Just had a knock on my door, and wondered “Who could be stopping by at this hour on a Sunday?” Lo and behold, it was my friend Kim and a friend of hers. Kim leading Lily on a leash and her friend was carrying Thurston, and they greeted me with “Are you missing something?” I had that immediate feeling of horror that washes over you- all the tragic “What ifs” regarding cars and vicious dogs and what not, and then the sweet wave of relief and then “Damnit Thurston.”
Apparently Christion left the back gate ajar and Thurston made a bolt for it and dimwitted Lily followed.
benw
When is a gate not a gate? Glad you got the doggies back okay.
Looks like the US Open men’s final is rain delayed for now. So it’s going to be gamecast of the Chargers (not looking good so far) and Ravens/Broncos on the TV.
WereBear
Glad it turned out that way. Thurston is very bright.
SWMBO
Safe doggies = happy owner. All’s well that ends well. Swat Christion with a rolled up newspaper and make him check the gate twice. Also, too, was Steve out? Pics or he’s MIA.
BD of MN
On primary election day my wife and I took off to vote after I got home from work. I apparently didn’t close the screen door all the way and when we returned, one of our Great Pyrenees, Ben, decided that was an invite to go exploring. We frantically, and after a couple of hours, as darkness fell, increasingly despondently, drove around in ever widening circles, to no avail.
Finally, about 10:30pm, we were trying to figure out how best to share our message about the missing dog, I typed “lost dogs” into the facebook search bar, and “Lost Dogs of MN” popped up. I clicked, and lo and behold, there was our big dumb grinning dog posted there. He had basically made it to the end of our street when a couple of teenagers found him and took him home with them, fed him dinner, and let him play with their English Boxer, who was terribly disappointed when we came and retrieved him….
It’s not something you often hear, but facebook does have its uses…
JPL
How do we know that Thurston was the guilty party.
rikyrah
@BD of MN:
Glad you got your dog back.
rikyrah
Cole, glad you had a happy ending.
John Cole
@JPL: Because Lily never ever leaves on her own. If it is just the two of us, she can be off leash and never leaves 25-50′ radius of me and gets worried if she loses sight of me and comes running. The gate has been open for hours when Rosie was inside sleeping and I was gardening and Lily never ran off.
If Rosie gets off leash, she bolts. And then Lily follows. Same with Thurston. Hell, he tries to squirt out the front door any time there is 2″ of room.
BD of MN
@rikyrah: Thanks. Turns out his nametag had fallen off someplace (I’ll probably find it someday with the lawn mower), so all he had on the collar were a couple of rabies tags, and the vet was already closed…
WaterGirl
@JPL:
hahahahaha
I feel pretty sure that none of us who have puppies at the moment wondered that for even a second.
Cole, so glad for the happy ending. I second the idea of swatting Christian with a rolled up newspaper. Not hard enough to hurt him, just enough to get his attention.
Diana
so glad to hear they are home safe and sound.
I had a most wonderful indoor/outdoor cat whose exuberant, outgoing personality included an ambition to venture into places she couldn’t get out of, and more than once I had to post “lost cat” signs around the neighborhood. Fortunately she was such a friendly creature that once she knew she’d fallen into a sunken court she couldn’t jump out of, or gotten from a tree branch onto a third story windowsill only to discover the tree branch (no longer bent under her weight) had sprung back out of her reach, she was only too willing to get the attention of any human she saw. Then I’d get the wonderful phone call: “we think we have your cat….” and I’d run over with a cat carrier to find her ensconced with new friends, happy to see me, and delighted with her wonderful adventure.
Eventually she sprained a paw on one of these excursions and thereafter decided they weren’t fun, but until that happened….
redshirt
Thurston is of the Devil.
Doug R
I think that’s the true test of intelligent life-trying to escape the box.
Gindy51
See if you can find one of those latches that makes the door close. Our screen door has one and I am sure you can find one that will work outside.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
So did Lily tag along with Thurston to make sure he stayed safe, or to see if she could get him to stay gone? Inquiring minds are inquiring.
NotMax
Attempting escape from the end tables and the linoleum, no doubt.
(I kid, I kid.)
Mnemosyne (tablet)
Also, too, since the crafters tend to turn up on the pet threads, I’m going to put in a plug for the first knitting book I’ve purchased that G has immediately approved of — Toni Carr’s Geek Knits:
http://us.macmillan.com/geekknits/tonicarr
Even for non-knitters, the photography is really fun because the models include people like Adam Savage, John and Christine Scalzi, Neil Gaiman, George RR Martin, Joel Hodgson with his robot friends, and more.
Joy in FL
So glad the doggies are safe.
I think Christion will feel bad enough, no swats needed, just the information. I know how I would feel in his place.
Steve photo, please. Photos of the others would not be wasted on this group, either.
