My Sunday Sucked

This is just soooooo ridiculous.

We're walking Tonka 'round the neighborhood yesterday noon ...
On our way back home and starting past my neighbor's driveway - WHAM! outta nowhere Tonk takes off towards neighbor Steve who's out working on his front walk ... I am hanging on for dear life and KNOW what's rapidly coming - which would be me on the ground (mmmm, concrete - so comfortable!) and my head into Steve's car bumper (yeah that was pretty bad) - and this lovely image was the result. Which actually here doesn't even look all the bad but consider it also extends partway down my calf, as well as where my hip smacked the ground, the heel and wrist of my hand is all cut and scraped, the back of my shoulder bruised, plus a knot on my head and cut on my ear.

Now a couple things: Number one, I have no idea WHAT made him go after the neighbor like that - he does bark at him through the fence, but really in the "who are you, what are you doing, what's going on?" kinda dog way - and I was pretty much face down so I don't even know if he was happy or teeth bared or what. Stuart thought it was just freak timing of us passing by right as Steve stood up from some pruning and caught Tonka's eye as a threat? So uhhhh, yeah - thanks so much for "protecting me" by dragging my ass up a concrete driveway and into the back of a parked car! Wheeee! Danger averted! Good dog!

And secondly - I normally do not have so little control over him! Yes I am about 115 to his 130-140 and it does sometimes take all my body weight to reign him in when he wants to pull (and I've figured out ways to maneouver the leash to have a better hold, etc) but this was completely unexpected and I had no time to react other than to try and keep up. At which I clearly failed ;-) And thankfully Stuart was with me so he was able to get ahold of Tonka right away, and he didn't do anything ...

But my poor neighbor! Like I said, I couldn't see what Tonka's demeanor was, but if you saw that big beast thundering toward you I'm sure you'd be more than a little concerned, even if he was smiling! He kept asking "are you okay are you sure you're okay?" and came by later to check on me again, and I felt soooo bad. Like, Hi? I'm the idiot who couldn't keep her dog from charging at you, yet you're telling me I shoulda just let go of the leash and how you shouldn't have even been outside and then it wouldn't've happened? Dude!

So now I am very stiff and sore and the scrapes all sting and of course after the whole freak Natasha Richardson ski accident I was all paranoid I wasn't going to wake up this morning (and I said many prayers of thanks everytime I did wake in the night - you better believe it!)

BUT! the bruises are gonna be something to behold, I tell ya!
*ooOoh the colorrrsss*

So yeah - Happy Monday!
~ gem ~


Oh and I fully admit to being a bit of a drama queen, I mean it's not like I need freakin' skin grafts or anything! But still. *makes pitiful pouty face*

Another Day, Another Dog Tale ...

But yeah, it's about the same dog ;-)
And turns out he's a 10 month old purebred Bichon ...

Anyway. To continue yesterday's story ... we left off with me serendipitously running into DJ's owner on a walk during the morning, and I was awaiting her to come by and pick him up that afternoon ... And just to fill in even more of his backstory (which I'd learned from the "birthmom" on Monday and it was confirmed by Miss Shelby yesterday)

See, Original Owner had to sell him because she had other pets (including DJs brother, and if I remember correctly his mama too) and Deej and the brother didn't get along ... He was picked up by a nice girl named Miss Shelby, who was buying him on behalf of her boss, as a companion for his elderly mother. Miss Shelby is her caretaker. This was Saturday, and (this is the part I don't really know much about) he somehow got out/loose in the middle of the night, then I found him around 9AM Sunday morning. Our neighborhoods are not that far apart, but he had to come past a really busy street to get here, so =whew!= is all we can say about that!

And Miss Shelby DID post lost puppy notices immediately, I just never saw them (hint: Craigslist = great place for lost pet notices! It really hadn't occured to me to look there)

So unfortunately, even though I'd FINALLY! found the proper owner, Miss Shelby let me know that her boss (the elderly lady's son) was wanting to REsell the poor little guy, because it turns out the lady was scared of him (I guess he barked at her and was a little too jumpy) and they weren't going to be able to keep him. Even Miss Shelby said she wished she could take him but with 3 dogs of her own, well ... I said I'd be happy to keep him until they were able to either find a new owner or decide what to do, but as much as I liked him, there was no way I could buy him (and any of you who've read Tonka's story know I already have a Very Expensive Pet and just could not justify paying for another dog I wasn't even in the market for to begin with!) It really wasn;t even alot of money - the guy was only looking to get back half of what he'd originally paid, but the bottom line is Mr Gem's patience was already at it's limit with me this week (bless his big'ol let-me-have-my-way-without-complaint HEART!) so to lay out money for the dog woulda been a Not Very Smart Thing for me to do ...

blahblahblah ... So he spent another night and then Miss Shelby called early this afternoon to say she had some folks that wanted to come look at him, and could she arrange to come get him - I'd given him a mini bath just this morning so at least he was pretty clean and dry ... I packed up his food and some toys that had become his faves while he was here, and when she came & got him I just said to please call me and let me know how it goes, and that he was welcome back if he didn't go to a new home right away (which, come on, I knew he would! Look'it'immmm! Awe! hehe)

AND! ding!ding!ding! We have a winner!
She actually stopped by just a few minutes ago - before I could even knock the story out, geez! - to let me know an older couple took him home and they said he'd be the only pet and a very spoiled little dog and they understood what a rough week he's had and that he'd probably be sad for a little while but that was okay ... So yeah, I'm a little bummed he's gone but also very YaY! that he's going to a nice home, and I'll be honest - that pup was wearing me O.U.T! so I'll be glad to get back to my regularly scheduled life now ... right after a NAP.

