Monday, November 16, 2020

Codie


The rain finally stopped yesterday morning, leaving the ground muddy and the puddles deep. Olga and I set out for a slippery walk on the Heath.


The Lulu Trees have lost nearly all their leaves. It seemed to happen so suddenly -- I swear they were green just a few weeks ago.


I interacted with far more people than usual on this walk. First, I ran into a couple of my co-workers -- a married couple -- out for a stroll.

A short time later, a Polish woman waved me down and said she'd found what appeared to be a lost dog. She pointed it out -- an aged Yellow Lab -- and indeed it seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the woods. If a dog can look worried, it did. I approached it slowly and grabbed its collar, and read the tag, which said, "Codie -- If I am alone, I am lost! Please call" and gave a phone number. (Clearly this has happened before.)

So I called, and a man answered and said his wife was on the Heath with the dog, but he couldn't reach her because she'd left her phone at home. As he prepared to come and find me himself, I suggested to the Polish woman that we take Codie up onto the road that runs through Sandy Heath, where we'd be more visible and perhaps her owner would see us. And indeed, a few minutes later, a young guy showed up -- the son of the man on the phone -- and reclaimed poor bewildered Codie.

Olga, meanwhile, barked like mad through this entire ordeal. The fact that we'd stopped to help a random dog annoyed her to no end.


A short time later, another dog approached Olga and as they gave each other a sniff, Olga dropped her tennis ball. The other dog attempted to steal it, which set off a snarl-fest, and as I grabbed Olga's collar, the other dog made off with the ball. Its owner chased it around a field yelling "BAD DOG!" to no apparent effect, until he finally caught up with it and Olga got her ball back.

Ah, dog ownership.

17 comments:

Alphie Soup said...

Between you and the Polish woman it was a good rescue for the aging yellow Lab. Do you recognise Polish accents immediately or did the woman tell you she was Polish. I'm into trivial questions today...
Alphie

Elizabeth said...

This post made me smile -- I wish I'd met Olga last year when I visited London. My friend Sarah has moved back to Paris and really misses London. I hope you're all well and not getting ready to go on lockdown, again.

Ursula said...

Many accents are easily identified. By some people, though by no means all. My accent has been mistaken for French which, frankly, is ridiculous. Ooh la la. When someone asks me where I am from ("originally", perish the thought), I turn it into a guessing game. "Where do you think?". Fun, games and amusing (for me).

If you want your life disrupted make the Home Office (under Theresa May) take note of you. They were adamant I was Polish (with no right to reside here) whilst they had my passport right under their nose. Spend six months in limbo. Regroup.

U

Moving with Mitchell said...

I'm laughing picturing the scene. Olga is such a princess. I'm glad no one was hurt! (And that Codie was found.)

Ursula said...

Great story (and photos), Steve. Totally love the wife's attitude, leaving her phone at home. Brill.

Dog ownership. Though I grew up with a magnificent black Alsatian (first few years of my life, till one of my uncles, the hell raiser, gambled his parents' dog away) I have never "owned" a dog as such. However, some cats come with a death wish too. No doubt why they need, and are granted from the outset, nine lives. Or, in the case of one my cats, dozens. Till she ran out of capital.

Olga needs to keep her jealous tendencies under control. Just because her beloved Steve looks at and after another dog doesn't mean you are straying.

U

Steve Reed said...

Alphie, I must admit I am totally guessing -- she could have been Ukrainian or Russian or Czech, but she definitely sounded and looked Eastern European. I'm taking some poetic license. :)

The Padre said...

A Dogs Life - I Feel That A Gary Larson Comic Strips Plays In There Somewhere

Cheers
P.S. Olga Girl, You Are A Classic

Sharon said...

You certainly had an adventurous day on the Heath. I feel bad for that poor lost dog. I'm glad you were there to help it.

Debby said...

So many things to be glad about in this post. I'm glad you rescued the dog. I'm glad Olga got her tennis ball back. I must admit that reading about the man chasing his dog yelling, "BAD DOG!" made me laugh out loud. Still giggling at the picture. I can only imagine Olga's reaction to the scene.

Ms. Moon said...

Jessie was just looking at dogs for adoption on her phone. She knows it's a fantasy but it's one she cherishes.

ellen abbott said...

dogs indeed. out here in the country unless your yard is fenced people don't keep their dogs restrained. Minnie and I get run at by various dogs that I don't know on occasion. I've found that yelling a stern NO at them usually stops them in their tracks and they turn around and go home. I always snatch Minnie up though because she is so little and the other dogs are usually big and all it would take is one bite to seriously injure her.

Red said...

Sad for these old dogs that get lost. I also have some concerns about the owners.

Anonymous said...

So good and kind of you to help that old dog find its people. That's the kind of story that balances the craziness of these times.

The Bug said...

I can just picture how annoyed & frustrated Olga was. Can you imagine her diary entry from the day? "Tried to take a walk with my human. FAIL." Ha!

Allison said...

When we lived in North Carolina, we had this thought of riding our bikes on rural roads. HAH! The dogs are all loose in the yards and they all chase bicyclists. That was part of our decision to leave that area for some place more civilized.

Catalyst said...

Arf!

My life so far said...

Bloody dogs. I let the neighbor's giant dog into our yard and he cornered Heidi behind a bush, so I kicked him out again. I keep hoping his manners will improve but they haven't. He's part Borsoi and part German Shepherd, and all doofus.

I'm glad you guys were able to get the lab back to his owners. I like the photo with the long shadow of you. It's that time of you.