Well, old Shep he is gone where the good doggies go

I was on my way to work this morning and never even got out of town before one of those things happened that mean I am going to be screwing up the rest of my day no matter how good my intentions.

Our roads, as I may have pointed out before, are hilly. When you head south out of town it goes level a little way, down a small dip then over a little rise and into a big dip all in the course of 4 blocks or so. And leaving town is when people start picking up speed to rush off to whatever is so important they have to do that day. So when you hit the first big dip you are normally rolling right along.

My radio was on CD and I was switching it to FM - I watch the road and do the radio by feel, lucky me! So not only was I watching the road, I was going more slowly than my normal habit. As I started down in the dip I saw a coon hound limping around in the road.

My head is faster than my brain at math. "Dog, Dip, Dumb Drivers = Dead Dog" and I was stopping before I knew I was going to stop. I edged over to the side but there is ditch deeper than my axels so I was still two thirds in the road when I shut the engine down.

I shoved the truck in first, flipped the key off, slapped the flashers on and got out of the truck. The poor thing was terrified, ears down, tail clamped between her legs and her back foot was a visible mess but she appeared to be limping on a front paw, too.

I walked around to the back of the truck and started trying to get her to come to me.

Don't scream, I can hear you!"NO! An injured dog will hurt you!" I know, my own little Ozzie hound bit me when he got hit by a van and I ran to help him. I was 13 when that happened. I am really afraid of injured animals but I can't stand to see them suffer. And where she was she was going to be killed so even if all I did was chase her off over the fields or down the road a piece she would be better off.

I called "poor baby, pretty puppy, and sweetie" in that squeeky voice all the little pups like. She came to the verge, circled around the truck and me and at least got off the road. I got down on my haunches and held the back of my hand out to her. A big truck came flying over the hill, saw the car and swerved around us but she freaked out, raced down the ditch and cowered in the tall grass near the field. Poor little thing and darn it all - CRAP!!

I grabbed the door of the little truck and got to my feet, tipped over my purse and fished out the cell phone. We don't have any coverage in town, it's a dead spot - truth - but the phone rang at the house 6 blocks away. Static screeched in my ear but I heard the mate say "Hello?" There was no time for courtesy, "Bring me a leash and a collar, please?" and we were cut off.

I tossed the phone in the purse the purse behind the seat and used the door to get back down to her level. She was crouched shaking and cowering in the bottom of the ditch. I just kept talking sweetly to her with my hand out. She finally came up and gave my hand a sniff from about a foot away from the tips of my fingers. I waited, she stepped closer. I had just gotten a tiny stroke of a pet across her head when another car topped the hill and pulled up behind us. I reached my arm around her neck and the other over her back when she started to run.

It was a lady with some kids in the car. She just wanted to help and started to get out and walk over to us. That scared the dog again but I was less scary than the new human and she stood for me.

"Is this your dog?" I called. When she answered no I said,"Please stay back, you're scaring her!" She didn't hear me. I didn't want to shout and scare the poor thing worse but I gave her a little hug with my arms and raised my voice to repeat myself. The woman stopped and saw the dog was terrified of her.

"Ohh, pooor thang," she said. She got right in her car and left. Thank you lady, where ever you are!

Now I was safety for her and she let me pet her and leaned her wounded head on my thigh. She looked at me with those sad brown eyes and I could have killed whoever let her get loose, lost her hunting or dropped her off. You think you have had heart break! Humans had let this pup down badly and she was still willing to let me try to help her when she was so scared her tail was still clamped tightly to her legs. She tried to be brave and believe in humans again. I watched her calm down just a tiny bit and try not to be afraid of me.

I just talked to her and petted her for a minute. I knew the cavalry was on the way so I didn't want to get her frightened by trying to lift her into the truck. My knees were screaming and my lower back was cracked in half but I couldn't risk getting up yet.

Then the little red truck came over the hill. The mate knows dogs. He parked back from us, kept the leashes and collar crumpled up in his one hand while reaching out with the other one and talking sweet to her. She seemed to responded to his voice well but still pushed herself into me in fear.

He got down with us and fished me out the leash I wanted. I put my hands on her ears and he slipped it over her head. I could tell she had once had a leash and collar of her own because she didn't fight it at all.

I tried to encourage her to get in the truck but her back foot wouldn't let her. I put my arms around her where she would see them and then the mate took her gently under the rear and we lifted her up to the passenger seat. I praised her and petted her while I got a good look at her and then shut the door carefully so I didn't scare her. She leaned against the seat back and closed her eyes.

She might have looked just like this if her head hadn't gotten snagged on barbed wire and her foot hadn't been swollen up, half naked and the last nail/toe pulled out at an angle and if she wasn't starved down to a sunken tummy and prominent ribs and if she wasn't so sad.

The wonderful mate said all he heard on the phone was "collar and leash". It's so nice to know that he can do the math..."wife going to work, says collar/leash=get same and drive work route till I find her" He knows we don't get good cell too close to home so I wasn't far away and he didn't wait till I called back because he would know it involved a dog and I was busy and wouldn't answer if we got lucky twice and my phone rang anyway. Bless my fine friend.