WaterGirl
@Joy in FL: What you say about Christian is surely right. I had a similar incident in my 20s, only without a happy ending – my beloved 9-month old cocker spaniel was hit by a car and killed. I lived in a house with 8 other people and I told everyone that I never wanted to know who had let her out.
Arrow was one of the best dogs ever.
trollhattan
Heh, ours took herself for a walk a couple weeks ago and the spouse didn’t know she was gone until a neighbor brought her across the street to our door. At least she doesn’t bold and run like she did when younger, just saunters to the yard across the street to pester their dog, should she be out.
Stupid dog….
elmo
My first German Shepherd was a bolter. My then-partner (now wife) made it her solemn mission to teach that dog one solid behavior: every time you get to a curb, you sit and wait for the command to cross. Every time, no exceptions ever.
I used to laugh. Until Hawkeye launched himself out the half-closed screen door and went racing off down the street. No way I could catch him in time …
until I actually did catch up with him, down at the intersection, sitting patiently at the corner and waiting for somebody to give him permission to cross the street.
BruceJ
@John Cole: Very glad you got ’em back home safe. We lost one of ours that way (I was the one who left the gate open..).two got out, Katie was picked up by Animal Control two days later, Hunter simply vanished into the night. It’s been since 2011, we still miss her.
geg6
@JPL:
Knowing his sister, I have no doubt it was him.
Oh, and Lovey has now eaten a third pair of glasses. I caught her before they were completely ruined. So, I’ll be able to see until the new ones are in. This time, I got insurance, thank dog.
geg6
@redshirt:
Yup. So is Lovey.
WaterGirl
@elmo: The cocker spaniel I mentioned above did the exact same thing. She bolted quite a ways until she came to the drive-thru exit for a small bank – it had the same curbs so she didn’t know the different.
What a good girl she was!
Also, some people here were teasing Cole last week about how someone might address US Mail to Cole in a small town since they don’t have his address. True story: One of my friends was gone for 6 months for an internship in Haiti, and she couldn’t recall the exact address. So she addressed it to:
My name
West Washington Street
Cocker spaniel out front
Urbana, IL 61801
The mailman delivered it right to my door! :-)
elmo
@WaterGirl: oh NEAT
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@SWMBO: We need Rosie, Steve, and Shawn proof of life. I know Shawn was at the beach, but did he take Rosie and Steve, and is taking the long way home?
sacrablue
Because this seems to be an animal thread, I’ll try my bleg. I found a litter of feral kittens yesterday. I can’t even attempt to bring them home unless I can find homes for them. They seemed curious enough to come close to me. If I had some food I think they would have gotten close enough to touch them. Anybody in central or northern California need a kitten or two or three? They seem to be 8-10 weeks old, gray with subdued tabby stripes. There are at least three of them.
elmo
@geg6: geg darling, I will say to you what my dog-trainer wife would say: how did your glasses get into the puppy’s crate?
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
Happy it all ended well.
I was in the car, about to back out of the driveway, when my husband came outside asking where Muppet was. I figured she was in the back bedroom where the cats liked to hang out, and said so. He checked, and came back outside — no Muppet. Then he noticed her out of the corner of his eye, on the neighbor’s property, happily eating their grass. She had slipped out when I opened the door to leave.
Bear in mind that I’ve had ferrets. I’m used to small, fast, quiet escape artists, and I’m good at preventing them from getting outside. But Muppet’s a whole other beast.
SWMBO
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Here is one that I bought years ago at Michael’s.
http://www.amazon.com/Knits-Nerds-Projects-Science-Fiction/dp/1449407919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442182215&sr=8-1&keywords=knits+for+nerds
She has another one that is for roller derby.
D58826
Just like with a toddler – when they are to quiet its time to check on them because they must be up to something. Usually no good
Wyliecoat
OT, John, when you do the redesign, can you make it so that going back from a blog post on the mobile site will take you back to the same post on the front page and not to the top of the page?
I hope I’m clear about what I’m talking about.
SWMBO
@D58826: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.
Mischief managed.
Julie
@BD of MN: What do you call a Great Pyrenees off leash? A DisaPyr!!
Calliope Jane
Very glad that ended well.
When I first rescued my dog, unbeknownst to me, he could fit through the metal gate that led to the street. One day, I went out looking for him and he was out by our driveway greeting another dog. I was super apologetic but the neighbor was like, you know he does this every day, right?
What?! Yes, this dog had been timing his escape and return so we’d never know he was gone. And we’d only had him a couple of weeks! A little too smart for his own good…
A guy
I ran over the first family dog about 20 years ago in a Sunday morning trip to the office to work. Knew I hit it so I returned home to the rest of the family eating breakfast and told my wife I was getting my .22 pistol. By the time I got back to Bones he was dead.
