and dogs were barking. She said come home ASAP. I sped off before I noticed that the man watering his garden was trying to get my attention. I felt bad just leaving but my wife sounded like she was in some kind of trouble. That’s when I passed the old man in the red truck. He beeped at me and I slowed. He said those people lost a dog and I sent them to your house. I couldn’t believe it. My wife was frantically trying to control our two dogs while greeting the couple at our back gate. As it turns out, they were neighbors from up the street. I have known them for a very long time. I did not know they had recently gotten a Jack Russell named Mickey. I thanked the man in the red truck for his help then it dawned on me, the more people I told about a lost dog, the more people were out there looking. It gave me such a sense of community to know that neighbors still help each other in this day and age. I am sure the man that had been watering his garden was trying to get my attention because he knew the owners had been found.

I pulled up and greeted our neighbors and helped my wife settle our two dogs who were obviously very upset that Mickey was leaving. I chatted with the neighbors and they thanked me for keeping Mickey safe. Later that evening our neighbors showed up with a thank you treat for our dogs. All was right with the world and I had my article. Thanks for reading and remember to keep your furry family members healthy and happy, and on occasion help your neighbor to keep their dog healthy and happy if they need a hand.

Nick Carreno

DoggieDiaries4U@gmail.com

Doggie Diaries 4 U

Saturday, July 30, 2011

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Friday, July 22, 2011

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