Opie Ran Away

Dogmom's sad. And angry. And upset. And concerned. And sad. And angry.

Yesterday was a normal day. Not much happening at our place. We stayed home all day, like we usually do on Tuesdays. Randi came and let us out to go potty and gave us a treat and some hugs and kisses and our dinner. And she did the same for Floyd upstairs.

Then we took our naps like we always do on Tuesday.

Then dogmom came home from working at Pet Crossing at about 9:30 p.m. And she clicked us to the tie-out cables and our tie-out stake in the back yard. It was cold, so we did our business quickly and came back in.

She gave us a little snack. Opie rang the bell on the door to say he had to go back outside. It's about 9:45 p.m. He can be so predictable sometimes.

So, she hooked us back up to the cables and opened the patio door. We went out. She stood in the door watching us. Still, nothing unusual here.

Then, Opie spotted something in the pine trees that separate our neighborhood from the next one.

He was really focused.

And he took off running.

And his cable came loose from the tie-out stake.

And dogmom took off running.

And he kept going.
And going.
And going.
Just like the Energizer bunny.

Dogmom came back a few minutes later and put me inside and took the big stick with the light in the end. Uh-oh. That usually means trouble.

At 11:00 p.m., she called the police. She was crying. I heard her say she lost track of him over by the new construction highway. No, his tags fell off his collar. Yes, he has a microchip. He's a hound mix, about 50 pounds. Looks most like a redbone coonhound breed. Yes, he's friendly. He likes men. No, he's got white paws and a white chest and face. Yes, the rest is reddish color. His name is Opie, but he probably won't answer to it. Oh, and he's dragging a 20 foot red cable behind him.

She kept going off to look for him. Sometimes in the car. Sometimes on foot.

At midnight, she opened the garage door a bit, in case he tried to come home from the cold. And she put me in the doggie jail - but she told me I wasn't in trouble. And she opened the patio door. It was cold. But I think that was so that he could come in if he came back home.

And she left again in the car.
And she came back... without him.
And she left again on foot.
And she came back... without him.

At 1:00 a.m., I heard her open the garage door and start up the truck again.

Then it stopped.
And I heard a man's voice.
And I heard dogmom talking to the man.

It sounded like the new man who has the three boxers and bulldog that lives a few houses over.

Dogmom screamed... "Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh-peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Don't do that anymore.

And the man said he thought at first that he hit him (Opie) with his car. But then he thought he just ran over the cable, when he saw that. So he brought him home with him to check him over. And he didn't see any tags on him. But he seemed friendly. And he seemed hungry and he seemed cold.

So he gave Opie some food and was just going to go inside to get his dogs out of the garage so that Opie could stay there until he figured out what to do with him in the morning. He thought Opie lived in the neighborhood. But he was going to knock on the wrong house's door.

Anyways. He saved Opie. Or, at least he caught him.

Opie was freezing, shivering. Opie has some scratches on him and has some cuts and muddy paws. But that's all.

Dogmom's happy. And angry. And relieved.

Opie's sleeping.

Wuf Ya!