So now I am a table?

Grrrrr... It's bad enough to have a Pet that writes in your personal (Dogonal?) diary, but now... DAD JUST USED ME FOR A TABLE TOP!

I was hooking him up before we went to work Friday. I called Dad over, and by being still and really giving him my best; don't-leave-me-behind look, I won the almost daily contest between Sadie and myself of who gets to go to work that day.

Some contest, the looser just goes after lunch. But the bank trip - can you say teats? - is in the morning!

Anyway Dad had stuff in his hands, I was in the doorway, and I guess he must have been in a hurry or lazy one. He puts a bag of treats, and several papers he was taking in to work on my back as we got on-lead. I was so shocked, I didn't even move, so Dad has been calling me his hairy table all day.

Yeah, give me another shot at those treats like that Dad, and you might find out how unstable this table is!

There I was...

Walking down the street with my Pet on a beautiful spring day. We were only a couple of houses away from our den when I was confronted by this snarling demon!

(Manny, it never came closer than one yard away AND stayed across the street.)

It stared at me with evil in it’s eyes furiously barking and snarling. I was moments away from having my throat torn open!

(Okay… It did have bug eyes, and barked, and postured some.)

I placed myself between this fanged death machine and tried to comfort my Pet.

(Manny, that last was what I did.)

(Actually we played a “Look at That” game as described by trainer/behaviorist; Leslie McDevitt. We spent at least 10 minutes approaching this dog as he ran loose a few houses away. Success can be measured as Manny never reacted in kind to this rude dog’s behavior. He would have just 30 days ago.)

I then led us safely away from this danger.

(I led.)

(Even though we were just a few houses away from home, we went all the way around the block to avoid any true confrontation. Opps forgot to mention, it was a 20 pound pug about ¼ the size of Manny.)

I was awesome!

(That you are, my friend. That you are!)

Sit!

AKA - Time to Brag on my Dawg!

You're in the dog park... Another dog is feeling the need to hump Manny, which doesn't thrill either of us... About 3 other dogs are swirling around the scene. What do you do?

"Manny, SIT!"

And he did.

The humping dog couldn't. Manny was sitting. Yes, with one fustrated humper behind, and three other dogs all in his face, he SAT.

I was never more proud of my boy!

If Manny and the other dog had started something, and with three other dogs all nearby, it could have been a bad scene. But nothing happened because Manny Sat instead of running away or reacting. I had to ask the oblivious owner of the humper to corral his dog for a minute. The other three, having no action to take part in, left.

It was only about 30 days ago, watching a training tape, that I was awoken to the true power of a solid SIT command. Forget the emergency RECALL, put in an emergency SIT instead! - Your dog is on the wrong side of a busy street, you want to recall him, how about a SIT until you cross the street?

So Manny and I renewed training on SIT. It was SIT to the side, SIT with my back turned away, SIT from DOWN position, SIT while I lay down on my stomach on the floor, SIT from 3, then 6, later 12 feet away. Just before this non-incident, Manny SAT for a command 30 some feet away at the park!


Does your dog REALLY know SIT?

Mine does!

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Guess I can't complain about Dad writting in my diary this time!

Man.

Emily: FOUND!

It was an easy six weeks after the hit-by-a-car call that, THE CALL came.
Emily was not only found, but captured! I got that news as I headed to a night class, AARF had someone else on the way there. After class I called,
and; Yep, right dog, captured, looking healthy, just a bit skinny, and on the way home to Richmond.

Seems someone had read the flyer, and had been feeding Emily at her work place. One colder Fall day, Emily followed her inside and someone else shut the door behind her!

And so, hopefully, ends the escape part of Emily's story. She is up for adoption.

One final footnote for me: I was asked to take her and another dog to the Vet for checkup... I put her inside a crate inside her safe house house, and didn't let her out of that until we were inside the Vets exam room, with three doors between us and outside... And I stood next to that last door, just in case someone would try to open it.

NO WAY, not gonna happen again!

Emily was healthy.

Lesson learned: Never give up! I thought she was gone for good as soon as she vanished into the woods that first night.

The Saga of Emily: Help and the long search.

While that dank night was MY last sighting of Emily, others had better luck. Calls from local residents continued to pour in daily. An unemployed man, "Billy" joined in the hunt in between job searches. He saw Emily several times, had her in his capture net once, and came nose-to-nose with her under a building, but Emily scampered away every time.

Months went by, every couple of weeks a new flyer was created in a neon color different from the last.

One call said she was hiding under an out building, come quick! We did... And nothing.

Another call; She lives inside an abandoned building, and guy that feeds some of the feral cats had been feeding her. - This was during Emily's I am living with the Cats stage of her escape... A trip down, nope.

One day a call came in that someone observed her being hit by a car and running away. AARF made yet another trip hoping / not hoping to find her maybe hurt in a nearby ditch. No luck.

In time, the question becomes; Just how long can one small town be stirred up over one small feral dog. (Especially when there were plenty others around.) Summer faded into Fall, and calls became less, and faded entirely.

The Saga of Emily: Search

Armed with a hundred flyers all printed front and back on neon pink paper I returned to South Hill. The flyers I planned to leave outdoors were placed inside sheet protectors, the open top sheet protectors were taped shut and used upside down so rain would not soak the message.

I stopped by the police department and left a few there. I returned to the neighborhood the calls had been coming from and each house got a flyer. Several more were left inside and outside businesses in the area.

I searched all afternoon, through another major thunderstorm and downpoor. I brought in more have-a-heart traps and baited them. As night fell, I parked to rest and get dinner. Moving back to the traps, I released one of several feral cats that got caught. South Hill is swarming with feral cats. A cat rescue group could spend a life time of effort there. Sorry, I do dogs.

