There’s been a lot of conversation in my household lately regarding the addition of a four-legged family member. It’s a converstation I am not entirely opposed to. There are of course the usual concerns of pet health care costs and the responsibility of feeding another mouth, not to mention doodoo duty (I can’t believe I just typed those words) and multiple walks a day (which really wouldn’t hurt any of us). Other than those concerns I think it could be a nice addition. That’s why I volunteered our pet sitting services twice last summer, and for the most part they went off without a hitch with one HUGE exception!
I saw the post on Facebook. My sister-in-law’s sister needed a dog sitter for a little over a week while her family was on vacation. I didn’t answer right away since I live a good hour from her but a couple days later I sent her a message asking if she’d found someone. She was so relieved that we were willing to watch Alvin for her and since they were flying from the airport near us it would be perfect!
I was at church when Alvin arrived so B was there to greet him and get all the care instruction for him. Her one warning to us was that he likes to RUN. As in run AWAY. She also said he may follow us around a lot since he had some anxieties. B said when she left Alvin cried and repetedly ran from the door to the window and back. By the time I got home Alvin had calmed down but was still very wary of us. We took him for a walk and then got ready to take laundry to the laundromat to dry. The plan was to crate him while we were there. You know what they say about well laid plans…
I think we got one basket of laundry out the door before Alvin slipped out and ran halfway down the street. B ran after him barefoot, laundry completely abandoned. The further B ran the further Alvin ran. B persued the chase through the neighborhood yelling “ALVIN” at the top of his lungs (sounding a lot like Dave’s rendition of “ALVIN” from Alvin and the Chipmunks, only a little more frantic) for at least 30 min before we got in our cars. For the next hour we’d stop and ask everyone we saw if they’d seen a little poodle running around, every once in a while hearing a cacophony of barking that would stop before we got to the source. It was as if Alvin was always one step ahead.
Defeated we headed back home. I couldn’t believe the tragedy of the situation. This little animal that was left in our care only hours before not only ran away, but ran away in an area he had never been. An area that was over an hour away from his home. How would he ever find his way back? How would his family feel? How could we have failed so incredibly? I did the only thing I knew to do and put an ad on Craigslist hoping that if someone found him they’d contact us (as I had done when we found a lost dog months before). Then I called my sister-in-law who in turn called her sister.
(To Be Continued…sorry)
Unforgettably Ordinary 