(no subject)

[rickvs]

Rachal woke me up Thursday night after midnight, and told me she thought there was a huge dog who wanted in, just outside our door. Our second floor door. I figured that she was dreaming, but we both try to humor each other, so I made a show of looking through the peephole (seeing nothing), then throwing open the door...

...and jumping to block the lunk of a barrel of a horse of a dog that tried to amble in.

I'm pretty sure this mutt didn't outweigh me -- it wasn't much taller than my waist, and my legs are (somewhat) thicker ...but if he'd had a more aggressive temperament, and had decided he was coming in, he woulda been in. As it was, he accepted my block with good grace, and stayed on the threshold, whining softly.

I led him outside, shutting the door behind me, and checked his collar. It bore an aluminum pendant that I'm pretty sure he had gotten between his teeth at one point -- it had been folded over on itself, making a sort of triangle shape -- but I could still make out a phone number, and left a message at the vet's office where he had received his shots. The dog didn't mind me fiddling with his collar, and once I started scratching his back, immediately flopped over so I could reach his belly. I got him some water, and everything was going well until he saw our cat, Paris. Then he was off like a linebacker chasing a quarterback, down the sidewalk and around our apartment building.

So, I spent the next forty-five minutes walking around the complex, trying to find Paris, after the dog lost him rounding the first corner. Once he had nothing to chase, the dog reverted immediately to his previous dial-tone behavior, and seemed content to lay on a neighbor's patio, panting in the heat, while I made my laps.

Eventually, I figured Paris had holed up till morning, and went back to bed. Rachal started looking for him later, and woke me up again close to 3:30 a.m. -- she had found Paris and wanted an extra set of hands to corral him. We didn't get very badly scratched. As far as I know, while we were bringing Paris in, the dog stayed out of sight on that neighbor's patio, and I was more concerned about our cat at that point than a well-groomed, strange dog.

At eight the next morning, I got a call from the vet's office, and the dog was back at my front door. We figured out whose dog he was, and that his name was Bo ... and Bo lived three miles away, and no I could NOT fit Bo into my car, but you're welcome to give his owners my cell number, thank you...

Bo's owner showed up shortly thereafter with a leash, although I think I saddle would have been as useful; I'm pretty sure if you rode Bo out on the freeway, you'd get at least 12 m.p.c.

Bo's owner pressed a thirty-dollar reward on me, and wouldn't take no for an answer. And all day Friday, Paris seemed very content to stay inside and be lovey, rather than risk the dog gauntlet I think he now perceives to be right outside the door.

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Thank you for tracking down Bo's human, and for rescuing Paris. You are, as someone said recently in another LJ, a very good monkey.