Oh and also, just so you know ~ Miss Shelby was incredibly apologetic and extremely grateful to me and felt really really bad that I was so burdened by the responsibility for this pup all week (and she was more than miffed at her bossman for the whole convoluted mess which was basically dumped in her lap) - but like I kept telling her - It's all good! I just wanted to do the right thing (like I'd hope someone would do for my dog) and hey! I got to spend a few days playing with a supersweet, cute new puppy! She did drop off an Outback giftcard to thank me, and while that SO wasn't necessary, I thought that was a really cool and nice thing to do ...

So - Final Kisses and TUMMY RUBBIES for DJ
(or, whoever you are now!)
Buh Bye, booboo! And for Pete's sake, stay put! :D

XOX gem

Doggone It!

Okay, so the story goes: I saw this little white blur run by my driveway Sunday morning, trailing a leash ... Watched & waited to see if it's people came running after it, no one did. I went and checked it out - found this dude sitting at the end of a neighbor's driveway ... I'm always worried about lose dogs getting hit on our street, so after finally cornering the muddy lil sucker in the cul-de-sac I brought him home (asking a couple neighbors on the way "Is This Yours?" or "D'ya Know Who's It IS?") ... Bring him inside to the many eyerolls of my husband and children ... he has no ID except for a rabies tag - call the 800-number and the nice recorded man tells me to try calling back during business hours ('Cause you know. Most dogs prefer to lose themselves Monday thru Friday between the hours of 9AM and 5PM)

So I take some pics, make some signs, hang them at the entrances to our neighborhood, figuring he must be a dog from the 'hood ... 8PM rolls around and no calls, so we crate him for the night ...

Monday Morning!
Call my vet to make Tonka's bath appointment and "oh by the way I found a new dog ya think you can scan him for a microchip or run his rabies tag, hmm?" - yes to the chipscan, but no to the tag since it's not through them ... but try calling the LOCAL numbers for that vet clinic and they should have the info (ding! duh!) ... 4 calls later (all of whom said "You know it might be easier for you to call our corporate number" and I'm all yeahhhh maybe if they were OPEN before 10 am our time...) Anyway. 4th call = score! Tech tells me his name is DJ and he's a Bichon and here's the name number and address of his owner - HOORAY! (and also, hmmm - 'cause I'm thinking that's kinda alotta info to give out, but I'm not a weirdo stalker or anything so it's okay. I just figured I'd hafta leave MY info and THEY'D call the owner, but what do I know ...) First thing I do after hanging up is say: "DJ! >perk< is that your name? Are you DJ? Hi DJ!" .... *Oh and a little interesting sidenote here - a few years ago we adopted a puppy from one of the groups that run out of the Petsmart on weekends - sadly and unbeknownst to us at the time - he had parvo, and he didn't even make it a week. I was devastated. His name? DJ. So was I meant to be the one to find this particular lost dog? Maybe. Though I tend to overanalyze kooky kosmic things like that ....

ANYWAY! I'm all YaY DJ, we found your Mommy, let's call her! Which we do and I leave a message 'cause no ones home ... We wait hopefully all day for the callback (in the meantime I've taken down the found dog signs, right?) and finalllllllly at like 6PM I get a ring "Hi this is Mz You Found My Dog calling you back, do you still have him?" and I say "Yup, he's laying on my lap right now!" and she laughingly says:
"You want'im?" and I reply with some laughter of my own "Ohhhhh Noooo, you don't WANT him!?"

So. A very nice and informative conversation later I've learned that this lady sold Mr DJ to someone in our neighborhood THAT Saturday, but she doesn't remember their name or info, etc and she's all worried "should I come get him?" etc - I guess she had to sell him 'cause she has some other pets, including DJ's own brother, who he doesn't get along with ... So I say well, he seems to be doing okay here and I'm fine with keeping him and I'll put the signs back up and work on trying to track these folks down ... just keep my number and if they call YOU, pass my info on and we'll go from there ... That was ? ... right, Monday night ...

We are now at Wednesday morning, and 2 new signs, 200 printed flyers (which were hung on as many neighbor's doors as we could manage yesterday, the rest hopefully today) an L&F ad in the classifieds and NO CALLS later ... he sleeps at my feet as I write this update :) Poor lil dooder.

I'm getting concerned because he seems to be getting Very Attached to me (and vice versa, to be honest!), and while I'd happily keep him, he is a bit like having a toddler in the house and it's wearing me out! Plus Mr Wonderful Husband has been extremely patient, I just don't know how much longer that's gonna hold ... Now, I do have 3 people in mind who I think would want him, and if that didn't work I know my vet would be able to find him a GREAT home. Lastly, I'm sure his original owner would come get him if it came to that ...

SO! The saga continues, be sure to tune in to see what happens next on "The Days of Our Dogs" ... haha!
and - Happy Wednesday :)

~ gem ~


ps ~ I know what's bothering me most is that he is SUCH a sweet little dog, and in the 3 days I've had him? I've not seen even one sign or ad or anything for a lost dog matching his descrip ... I don't get it ...