Mnemosyne
@SWMBO:
I have that one, too, though I think I bought it on Kindle. G mostly liked the models in this one. And it has a “Star Trek” dog sweater modeled by a very patient tuxedo cat.
Mnemosyne
@A guy:
You just have no idea how to talk to people, do you?
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: Wow, this guy is right up there with a boss I had while I was in school – I was a bartender, he was my manager and his fiancé was a waitress there. She came in one day in tears because her two kitties had disappeared, and John told us that he had taken them out and shot them. (Not when she was present, of course.)
I don’t know why I didn’t quit my job and tell his nice fiancé that she was engaged to a sociopath. Actually, thinking back, I do know. I had just finished grad school and my mom was dying and I wanted a job that would pay the bills while I drove back and forth to Chicago a lot. The current me, however, would have found a different way to pay the bills.
He ended up firing me eventually because he wanted me to stay in town and work over the christmas holiday – what would clearly be my last christmas with my mom – and I told him I wouldn’t do it. He was a real peach, that guy.
raven
You really can’t see how much bigger “Nove” is than the Bohdi but he’s huge!
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
That is, seriously one of the most mature, adult, grown-up and enlightened reactions to a tragedy I’ve ever heard of. I suspect very damn few of us could forgo the dubious pleasures of retribution. Good for you. And I’m sorry for the loss of your pup. Cars + dogs = sadness (usually).
raven
: @WaterGirl:
Me too, 8 people and 9 dogs at 1308 University.
SiubhanDuinne
@geg6:
I don’t mean to be snarky at all, but you might want to consider (a) a hard case to keep your glasses in when you’re not wearing them; (b) training yourself to place them on some high shelf or piece of furniture that you know Lovey can’t reach; or (c) LASIK surgery.
Really, what is it with her and eyeglasses? I’ve had cats that enjoyed batting my specs off the bedside table onto the floor (and occasionally under the bed — that was always amusing), but there must be something in the taste/smell of the plastic, or maybe your own aroma that’s rubbed off on the frames, which is saying to Lovey “Chew Me! Chew Me!”
NotMax
@raven
And 4 vacuum cleaners?
;)
SiubhanDuinne
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
OMG. She’s another one of those furry little escape artists, isn’t she? Truly, between your two, and Lovey, and Thurston, I’m in a semi-chronic state of worry about dogs I’ve never even met.
raven
@NotMax: In 1971, sheeeet. 8 bongs.
Denali
We had a Husky who was determined to get to Alaska at every opportunity. Also, he liked to visit the neighbor’s garage, where they fed their Bernese.Mountain dog. I do miss him though.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Is this a recent photo? ‘Cuz the Bohdi/Bhodi/Bodhi is looking very youthful and energetic.
Such a great-looking dog.
shell
My dog’s not a bolter/wanderer, but she still has gotten out three times over the years. The last time, it was thru a loose picket in the fence. Calling in vain, then driving all over town,,practically sobbing behind the wheel. After nearly two hours, came back and a friend said ”shes back home.’ My next door neighbors had had a barbecue the night before, and Kate just went down into their backyard to check things out. Then walked back in the front door , five minutes after I’d left. Aaaargh.
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
So the one who behaved was Rosie? That seems wrong.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: What a nice compliment. I am a very forgiving person, but I was afraid that if I knew who it was I might not be able to be gracious about it, so it was better for me not to know. That sad day is forever etched in my memory.
Everyone in the house adored Arrow – hell, everyone who met her adored Arrow, she was just one of those dogs.
@raven: 1005 California. It was a sad day when they tore down the house decades later for one university building or another. The most dogs I ever lived with was 5, and holy cow, that was a handful.
Edit: we were kitty corner from the House of O, if you knew what that was.
WaterGirl
@Tara the Antisocial Social Worker: I burst out laughing when I read your comment.
Gex
I can imagine exactly how you must have felt. If I ever discovered Casey wasn’t home safe when I thought he was I would feel sick with after the fact worry. So glad your pups are home safe and sound.
(Shudders)
@WaterGirl: My heart breaks reading your story. I’m sorry for your loss.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: This afternoon.
raven
@WaterGirl: 1308 is long gone to the hospital (where I was born)! Do you remember Turners Rib House?
kdaug
Outta my brain, Cole. My little monster had a bout of explosive diarreah this morning in the car. Opened the door to clean it, and she bolted, trailing her leash. Got her back from animal control about an hour ago (they found her on MoPac (3-lane highway)). Long damned day. Exploring ways to surgically graft her to my leg
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: This was my dog Ralph and me fishing on Wildcat Creek i Hamilton Illinois 40 years ago!
shell
@raven: Awwww. Looks like Ralph is waiting for that first tasty fish.
Elizabelle
Rotten beloved doggies.
