FLOYD THE DOG

Okay, so I didn't get to set myself down in front of the TV as planned, though, I’d had a very hard day at work and had every intention of doing just that after taking out the trash. As I started out the door, trash in hand, I noticed my neighbour, Martha, who lives across the street. I live alone, and she and her husband, Joe, have been very kind to me. They had me join in on their family Christmas celebration, and just the other day, took me to dinner. Martha is in her late 70's and not very well. She likes to take walks late in the evening. This has always worried me because she walks alone and is so sick and physically vulnerable.

I decided not to let her walk alone this evening. I dumped the trash, grabbed my jacket (it is chilly here at the moment) and called to her. She was glad to have the company. We set off down the street and had just reached the curve in the road when I saw this little dog, a Chihuahua. It was running to and fro, just as dogs do when they are lost. I called to it and it came to me. It appeared to be friendly. Then it went off, sniffing around. Anyone else would have gone on but not me.

I watched it for a little while, Martha waiting patiently. I knew the dog could not belong to the house we were in front of. That one was vacant, as was the house next to it, both victims of the current recession and subsequent repossession.

I decided to go to the house next door, which looked occupied, and see if they knew the dog. I rang the bell and a rat terrier came to the door ahead of his mistress. The nice woman came out and we called the dog over. It came right to us. She did not know whom it belonged to. But we both noted that it had a collar and one of those little bone shaped ID tags with an owner’s name and phone number on it. Luckily, I had my cell phone on me. She read the number off the tag and I dialled. There was no answer. I got the answering machine instead, and left a message about finding their dog and my phone number.

The dog, that I named Pedro for lack of his real name on his ID, appeared to be old, but in good health. I sensed he probably lived close by, and I asked the woman if she might take the dog in for the night. I told her that I was sure someone would call and claim him soon. I told her that I rescued cats, and right now I had a house full of them and didn't know how they would feel about another houseguest. She replied that she already had two dogs and two cats and couldn't take him in.

In the meantime, Martha eager to be off on her walk, had gone on without me. It was getting dark and I didn't want her to walk alone, so I asked the woman if she had a leash she could loan me. She was kind enough to loan me one, and Pedro and I set off to catch up with Martha.

When we got to the path that led to the park, I could see Martha just ahead of us. She had reached the part of the park used as a dog run. It is not fenced in and it is the responsibility of dog owners that use it to keep their dogs under control. As Pedro and I started up the path, I saw what appeared to be a large black dog headed Martha’s way. I shouted to her to warn her it was coming, but she either didn’t hear me, or understand what I’d said.

I scooped up Pedro, as he was no match for the other dog and hurried toward Martha. The other dog reached her first and started to jump on her. Martha kept her cool and didn’t panic. Whoever owned the dog saw what he was up to and called to him. The dog responded to its master’s call and left Martha alone.

I am all for places to let dogs run free, but either the area should be fenced, or owners should be more responsible and make sure their dogs are always in their sight. Martha is frail. The dog, though he probably meant her no real harm, could have knocked her down and severely injured her.

When I reached Martha, she seemed no worse for her experience, just glad to have Pedro and me back for company. We walked along the park path chatting. Another person approached with a big dog that was not on a leash, which, I might add, is against the law. I once again scooped up tiny Pedro and held him close until the dog and his human passed.

The rest of our walk around the park was uneventful and fun. I could not believe God had put me in this predicament again. Here I am just trying to help my neighbour and what does God do, sends me another stray dog to rescue. Well, I thought, isn't that just par for the course. Rescuing animals has been a life-long passion of mine. When I finish rescuing one, God always seems to find another to take its place. Most are not in as good shape as Pedro seemed to be, but more in need of tender loving care of the expensive vet kind.

I have to say, I have not had much exposure to Chihuahuas, but Pedro was a sweet, sweet little dog and very obedient. It looked like he would at least be spending the night with the Lynch Mob and me. I knew the Lynch Mob would think nothing of it, as over their lifetime, they have seen more than a few dogs of varying sizes come and go.

We humans were within sight of our homes when Pedro started acting like he knew where he was and wanted to go. I watched Martha to her door, and set Pedro down on the leash. I was going to see if he knew his way home. Sure enough, he led me to a house up a side street, the second house from the corner. He went right to the front door.

So, all ended well for everyone. Martha, Pedro and I had a nice walk. Martha got home safe, as did Pedro, and I have no new houseguests.

If someone had thought to put an address along with the phone number on that ID tag, Pedro would have been home before dark. It would have been handy to know his real name. On the other hand, had all that information been conveniently available, Pedro, Martha and I would not have shared a wonderful walk in the park.