Taking care of someone’s pet in your home can add a bit of fun to your life.
I happen to love dogs, one dog in particular. He belongs to my son and his wife.
They dropped him off before heading out for a long vacation. He came with stuff: rules about what to eat and what he isn’t allowed to snack on, a leash, water bowl and food dish and a huge bag of food.
He’s a good dog and I enjoy having him. He seems to like me because I talk–all the time–to myself, but he doesn’t know that I’m not speaking to him. He lays on the floor and listens, eyebrows bobbing up and down in agreement or maybe he’s disagreeing with what I’m saying?
Once in awhile– shhhh! I let him have a carrot or potato chip. So I was pretty sure he loved me a lot.
I went to walk him, snapped on the leash–I heard it click!–then opened the door. The leash went slack in my hand, and off he went.
I sprinted after him.I had been making gluten free pizza crusts when he insisted on going out. The apron I wore came untied as I ran after him, one of the ties wrapped around my leg as if trying to hold me back from chasing my four legged friend.
I called his name in a sweet tone.
He ignored me.
He stopped to look at my neighbor’s horse.
I heaved a sigh of relief and then he took off running again.
We’d both been running for about ten minutes…a very long time for me. I was winded. I stopped, rested my hands on my knees and prayed for God to stop that dog because I couldn’t tell my son I’d lost his furbaby.
Tears were burning in my eyes along with the fresh air in my lungs. Not sure what to do next, I stood there, and then the dog stopped running. I took a few quick steps his way.
He seemed frozen, except for the long line of drool hanging from his lip he could have been a statue.
What had stopped him? Did I care? Not at the moment. I hustled to his side and clipped the leash on his collar. Turns out my neighbor who had stepped outside and the dog was afraid of him.
Since we live close to a road this little escape could have been a disaster . If he’d have turned right instead of left this post would not have had the happy ending that it does.
I did hope that running as much as I did would cause the number on my scale to drop the next morning, alas it did not. But I am hopeful of seeing that happen after walking my furry friend several times a day on a well-tethered leash.
But what happens if your pet goes missing? Petfinder has an entire article how to search. It helps if you have your pet implanted with microchip. Veterinarians can scan a chip implanted by Homeagian .
As for pet sitters, make sure that leash is attached before you open the door.
Photo provided by FreeDigitalPhotos.net I promise the dog never made it to the road!
posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer