Yesterday was utter chaos. I woke up, did a few house things (including assembling my new organizational boxes *Kon Mari closet intensifies*), then had to take the dogs to their FIRST PRO GROOMING IN TWO YEARS!! KERMIT FLAIL!! *ahem* I was a little excited.
On the way home, saw a little reddish brown chihuahua-lookin’ pup sniffing the flowers outside a residential complex. It had no collar, no leash, and a quick glance showed no humans nearby. “Is that…?” I gestured vaguely. “Yep.” Chris said knowing exactly what I meant, and was already looking for the spare leash I usually keep in my car for these moments. Damn, it’s at the old house.
I pull over and get out. Chris stands back, as he often does as the imposing human, ready to jump in to help but avoid scaring them. Little dog sees me and is curious. Lets out a little bark. I sit on the ground, dog comes no closer. I get up and walk nearer and sit down again. I tell Chris to circle behind him to make sure he doesn’t run into traffic as this is on a busy corner. This works great as little doggo sees him, gives a little bark at him, then runs the opposite direction toward me and jumps into my arms. Aw! Wiggly little buddy!
We drive to the nearest vet to check for chip. No chip. I take the little pup home and the dog immediately starts peeing on everything and trying to lick and jump on Benni. Benni was NOT amused and snarled a lot. So I took out a big doggie gate and separated them.
Dog continues to run around trying to pee on things (My new furniture! My fresh, unsealed concrete floors! NO DOGGO!!), while I am trying to make phone calls, post lost dog notices on NextDoor and FB and web sites. I run around with enzyme treatments to clean up pee. Dog whines that they can’t get to Benni. Dog tries to eat a dog bed. I sit down and play ball with them for a bit, but though they play an excellent game of fetch, they lose interest in 10 minutes. This dog is looking more and more like a puppy, with sharp very white teeth, and an attention span of a gnat. I have no chew toys in the house, so it’s all about distracting them.
The lady at the residential building at which I found the dog checked all records of animals there for me, but none matching. She was super sweet and super helpful. I got an appointment at Seattle Animal Shelter to bring puppers in at 5pm, which was around when my dogs were to be done at the groomers. The woman on the phone was very helpful and answered my questions about their procedures. I haven’t brought a stray in there for a while, so it was good to know.
No promising leads the rest of the day. I spent almost 5 hours calling and posting notices and trying to distract/entertain/clean up after a puppy. Got nothing else done. At about 4:25, the dog decides they are going to curl up in a ball for a nap on my hip. Of course. Five minutes of quiet snuggles then it’s time to pack the little pal up and head to SAS. While I am filling out paperwork, I get a call from the groomers that my dogs are done. It’s rush hour traffic. Whee. I finish at SAS, give final kisses to today’s manic little companion (really was a sweet little pup!!), and drive north again to pick up my two dogs, stopping at the grocery store on the way for dinner ingredients I was supposed to get earlier. Pick up my pups, and they look fabulous! I get them home by and collapse for a bit.
After a needed short break—and a lot of snuggling on my own freshly bathed and trimmed pups—I cook dinner, drink wine, watch a movie, and fall into bed exhausted.
What a dog-tastic day yesterday was!
