Chancey, a Scottish Terrier, is the latest addition to our four-legged fur family. I dog-napped him this past summer while visiting a friend down in New London, Connecticut. She was dog-sitting him for a week while his family (who didn’t want a dog in the first place but their daughter did) were on a business trip.
At the age of two: Chancey hated being leash walked so he pulled a lot; he had a great fear of anything with wheels on it; he didn’t know any basic dog commands (sit, stay and go do a doggie commercial and bring home mega bucks!) nor was he potty trained. With that said, I wanted a better life for him. So I brought him home. Which made him dog number three in our tiny little house (1097 sq. feet) on a heavily trafficked road with no fenced-in yard. What was I thinking?
I learned quickly that I was in way over my head. The first episode happened when I took all three dogs to the dog park (read a Fast Eddies’ story for a better description of the park). I had Chancey on a leash but he was pulling so hard I let him off, a very stupid move on my part. Everything was fine until we met up with several groups of dogs. With all the doggy greetings involved, (barking, sniffing butts and a little bit of growing) he quickly walked off with another group. By the time I got my wits about me and had the other two dogs under control, I realized that I was missing the newest addition. Yikes! I walked around yelling for him but no luck. I took Chloe and Fast Eddie back to the Jeep and went searching for him.
I was running around asking the other dog owners walking their dogs if they had seen him. No luck! Finally, a woman with her own three dogs shows up with Chancey in tow. Yea!!
Episode #2 – I didn’t have a tight hold on him while transporting him from the Jeep onto the kitchen porch. He quickly took off and headed East on Rt. 66 while walking down the middle of the road using the yellow lines as a guide. With four knee surgeries, it is hard for me to move quickly much less run but run I did, and I scooped him up.
Episode #3 – We are back at the park and I’ve now learned to keep him on leash and use the Gentle Leader that our friend had given us which I wasn’t using until then. It was just the ticket when it came to keeping him from pulling and under control. We finished our morning walk and headed back to the Jeep. Both Fast Eddie and Chancey needed help getting up into the back. So I lifted Eddie up first and took off his leash while holding onto Chancey’s. Then it was Chancey’s turn. My big mistake was removing the leash before lifting him up into the Jeep and he took off. I went running after him leaving Chloe outside the Jeep with a fellow dog walker and Eddie in the Jeep. Right next to the parking lot is a large community garden which was in full bloom in late July. Well I couldn’t see him since he was so close to the ground. He evidently returned to the parking lot where we were re-united.
Episode #4 – A friend of ours came over for dinner this past Fall. We were using a baby gate out on the kitchen porch to keep the dogs contained and off of Rt. 66! In letting our friend onto the porch I created a small opening that Chancey used for his escape. I’m screaming for him to stop while I’m doing my version of jogging to catch up with him. Off he goes again heading East on Rt. 66! Now he’s a black dog and the light was fading, it was hard for me to see him much less for on-coming traffic. Off course, a woman waving her arms does make traffic slow down a bit. The first driver stopped but the truck behind her moved around her and was heading directly toward Chancey and the driver didn’t see him in the road. At this point, I felt something moving quickly to my left. It was Mary madly running. She hasn’t had any knee surgeries yet so she’s still able to sprint. She had heard my screams from the back of the house and knew it had to do with one of the dogs. She finally reached Chancey before the truck ran him over and gave him a talking to!
Episode #5 –Mary and Lisa (our friend from Hawaii) had just gone shopping for our Christmas dinner and were unloading the groceries with Chancey jumping up and down on the porch. He was so excited that they had come home. Seeing the opportunity to make a run for it, he did. Both Mary and Lisa ran yelling and screaming as he again headed East on Rt. 66. This time is was light enough for traffic to see him. Traffic came to an abrupt halt. Coming from the East was a large truck, the driver made a quick decision and turned his vehicle so that it blocked the road. And, a pick-up truck coming from the West stopped traffic from that direction. Yea, another possible disaster averted!
We’ve come to the conclusion that Chancey thinks he’s “Toto from the Wizard of Oz.” He is a small terrier like the original Toto was. He hails from Kansas and he is always searching for that elusive yellow brick road like so many of us are!
Monday, December 22, 2008
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