I haven’t blogged about this previously because the past week has been so hectic… but Robbie had quite a day on Sunday, my graduation day. On our last full day in South Bend, we almost lost our dog!
The above picture was taken at 8:12 AM, as my parents, Becky and I were preparing to leave for the 9:30 “hooding” ceremony at the Basilica. Because of limited seating, we only had three tickets, so Becky’s parents were planning to stay at the apartment and keep packing up the Penske, then meet us for lunch at around 11:30. So, about 15 or 20 minutes after the picture was taken, we left for campus, while Ted, Ginny and the animals stayed behind.
Less than an hour later, as I was walking toward the law school to line up for the procession (my parents and Becky were en route to the Basilica), I noticed that I had voicemail on my cell phone, so I checked it. This is what I heard:
The message had been left at 9:07 AM by a gentleman named Mark, who got my cell phone number from Robbie’s tag. He had found Robbie roaming free on Vernerlee Lane, which is about a half-mile from our apartment as the crow flies greyhound runs.
More details after the jump.
Until I heard Mark’s message, I had no idea Robbie was missing, but I immediately deduced what had happened: at some point in the hour since we left the apartment, the dog had bolted out the door while Becky’s parents were moving stuff out to the truck. Ted and Ginny had undoubtedly commenced a frantic search for him, but had been unable to reach us because they don’t have cell phones and we didn’t have a land line in the apartment. Now, I knew he was okay, but I had no way of reaching them to tell them that.
I called Mark back, thanked him, and asked if we could pick Robbie up around noon (after the hooding ceremony). He said that was fine, so I headed off to the hooding, confident in the knowledge that my dog would be okay. Two hours later, I was finally able to give Ted and Ginny the good news. (Ted had called from a pay phone to tell us that they wouldn’t be able to make it to lunch as planned — because they were out looking for the dog.) A little while later, Becky and Ted drove over and retrieved the dog.
Needless to say, we’re very lucky he’s OK. He had to cross at least two busy streets (South Bend Avenue and Ironwood Road) to get to where he ended up. Luckily, Robbie is both smart and fast. On a prior occasion when he ran off, I actually watched him cross those same two streets (but couldn’t catch up with him, of course, until he stopped to pee, because he’s much faster than me), and although I was terrified that I was about to see my dog get hit by a car before my very eyes, it was remarkable to watch him literally look both ways and then cross the street only when he judged — correctly — that he could make it.
That’s not to say he might not judge wrongly one of these days if he runs off again, of course. But thankfully, despite his racing-dog speed, he usually isn’t predisposed to run away. I’m not sure what happened this time, since I wasn’t there, but I think it may have had something to do with his mortal fear of the vacuum cleaner. :) The other two times he ran off (one of which ended with him being picked up near Grape and Douglas, almost two miles away), it was because we’d been out of the house for so long that he was just completely desperate to get outside and do his business, so he bolted when he saw an opening. Those are really the only times you have to be careful; under normal circumstances, he won’t run off, even if off-leash in an unenclosed area. Indeed, he’s never run away, or even attempted to, while we’re walking him, even when we’ve let him off-leash so he can run around with other dogs. He’s only ever bolted from inside the apartment.
Anyway, the experience certainly made our last day in South Bend an exciting one for Robbie. Though perhaps not quite as exciting, from his perspective, as the current week, as he’s currently hanging out with Jay and Ashley’s basset hounds in Knoxville while Becky and I are in L.A.:
Woof!
|
Categories: Hipcast, Pets, Animals & Stuffies
|
May 26th, 2007 at 2:01:41 am
“Woof,” indeed :).
I must admit, I share Robbie’s mortal Fear of the Vacuum :). As, indeed, does mama Nature, who famously Abhors it nearly as much as I do ;>.
But speaking of Mama, dat dam’ dawg is vurradam’ fortunate to have somehow escaped the towering Wrath of MumZ :) after he came slinking home with his skinny ol’ rat-tail between his rabbitchasing Haunches ;>. Yes, Toby & Sasha & Butter may have 27 Lives between ‘em but they gots Nuffin’ on that Lucky Dog :}. Hi, Ginny. :)
May 26th, 2007 at 2:16:27 am
All is well in Houndville. All of the fellas are bedded down for the night, and Robbie’s still wondering what’s up with all of the shortness around here.
The Bassets on the other hand, are still trying to figure out what kind of training regimine you have to be on to get 1.) that tall, 2.) that fast, and 3.) that skinny. I’m pretty sure they got tired of worrying about it, because they just wander into a shady spot and go to sleep.
