TheBanyanTree: Another Dog Story

[Monique]

We still don't know how the gate got open, since it can only be pushed open from the outside ... I'm thinking Ash has confederates on the outside. I think we'll booby trap the outside of the gate ...

Monique
Sent from my new perfect iPad
It doesn't make mistakes

On Aug 5, 2012, at 4:28 PM, Theta Brentnall <tybrent at gmail.com> wrote:

> Open gates and no dogs is one of the most horrifying things in the world.  Thank goodness this all turned out okay.
> 
> Theta
> 
> On 8/5/2012 11:00 AM, Monique Colver wrote:
>> Again, Honey the wonder dog has failed to grasp the full import of her
>> situation. She's 14. She has arthritis in her back legs. She can't hear as
>> well as she used to, she can't see as well as she used to, and she tends to
>> go the wrong way now and then. Her legs are wobbly at times. She's on
>> anti-inflammatories and pain pills daily, which have made her feel like
>> she's 10 again. But she's not 10. She's become clumsy in her old age, and
>> often steps in the water bowl instead of just drinking from it.
>> 
>> It's hot here today, again. Yesterday was unbearable, and while other parts
>> of the country do this sort of heat thing all the time, we do not. It's why
>> I moved up here.
>> 
>> Honey and Ash went outside first thing this morning, as usual, and after
>> awhile (is too a word!) Andrew went to let them in.
>> 
>> But there weren't any dogs to be found. He called, and usually that brings
>> one of them running from around the corner, usually Ash, since Honey
>> ignores us/doesn't hear us, but this time, nothing. He investigated some
>> more, and he found the gate open.
>> 
>> The gate is never supposed to be open, obviously, because it means the dogs
>> can walk out. And dogs will walk out if given the opportunity, because
>> they're always up for an adventure. Even Honey, when she should be settling
>> into the life of an old dog. She still plays with Ash like she's a puppy,
>> but that's probably because he's irresistible.
>> 
>> So of course, finding no dogs and the gate open, we panic.
>> 
>> Andrew walks out front and starts calling for Ash, but the street is
>> silent. I put on shorts, a hat, sandals, and find a leash. I go outside,
>> and start looking down the street. Andrew heads to the end of the
>> cul-de-sac, so I head to the cross street. I hear barking dogs on the other
>> side of our street, but Andrew's checking that out, and when he finally
>> comes toward me he reports that it's not our dogs causing the ruckus.
>> 
>> A neighbor driving away stops and asks for a description of the dogs, and
>> tells me he'll let me know if he sees them.
>> 
>> I turn left at the cross street and start walking towards the school, a
>> favorite destination for Honey in the past. But as I'm walking, our Honda,
>> the old one, comes up next to me, and Andrew leans out the window to say
>> he's going to check out the school.
>> 
>> I never thought of taking a car. That's why he's the genius of the family.
>> 
>> So I turn around and head in the other direction. I walk past our street
>> and then turn left because that's what the road does. And then I see a
>> black dog standing in a yard a few houses down, and it looks like he has an
>> orange bandanna on.
>> 
>> What a coincidence! Ash has an orange bandanna on! Or did, last time I saw
>> him.
>> 
>> "Ash! Get over here!"
>> 
>> And the crazy dog, who is nothing if not obedient, starts running towards
>> me. Of course, that puts him on a collision course with any cars that
>> happen to be coming around the corner, because Ash doesn't know he's
>> supposed to turn a corner, not run straight across. So I stand out in the
>> street to ward off any oncoming cars while Ash makes his approach. We avoid
>> contact with any cars, and I put the leash on him.
>> 
>> "Where's your sister?" I ask him, but he just pants and looks as if he's
>> the happiest dog on the planet.
>> 
>> So we head down the way he just came from, and then, up ahead, I see her.
>> She's trotting along as if she has a specific destination in mind, as if
>> she has an appointment to keep, and she is not going to be late.
>> 
>> "Honey!" I call, and she turns and looks at me. And this is how I can tell
>> she's getting old. She starts trotting in our direction.
>> 
>> This is so unlike her. Her usual tactic is to turn and trot off in the
>> other direction, because she'll be damned if anyone tells her what to do.
>> 
>> We catch up to her, and since Ash is already wearing the one leash, I tell
>> her to walk with us.
>> 
>> Yeah, that's funny. But she does, except she goes faster than us. I'm sure
>> Ash could keep up, if he weren't on the leash, but I can't. It's hot out
>> and my leg has been noncooperative at the best of times. She trots out
>> ahead of us, and when we get to a slight street to our left she turns left.
>> I cajole her into staying right where she is while we catch up.
>> 
>> She invests a few moments in sniffing the vegetation, giving us time to
>> catch up, and then insists on going in the direction I don't want her to
>> go. So I grab her tail (so undignified, I know), have her sit, take the
>> leash off Ash, and put it on her.
>> 
>> And the three of us head back home. There are two dogs in a fenced yard on
>> our way, and Ash stops to have a confrontation with them, but then bounds
>> back to my side pretty quickly.
>> 
>> And then Andrew and the Honda show up, once all the hard work was done. But
>> at least I wasn't stuck in a car that doesn't have air conditioning. He
>> couldn't take the one with air conditioning because I won't let dogs in
>> that one.
>> 
>> Ash jumps in the car, though by now we're only three houses away from home.
>> Lazy dog.
>> 
>> I don't take Honey's leash off until she's inside the house and incapable
>> of making an escape.
>> 
>> And it's only after their adventure that she gets her anti-inflammatories
>> and pain pills, which she'll no doubt be needing for sure.
>> 
>> That dog slays me.
>> 
>> 
>> Monique Colver
>> An Uncommon Friendship: a memoir of love, mental illness, and friendship
>> Now available at
>> Amazon<http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Monique+Colver>
>> and
>> at www.AnUncommonFriendship.com <http://anuncommonfriendship.com/>
>> www.ColverPress.com
>> monique.colver at gmail.com
>> (425) 772-6218
>