I saved another runaway dog today! Our dog and the other dogs on the street alerted me that something was going on, and low and behold, when I looked out the window I saw a dear old black dog trotting around. “Do something!” my daughter yelled, looking at me with those ‘even though I’m a teenager I still think of you as someone who has the power to save the world’ eyes.
I went outside and the whole thing had a very happy ending. As soon as the dog was back with his owner I thought, ‘Why didn’t I take a picture of the dog up on our hill so I could post about it?’ I passed it off thinking it could have been a great story, but now I can’t share it. Later in the day I realized that by not taking the photo, I was actually being a responsible citizen and that I did not do what I yell at so many people on TV for doing. When I see videos of accidents, wipe outs and other struggles, it always baffles me that the people filming never put down their cameras to go help. They’d rather get the footage. For me, the most important thing was making sure the dog didn’t try to run away again once I had him sitting still. I was talking to him the whole time, and who knows what would have happened if I stopped to try and take his picture.
I’ve decided to share a photo of my hill and you can imagine someone’s beautiful, well-loved black lab (who was about to be in big trouble by his owner) sitting there while I share the story.
When I got outside the dog was trying to climb up through the brush, which would have taken him up into the hills and nature paths, where it would be really hard to find him. I just called out “Hey buddy!” He turned around and stopped. I heard a loud voice from somewhere on a street above us shouting out “Bandit?!…Bandit?!”
I yelled back “If you’re looking for your dog, he’s down here!” The man was elated and replied “You found my dog! He’s totally harmless. I’ll bring my car down right now!” Since I now knew the dog’s name was Bandit I tried to call him down to me. He wanted to come down the hill, but he couldn’t figure out how to do it, so he just sat back down. I just kept talking to him, all the while the dogs in the homes around me were howling and just in a hilarious fit over this action.
The man arrived in his big ‘ol car and cowboy hat, and upon seeing him, the dog miraculously had no problem figuring out how to get down the hill and headed right into the car. With a grand thank you, they were on their way. My reward? Looking up in the window and seeing my daughter’s eyes of pride. I really don’t get those from my kids much anymore, so I guess I owe Bandit the thanks!
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