All is going fine. Robbie’s still getting used to the warm Southern weather, but other than that, all quiet on the southern front.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:41:32 am
Oh, and another thing. I know my fence is a 6 foot privacy fence, and I’ve never had to worry about it with the lowriders, but do you think Robbie could jump it with a running start?
May 26th, 2007 at 10:06:10 am
Hi Jay - Whippet owner here (and occasional Robbie-sitter), and I’d have to say “maybe”. Our Whippet, Manny, can get a running jump and hang on our 6′ block wall with NO problem. The good thing is he only does it to bark at the 180lb Mastiff that stands on the other side of the fence on the deck and looks over the fence. :) He could definitely get over the wall but I don’t think he considers it to escape. He did escape a few times by jumping on the AC unit and then leaping the fence from there (from a stand-still, no running). Manny is not even 2 and much smaller/lighter than Robbie, but with Robbie’s height and hamstrings I don’t think he’d have a problem doing it, although I think he’d have to have a really good reason to. (CAT?)
May 26th, 2007 at 10:38:36 am
The occasional cat does wind up outside the fence line, as there are some roaming the neighborhood.
Honestly, as hot as it’s been here this week, and as tuckered out as they all appear to be, I think jumping is the last thing he has in mind.
May 26th, 2007 at 11:02:48 am
good thing Michael Vick wasn’t in town. I heard when he went to visit Marcus at VT, pets of all kind just started disappearing. I’ve never seen a guinea pig cage match, but I guess any animal can be taught that “two [ ] enter, one [ ] leaves.”
May 26th, 2007 at 11:06:36 am
and “Mark,” if you’re reading this blog now, you really need to work on your voicemail ettiquite (just I probably need to work on my spelling). I mean, did you wake up in the middle of the road to robbie licking your face and call from the yellow line while still in a fetal haze ? “Hey . . . we’ve got your dog” ? What, were you planning on a ransom and backed out mid-message ?
How about “Hi, this is Mark Nomannerson (dutch ?). We found Robbie playing in the road and would like to get him back to you as soon as possible. Please give me a call at #######.” Try that man.
May 26th, 2007 at 12:18:12 pm
For fuck’s sake 4-7. The guy found his dog, chased him down, called the number on his tag, and met up with his owner… and you’re criticizing his telephone etiquette? Get a life, man.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:13:56 pm
4-7, I only included the beginning of the voicemail message. He gave his name and number, too, but obviously I wasn’t going to put that on the blog.
Jay, in theory I suppose Robbie is physically capable of jumping your fence, but I’ll eat my own arm if he tries it. In general, Robbie is not a fan of anything involving heights — for example, he hates climbing stairs. It took us ages to get him to jump into the back seat of the Camry (previously we had to actually lift him). He routinely jumps the three-foot wall on the tennis court in South Bend, but in that case (as with the Camry) he’s landing on a soft surface at the same level as the top of the jump. I can’t imagine him having any desire to jump such a high hurdle, especially where he has to go six feet up and then brace himself for a landing six feet down.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:20:30 pm
Yeah, he’s basically been laying around outside trying to steer clear of the short legged ones who are trying to get him to play.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:27:40 pm
Can he successfully hurdle a tennis net? ;)
May 26th, 2007 at 2:25:51 pm
Heh.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:40:58 pm
Condor. Pathetic though they may be, about 90% of my postings are attempts at humor, i.e., attempts to entertain others, make them happy. It was a jest. I am sure I sound 50 times worse on my voice mail messages - like a really depressed Cameron Fry.
I don’t have a life and don’t plan on getting one soon (just got a nintendo). But save your anger anyway.
Can 4-7 get no love on this blog ? 4-7 may just need to disappear and come back under a totally indiscreet psudonym, like 15-3. Then he could slip among the ranks with quips and jabs, and NO ONE would be the wiser. mwahahaha.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:42:13 pm
what is with this guy 4-7 ?
May 26th, 2007 at 4:42:34 pm
alright, that was me, . . . this time.
May 27th, 2007 at 12:41:16 am
Leanna says:
This is long after the fact, but I think both Robbie and Butter were acting way out of character in the waning days of South Bend. Butter’s flair was, hm, temporarily subsumed or something — and Robbie was, I’m guessing, a little spooked by all the strange human traffic in and out, and everything but him going into the moving van.
It’s good to get an update :)
May 27th, 2007 at 7:54:00 am
Speak for yourself, strange human contact indeed! I resemble that remark!
May 27th, 2007 at 5:51:44 pm
Strange human traffic? Sounds like my Friday night.