About 10-pm I got a call; Emily had just been spotted a block away! Obeying most of the rules of the road, I quickly zoomed over. Didn't see a thing... I drove around, and as it was wet, and late I decided to go home. An hour an a half drive back awaited. As I headed away just ahead in the gloom I saw movement in the road ahead. It was Emily!

She glanced over her shoulder at my SUV and dashed into the woods. I got out and softly called, but nothing. Remember... she was feral. It was my last sight of her for quite some time.

The Saga of Emily: The Flyer, and her rescue story

UPDATE: FRIDAY 7/24

Emily IS HERE!!!

Lost Chihuahua mix - 8 months old - 6 pounds - microchipped- very shy! She has been spotted in this neighborhood on Marrow, Benton, and Northington Streets.

DO NOT CHASE AFTER HER! She might run away from this area.

$200 Reward for capture. Contact: XXX XXX XXXX
with any information at all, even sightings.

(From the flip side of the original flyer printed July 2009:)

All About EMILY...

Important: Emily is up to date on all shots!!! - Incl. Rabies.

Emily is one of 72 dogs seized from an animal hoarder by Animal Control Officers in South Carolina a few weeks ago. She is being rescued my Animal Adoption & Rescue Foundation (www.AARF.org)
of Richmond. Emily was on her way to that rescue group when she escaped from the volunteers making a transport switch at the Cracker Barrel Saturday July, 11. Sadly, she had only that final distance to go for safety.

Emily has had little human contact in her short life, and what contact she has experienced has been bad. She started off at the hoarder with so many animals that none received the attention and care needed to become used to human contact... Then she was seized and turned into the Pound, scary! Then she was spayed, and given all her shots, ouch! Next, she was passed to various drivers she had no clue about.
Her last human contact was when one of the volunteers made a failed grab for her at the Cracker Barrel.

She does not know her name, and will not come to you! We do hope she might get hungry enough to accept smelly food , such as: Canned cat food, canned Salmon, or she might be attracted to your cook out...

IF YOU SEE EMILY...

1) Call us and let us know! We are trying to keep track of her and have humane traps set in the area in hope of capturing her. The traps are being checked regularly by local residents.

2) PLEASE DO NOT CHASE AFTER HER! That will only make this bad situation worse. She might move out of the area and be lost forever.

3) If she has cornered herself, or can be lured inside a secure building or yard, we encourage you to take the chance to capture her.

AARF CONTACT: XXX XXX XXXX
Local Contact: XXX XXXX

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Several of these flyers were printed in the following weeks. Each time another neon color paper was used. I think the neighborhood got used to looking for updates and the different colors.

The Saga of Emily: Calls!

Sunday continued my string of driving weekends as I ran my daughter up to a summer camp in Northern Virginia, another 140 mile round trip. On the way back I got a call from my AARF contact; She had been fielding sighting calls all afternoon. Emily was indeed in that neighborhood that was my last gasp from the day before! South Hill was across the State from where I was at the time.

Back at work Monday, I resolved to create more and better flyers and make sure no home in that neighborhood missed word of our search for Emily. The flyers were created, and I arrainged to take Tuesday off to distribute the information and to do another search.

The Saga of Emily: The First Week.

Going to work Monday was a relief! I was totally exausted from the weekend. I was depressed, my legs were cut and the posion ivy was going strong. I made the obligatory calls to the police, the two local vets, the SPCA the next town over...

A word about the South Hill police... THEY WERE WONDERFUL!!! They were with us evey step of the way. They searched that first night, and agreed to check the traps left behind for Emily or anything else captured. I do believe the entire force made some effort in the recovery. The police got us in contact with a few locals that ended up playing a major role in the chase. We never head from the Animal Control guy.

Monday, I got the only picture of Emily we had and made a flyer with her picture. We didn't hear a thing about Emily that first week, but the plan was to return Saturday and search again.

A couple of transport girls from way south got in contact with the search group. They told this interesting story:

They transported Emily too. When they were making the swap with the driver that I met up with, Emily almost escaped them too! Long story short, the grabbed her as she almost slipped loose and tossed her into the crate I was to open an hour later. Remember, the only warning I got was, "She is shy and scared." Almost evey dog ever transported is 'shy and scared'. No one ever mentioned she almost escaped!

The Saturday a week after her escape, we all met back in South Hill. We searched all afternoon, no sightings, no luck.

Thinking she would be likely killed or lost forever if she actually crossed the Interstate, I posted signs on both sides of the Interstate but concentrated on the original side nearest the cloverleaf Emily was last seen in. There was an open field near by, some more woods and a neighborhood after that.
Feeling hopeless for this six pound dog, I blanketed this neighborhood in hope she might check their trash cans for food if she were still alive.

The Saga of Emily: The Day After.

Dad's note

After about three hours of sleep, I had to drive another 60 some miles to Williamsburg and pick up my daughter from camp early in the morning. I arrived back from that trip exausted yet again and had to sleep some before joining the search back in South Hill.

I arrived to find my friends that came back with the traps already at an Interstate cloverleaf looking for Emily. They had just seen her, and almost had her in their capture net. Someone else stopped near the road to report seeing her run into the thick jungle of woods there. (Remember, it rains almost every time I go to South Hill, so the stuff there grows wild!) We searched the cloverleaf with summer traffic thundering past, the posted speed limit at 75 MPH. We didn't find Emily, but did jump a deer that dodged the traffic and successfully crossed the highway without causing an accident.

Another fruitless day of seaching.

I thought I would never see Emily again, or perhaps only as tuft of fur on the side of the road. I looked at every dead animal as I drove the area.