Patricia Kayden
My doggie made a run for it today too so I feel your pain.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
I’m thinking that the person who in fact was responsible for letting Arrow out — even if s/he has never fessed up to you directly — is probably, to this day, racked with guilt. I still think your response was the better part of valour. Nicely done.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Oh gods, what a great, totally focussed dog. What was Ralph’s story? Possibly you’ve mentioned him before, but I’m sorry to say I don’t recall. He is a very handsome guy.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Well, the B. looks fantastic. Tell him I said so.
SiubhanDuinne
@Patricia Kayden:
Hope your doggie came back safely and in one piece.
schrodinger's cat
Rogue doggies are rogue
Aleta
Got a call a few hours ago from some people on an island, saying they found our dog. (But we’re not there, and the dog is fast asleep.). Must be something dog whistling in the air tonight? Btw, the dog here is a poodle and a) If he wants to get through a barrier or a door, he gets through; and b) behind the sweet innocent face is a brain that’s always prepared. All he needs is an opportunity, the method has been worked out well in advance. The impossible deed is accomplished in seconds and all that remains is the faint cry Hi Ho Silver fading into the distance. I didn’t know about poodles before extracting this one from a previous situation, awhile ago. The smartest thing he does is not let on how smart he is.
redshirt
Lovey and Thurston: Dogs from Hell.
schrodinger's cat
Doggie thread needs a kitteh, a literary kitteh.
dexwood
@elmo:
We had a terrier/weasel mix, Cactus Jack, who loved to escape through a barely opened door. My mission became to train him to go no farther than the sidewalk, never into the street. He was very smart and I accomplished my task more quickly than I could ever have expected. Hogan, a German Shepherd mix, my favorite above all in 55+ plus years of dogs in my life, took off every two or three months. I bailed him out of the animal shelter many times. Eight cross country trips I made with him and they were always fun.
J R in WV
Our dogs run free in the forest. Sometimes a new puppy will run too far and get lost for a while.
Alice, who was 9 months old when I rescued her from the humane pound, a whitish lab mix, didn’t come home one day. The next day I made flyers with her picture and our phone number. We drove all the way around the mountain we live on, going up each little dead end road. It took all day.
No luck, although there was another white lab up on another hill.
The next evening she found her way back, and was very desperate for lunch and dinner. She has never been gone alone for more than a few minuted, except when bored they sometimes go next door, about 150 yards up the hill to the neighbors.
And every work day the neighbor’s dogs come down here, because it is just so boring on the ridge without people to entertain you! And if Terry uses power tools working on the (not yet completed) house, one of their dogs comes down here to get away from that terrible noise.
We have had two very elderly dogs leave for the daily run through the woods and never return. We firmly believe they had a medical emergency and died in their precious wooded forest, high up on the ridge, with the owls and fox and such. The last MIA dog was Step-Aside-Clyde, a black Very, very long haired dog who loved the winter, and would hardly come it if it was really cold outside.
He would lay on the back deck in a snow storm, and the snow would just pile up in his back, and except for his glowing black eyes and nose, he would be completely invisible. When a snow first started early in fall, he would go out and roll in it, and push his nose through the snow to pile it up on his face.
He was my best dog ever. I still miss him, all of them, really! And many of them are best dog, ever. Sniff.
Origuy
@raven: I remember Turner’s Rib House. I lived at 401 S 6th. The house is still there, but Google Street View doesn’t go past it. For a while, I had a couple as housemate who had a cockapoo. They were vegetarians, but not crazy about it so the dog got meat. It liked lettuce, though, and would sit up and beg for it. A pretty mellow dog for a cockapoo.
Anne Laurie
@dexwood: It’s probably just as well, in retrospect, that our rescue Zevon showed his true colors within 36 hours of coming to our house. An endless night dragging our other two dogs around the neighborhood every hour, hoping he’d come to them if he wouldn’t come to me, convinced me he was a bolter to the bone. I called Animal Control as soon as they opened the next morning, and it turned out a couple of college kids had collected him on the wrong side of the third-most-dangerous intersection in the state, not ten minutes after he jumped out that open window & took off before I could catch up with him. For the six months after that, he wore his leash 24/7, in case we needed to stomp on it trailing behind when he found an opening in our ever-scaled-up defenses (like when he discovered he could escape from the ‘safe’ doggy car harness by throwing himself over the back of the front seat — he must’ve half-strangled himself before his weight pulled him free). He’s pushing 14 now, fatter & getting arthritic, but he still managed to escape a couple months ago when the Spousal Unit carelessly left the front door ajar while he signed for a package…
WaterGirl
@raven: I was just thinking about Turner’s Rib House when I was swimming at the pool this summer. Don’t know what made me think of it, but damn, that was a really cool place. Long gone.
Did you live near there?