Tag, You're It!

Meet Sam. Mabel Lou and I found him in the middle of our street on the way home from the creek one day last week. I jumped out of the jeep and leashed him up and he jumped right in with the girl.

We got him home and I wrote down the numbers on his tags...thank goodness he had tags! But the first number was out of order! The second was a cell phone. I left a message...and waited. I paged...and waited. I ever so s l o w l y texted, "I have Sam. Call ASAP!" Still nothing.

In the meantime, Sam had a romp with Mabel and then went for a swim in the pool! He sat for cookies like a pro. And he was so respectful of Mabel Lou's space... He wouldn't come on the porch because her bed was there.

I was starting to fall in love...so I called that cell phone again. This time, someone answered. Mabel and I drove him home. He had wandered 3/4 of a mile and across the big five lane thoroughfare that runs up the mountain when we found him...during rush hour!

His teen-aged owner explained that he can jump their shortest (five foot) fence and that the shock collar that prevented him from jumping had a worn out battery so Sam had escaped three times in the past week. I dared suggest that maybe, just maybe, they want to purchase them two at a time.
Things like that really annoy me... Your dog escapes once; you get the new battery. PERIOD! Or maybe, you replace that fence with a taller one.

And as for tags: keep them up to date. Maggie started wearing a tag for our new place along with the tag for the old one before we moved! I also have travel tags with my mother's address and phone numbers. And always put your land line phone number on the tag... a savvy computer person can figure out your address that way. I have so much info on Mabel's tags, she has TWO!

For those keeping track: Her name is on both. One has my name, address, phone and cell. The other, has her city registration, her chip scan i.d.# and my phone. Think I want my dog back??? Hell yeah!

And while we're on the subject of keeping dogs safe, please check out this post by Alison . I see so many people leave their dogs in their cars this time of year. It's not safe people! In this dog loving town, I heard a little pup locked in a car at the local grocery. The windows weren't even cracked! And as I stood there, trying to figure out what to do, I noticed the parking lot was full of people staring at that car. Without fail, we all had dogs with us and, unlike the car with yelping pup, we all had our windows all the way down. The owner came out and got an earful!

I arrange my schedule this time of year around my pup. I don't run errands after 9 a.m. or before sunset with Mabel.

So take care of your fur-babies. It's up to you. You're IT!