He made sure I was ok with her and then I asked him to call our ex neighbor, the current animal control officer, and have him meet me at work. We kissed and I got into the car slowly but the poor girl hadn't moved and just watched me with the seat propping her up and her sore feet laying at odd angles on the seat.

I gave her a few pets and got going down the road. The truck starting didn't bother her and she stayed upright through the curves and corners so I figure she had experience in a truck. I couldn't get her to lay down and she never said a word, not a whimper. I got the vents on her and a window open to give her some breeze and settled down to getting us to town.

It's ten miles to the gas station and I got there in nine minutes. I pulled right in, told her to stay and scooted inside. I was calling over my shoulder for a bowl or dog food as I looked myself. They had nothing. I got a styrofoam cup and a piece of cheap jerky and took them out with me.

I offered her the water, no interest. I sat it down between my feet and started to open the jerky stick. Even a well fed dog can catch you with a tooth over a favorite snack and this girl was starving but she just sniffed a mile a minute while I tugged and pulled and bit and peeled at the ()&()*#$& wrapper. She offered me no harm. I broke up little pieces and put them by her feet but she was so focused on the stick in my hand that I just gave her the last third and she wolfed it down. Then I pointed out the other bits and she sucked them right up and started after the wrapper in my hand.

I ran back inside and got two more. The nice lady at the counter cut them open for me and I broke them up into little bites before I got back to the car. She was looking right at me when I came back out. I walked around to my side, made her slide over and put part of the chunks on the seat.

I drive a stick shift but somehow I got it going with one hand full of jerky still. She slowed down a little on the pile she had, but not much. I dumped the second helping for her and she went right for it.

I located the cell phone and ran through the memory buttons till I him Mom's number. "Have you got any dog food left from Josie?" I replied to her hello.

"A little."

"Can you bring me some down to the shop right away, please? Even dry cat food will work."

"OK"

"OK! Thanks, gotta go!"

You will note the mom is not the slightest bit phased by this. She was there in under 15 minutes from a pajama starting position with a bag of biscuts, two chewies and a bowl of dry cat food with an extra pan for water if needed. We may not be the VanderBilts but we make FEMA look BAD!

I walked in and the boss was coming out to see her. The uncoached mate had also called to explain why I would be late. Bless my sweet lover! It also meant it was no surprise to the boss that I went right back out with a jug of water and held it for her. When Mom pulled up a few minutes later I went shooting right back out the door and he knew that was coming, too.

We fed her and she ate every crumb of food. I gave her a biscut but she wasn't really very interested. She did like the chewie raw hide thing though and snapped it up like the desert we wanted it to be.

I went back to work, Mom went home with her pans and I waited for the ACO to arrive. I knew he had one more stop to make because the thrice blessed mate called and told me so. A long enough time went by that I decided she had better be walked.

She got down out of the truck gingerly but on her own and limped over to the grass. We walked around but nothing was happening. I decided she was so neglected, starved and dehydrated that nothing was going to happen for awhile and that I had better get back to work. I just got to the door of the truck when the county truck pulled up.

The ACO, ex neighbor and good accquaitaince, came over slowly and got down to meet my poor pretty girl. He talked to her and listened to me tell him about her wounds, what I had done for her and what she still needed done. They can't take her to the vet for 5 days but he would see to her injuries and I know he's good and so is most of the help up there.

When she seemed ok to him he picked her up most carefully to not hurt her feet. As she was cradled in his arms I unsnapped the leash but left the little blue collar on her to aid in them handling her. He put her in the back cage container and I ran back to get her chewy. She was getting tense again and had her nose to the crack.

I pushed the rawhide toy through to her and she took it but then let it drop. "Be good for ACO, pretty girl. He's going to help you feel better. I'm sorry but I have dogs and cats at home and can't keep you. Be a good girl!'

I went back inside with tears streaming down my face. I knew she was better off than Old Shep but I felt like I had, as a human, betrayed her again. But I did what I could and they don't put our dogs down, there are several rescue centers that take them after five days. She would heal and she would live and with a little luck someone that could appreaciate a beautiful coon hound would get her and give her a home.

I no sooner sat down than the phone rang and I answered it with my standard greeting for the business. It was a lady ordering more parts than she had planned on yesterday when we had talked. I could hardly answer her and she asked if I was ok. So I told this total stranger about my little refugee and she told me she had taken her dog in the night before with either the flu or parvo and they put her on and IV right away but she didn't know if she would make it and we both sat at our desks and cried.

She just got through being without power for a week, the storms were terrible and the trees are down all over. They are in Mississippi, no power meant losing all her refridgerator foods,she went to ask for help at the local family services office and gave up after the 5th page of the 24 page thing you have to fill out, the little help they offered wasn't worth the hassle. No money next week because there was no power at the office either, they didn't work. Her boy is upset because the puppy is sick but he is twenty and shouldn't be crying like a baby and neither should she and neither should I over a stray I only knew an hour or two. But there you go, humans are weird.

So during my little emotional overload I made a new friend by getting to know her better because I was too overwrought to have my work voice on and she was in need of a listener, too. I'm going to call her tomorrow and see how her pup is doing and do the questionaire on her. So more later, gang!