My motto has always been, "Save a life. Every day. Just one". Doing so means quite often there is a "stepping out" of a comfort zone and going an extra mile, or even two. Almost always it means interacting with people you've never met until a situation presents itself.
As it was here.
Around 6am this morning at a local park, we find a loose dog. No collar, rummaging thru the grass. Walks right up, not a care in the world, tail wagging and happy. Well, we're not about to let this pup just wander. A senior girl, she's got a loaded gray muzzle, clipped ears, mostly tan in color, about 60-65 pounds. Excellent physical shape. Yeah, we weren't about to let her just run off and take her chances with the morning traffic.
Made the call we were going to find her family.
Got her home and discovered she knows her commands, big slobberknocker type, all affection and happy. One issue? She smelled like......well, she smelled like she had been rolling in poop. Other than that, no fleas, no ticks....this was someone's girl, no doubt.
First things first, not knowing how long she'd be around, right in the shower for a cleaning, and BOY did she need it. She loved it. Not a complaint. She was so playful while trying to dry her out, you got the feeling even she knew that shower was oh, so needed. Then took her to the local animal hospital, and that's where I got the news I didn't want to hear.
No chip. Damn, I just wish people would spend the few bucks and chip their pups! So, back home we go. Started posting to every social media account we could. Lady Shannon had the good sense to call for a post on NextDoor as well.
Back home, and our senior beagle, Lady Bailey, was indeed curious about the new kid, but not too anxious. The 2 of them got together, briefly, under very strict supervision. I made the call to keep them separate, just in case, as I had NO clue as to how this dog got along with others. She also had an obvious history of having pups, so I didn't know if she was fixed or not. No sense taking any chances. You see, this is Bailey's house, first and foremost. She gets to make the rules.
Social media posts all out, I decided to take our guest for a walk around the neighborhood, just in case someone might be canvasing and looking. I remembered how panickly I was that time many years ago our Master Magnus slipped out of the house. I let her lead.
She wound up in another neighborhood, and it's there I found the pool/community center. Started asking around and, luckily, wound up being introduced to a lady named Lisa who worked for the development. She offered to take my information and do a blast email to her association and a few other groups she had on her list.
Back home and I was already counting the alternatives. Rescue, shelter, everything came to mind. I didn't even think about keeping her, as she was obviously someone's baby. With lots of experience around shelters, I was deep into whatever we did, she would go to a "no kill" rescue in the neighborhood with a better chance of someone looking for her.
Gotta say, she was the perfect house guest. Stayed in the kitchen area with gates up. Cried a little, but waited right there and was loving on me every time I got close. It was almost as if she was saying, "Hey, thanks for the great breakfast, the excellent bath, AND trying to find my family!" We love our animals and will give them human qualities every single time.
Back in the studio and trying to get the day's work back on track with little luck. Much too distracted. I was thinking about what else I might do to find her family, if indeed her family was even looking for her. I had crossed with several possibilities that there was something unfortunate here. I tucked those away choosing to believe this was a loved member of the family and not a throwaway senior.
The phone rang.
A man said, "Hey is this Ed? You have my dog!" Admittedly, I was skeptical and wanted to be certain. I asked about any distinguishing marks, and he offered to send me a picture. Talked about how he took her everywhere with him, and she got out when a maintenance worker at his home left the patio screen door open.
There she was in the picture, standing on the dashboard. The black birthmark on her left elbow clinched the deal.
"Remy" was going home.
I arranged to meet Frank about 10 minutes later at the park where we found Remy 7 hours earlier. We took a seat on the grass, in the shade, and I will swear she knew what was happening. She kept looking down the street in one direction. She was all over me with licks and slobber. This girl knew her adventure was about to come to an excellent close. "Remy", I said between kisses, "I'll always remember you".
A white sedan pulled up, and as the passenger side came into view, that's about when I almost lost it. Window down, a little boy of maybe 5 years old popped his head out and yelled, "REMY!!! THAT'S MY DOGGIE!!!" Hallmark could not have scripted it any better.
The boy jumped into the back seat, I opened the passenger door, and Remy jumped right in. That 70 pound Belgian Malinois frame fit perfectly on the seat. Suddenly, all that excess energy she had displayed during our time together just melted away. She was back with her family. She was content and happy.
Frank and I talked for a few moments, and yes, I did subtly nudge him to get Remy chipped sooner rather than later. "After this", he said, "I'm going to get that done right away!"
We shook hands as he was thanking me profusely. The little boy was smiling. Remy had sat up and was taking what for her was obviously a familiar place.
As they were pulling out of the parking lot and heading home, I said, "Bye Remy! Have a great life, little girl". She turned, looked at me, and gave me a bark.
Yes, I almost lost it a second time.
I walked home, took down the gates, let Lady Bailey out of my office and allowed her to take her familiar place on the couch. The house was quiet again. You see, this was the first time since our magnificent Norwegian Elkhound boy, Master Magnus, passed away about 3 months ago that there was more than one pup under the roof. Only for a few hours, but the world seemed right again.
As I went back to my office, two very important things rolled around in my brain.
If I had not struck out with Remy on that walk, I would never had been in the precise place at the precise time to meet the person who would help set everything in solution motion. Turns out Frank not only responded to the NextDoor post, but he got my number from that blast email. It was a stroke of absolute luck that I took a real "shot in the dark" and wound up hitting a bullseye getting Remy home. I asked strangers for help, and the road led me to the answer.
In the end, my seeking help from people I had never met very likely saved Remy's life. Were it not for that, I never would have known her name, and she may never have seen that little boy and her family ever again. We would have done the best we could, but who can guess what that final outcome would have been? Big senior dogs do not often do well on the adoption chain.
I took the chance, and it paid off.
Oh, and that second thing?
It was just a few days ago while on a walk with Lady Bailey that I talked to Magnus. I told him that if there was another dog somewhere who needed help, please lead us to them and we would be there to make their life a little better.
Damned if he didn't hear me.
I'll likely never see Remy again, but I'll know that we did the proper thing for her. All thanks to taking a chance, seeking out help from people I had never met, and finding there's still good people and a lot of magic and wonder left in the world.
Here's hoping that somewhere down that road, there's a little magic and wonder waiting for you.
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