Lost dogs and country songs

So I was driving home from work today, and the traffic is stopped as this short little dog….looked like a mix between a beagle and a basset hound….beagle’s head on a basset’s body?? Or just a really fat beagle?

Anyways. The fat little dog waddles across the road, slowly, not paying any attention to the traffic. This is not a good thing, as the road I am traveling IS the main road, and schools are just letting out and this dog doesn’t seem to fear giant tires crushing him to mush.

Well, this is taking place in front of a wholesale store. There is a woman out front with another dog. I pull in and ask her if the dog is hers. It’s not. So I approach it slowly, it’s just waddling in the grass, peeing on dandelions and sniffing around. It doesn’t look rabid, and it had tags. So I bent down and called to it and it he looked at me and loped on over to where I was. Yay, tags. Tucker, a phone number, and a somethingorother with 2007 on it. Well, I didn’t want the little fellow wandering out in to the road again so I opened my car door and he and his drooling self hopped right in. He certainly wasn’t mangy and he seemed to respond well enough to commands I guess.

I called the number on his tag and got an answering machine. but at least it gave me a name. So, I went in to the wholesale store and asked if they had a phone book. They did, but it didn’t have the name in it. Then the lady realized it wasn’t the book for THIS area. *rolls eyes* So she got me another one, and I got an address. Oi! This pup was from all the way the other side of where I lived. He was almost an hour away from home by car. I wasn’t quite sure what I should do with him, cuz I maybe his owner was nearby and the mutt had just jumped out of the truck or something. But…I dunno. I didn’t want to take the chance of Tucker being run over, and I had the guys number and address, so I figured I’d see if I could find the place.

Ha. Well, first I called M to see if Tuck could hang out in her fenced in yard while I investigated. She said sure. At that point I was at the humane society, cuz generally if a dog has tags from this county, they can find its owner. (I had an address, yes, but a few years ago they changed everything from the RR system to house numbers, so I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to FIND the address. Plus, it was in the general direction of many, many trailer courts, and I wasn’t sure how they did addresses, so I wanted to make sure I knew where I was going. That was the plan, anyways.)

Well, the humane society was closed. But the lady working there helpfully told me I could stop back tomorrow at 10 and they would see if they could find the owner……..uhm………okaaaaaaaay. *rolls eyes* Yay for…I dunno, HElPING. I asked her if SHE could find the owner, cuz I lived in an apartment with no where to put a dog for a night and she was like “oh sure, if he has tags from this county. But not right now, we’re closed.” It was kind of a surreal moment. I just kinda stared at her and then turned around and went back to my car. Tuck started whining as I pulled out, like he wanted to stay, and I wondered if he had been deposited there or something, and knew the place.

Anyhow. I took him to M’s and searched for a phone book so I could find the address again and decided to drive on out that way and just see what kind of house numbers I came up with. It’s the same road my Little lives on, and it’s a highway, so I knew I wouldn’t get lost.

The journey started off good. I was in the 1400s and such. And the numbers were increasing. (the address was in the 1900s) But then all of a sudden, I hit 700 and was confused as fuckall. So I stopped at a gas station and the guy had no idea, but said try the post office, which was just across the street. So. I went to the post office, hopeful. Tucker, this whole time, was drooling up a nasty storm in the car and I was worried for a second that maybe he DID have rabies. But then decided it was definitely not foamy mouth, it was just long strings of drool.

So, the guy at the post office was useless. He’s like “uh…I *think* it’s that way, but it’s not my route….Ok. Maybe I’m just bitter and cynical but…it’s a POST OFFICE. I’m looking for an address on a main highway. Not even an address, really, just trying to figure out which way the numbers go. The guy was like “I’ve only been here a few weeks…” Ok. But he points me across the alley to a mechanic shop and says they might know.

So, I go there. Classic norman rockwell scene…three old guys sitting around on stools shootin the shit with each other. I ask if any of them know the guy I’m looking for, or even what direction. But the one got up and although he didn’t know where the house was, he was confident of the direction it would be in. He even explained, a bit, why the numbers were weird (has to do with being in the borough or whatever). Still, he wasn’t sure how far out the person would be, cuz it’s really rural. But at least he was helpful.

So. I figured I’d drive up the road for a bit and see if there was any chance of the place being close-ish. I eventually did find it. No one was home (which, duh. No one answered the phone when I called. But still, I thought maybe they’d be home then or be outside gardening or something.) I looked around but couldn’t find anything to tie tuck to, and didn’t want to just leave him there unleashed. So I drove up to the neighbor’s house– wow, dog was NOT happy about that. He started growling when I tried to get him back in the car, but he got back in. Neighbor didn’t know where they tied him up, but did know that they did. It was funny, I was like “Uhm…do you know the neighbor’s?” and she said Just their name. Yet further in the conversation she told me that usually someone should be home by now, that the wife worked “over there by that kid’s play place…you know…that daycare….”

Click, click, click.

I realized WHY the last name was familiar to me. The daycare place was the one I used to work at [read: got fired from by crazy boss lady], and the wife was a co-worker!!!!! What a world.

Randomly, I still remembered the phone number to the place, so I called it up and ended up talking to former bosslady, explaining the situation and such. Talked to Jenn (owner of the dog) and she told me where his tie up place was. And that her husband usually took Tucker to work with him, but she didn’t know where he would’ve gone that Tuck would be where I found him. So I felt less like a kidnapper, at least. Dognapper?

Of course, there was no leash where she said it was. But after about 5 minutes of roaming around the yard, I found it. Tucker was sitting at the door, definitely NOT wanting to go on the leash. And when I tried to get him there, he wouldn’t go. So I tried to pull him by the collar. I expected growling, but that’s not what I got. Nope.

Damn dog lay down and wouldn’t budge. I wasn’t ABOUT to attempt to pick the lug up. He was NOT a small animal. Not to mention the drool and copious amounts of hair he was shedding. So I walked a few steps away, then got all excited and started running. That did the trick.

Got him to the lead and safely tied back up, and went on my way home. Was late for yoga, but only by about 5 or 10 minutes. I felt really bad cuz only one other person was there! But later M showed up and sodid J. So.

Here’s a picture of Tucker. He had one blue eye and one brown eye…(the picture’s not great quality, it was just my camera phone)

My new favourite song. It’s like my life, in end rhyme:

Curled up and Crying

curled up and crying
no one to call
all my friends’re
tired of tryin’

i didn’t believe that i was drownin
cuz i was kickin all the while
only it was in the wrong direction
and i never made that connection

and maybe i didn’t
but maybe i should’ve
and maybe i couldn’t
but maybe i would’ve

i know how to swim better than the fishes
‘cept they don’t think i gave it my all
they don’t know i used up all my wishes
now i’m curled up and cryin
with no one to call

and all the air that i thought i was breathing
was just seaweed and hidden seething
coloured blue like the skies
and all full of hidden meaning
but i never knew the questions
and i never found the reason

and maybe i didn’t
but maybe i should’ve
and maybe i couldn’t
but maybe i would’ve

i know how to swim better than the fishes
‘cept they don’t think i gave it my all
they don’t know i used up all my wishes
now i’m curled up and cryin
with no one to call

-by hummus and sprouts