Alas, no pictures of the adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy who was scooped up on a dangerous street and rescued, but the story is yet another affirmation of good neighbors and kind-hearted people. And spoiler alert - it has a happy ending, though I have some thoughts about a couple of things.
Finishing up my morning walk with Nellie we happened upon a neighbor walking toward us with another man who clearly had a squirmy, furry creature in his ams. Turns out to be a puppy they caught heading up our street to a very dangerous intersection. Adorable, cuddly, and utterly sweet doesn't even begin to describe this little bundle. And true to form, since everyone in the surrounding area thinks I know every single dog, the question was asked: do you know this dog? The answer being a sad nope, we then started the discussion of what to do with this puppy who had no collar. First step, take her to a vet or the humane society to check for a microchip. The man holding the pup (and clearly falling in love with each passing moment) said that he was in the middle of his loop and couldn't do that. That's when it dawned he was a pool tech clearly on his cleaning route. As expected, the neighbor turned to me and I responded with the usual answer. Sure, leave her with me and I'll sort it out. That's when pool guy declared that he would take care of the pup and if he couldn't find her guardian, he would keep her. Mmmm. Great news she would have a safe haven, but.... And here's where I wasn't operating on all cylinders. Didn't ask his name or the name of his company. Doh!
Well it gets better. Not an hour later I get a call from another neighbor who had the dog's guardian on her doorstep (apparently lived right behind her and hoped the pup was in her yard). We ascertained the pup is chipped, but there was a catch. The chip had not been transferred from the breeder to the new guardian, and the breeder is in Missouri. The pup had been flown out recently with all the papers and so on, but the chip information wasn't current. OK. I told them I would ask at the house I knew had a pool if theirs was serviced this morning. Get the name, call, and all good, right? Of course it's NEVER that simple. Nope. No pool service that day. Arrgghh. What to do? Well, the obvious thing of course. I started calling every pool company in a 30 mile radius asking if they had someone who did pools on our street or nearby that morning. Frustratingly, that was going nowhere, when another call came in. The neighbor just happened to be out when a man walking his dog was going by and mentioned seeing the pup. He also saw a pool truck pull out of the driveway two doors down from her house. I ran (well, hobbled) over, we shook our heads in disbelief that that particular house had a pool, and walked over. Rang the bell and hoped for the best since this was the one house on the street we knew absolutely nothing about. We never saw anyone outside, only knew that an older lady lived there, and had no idea who she was. A man answered and we introduced ourselves and explained the situation. He gladly gave us the name and number of his pool guy and his own number as well. Things were starting to gel.
I called the pool guy and explained we knew where the pup lived and had the number. He said he had taken the her to the vet and she was chipped but he still had no information. Whew. It was so good to know he was following through on his promise and wasn't planning to just keep her. Good man. So I explained I was texting the guardian with his number and gave pool guy the guardian's number so they could sort it out from there. Happy ending.
Now for thoughts -- starting with my own idiocy. Yes, a picture of the pup and getting the pool man's name and number should have been the first item of business. A post on Paw Boost and Next Door would be another good thing to do. But my last thought is the guardian should have been more careful with such a young and small puppy. If you're letting her out in what you think is a secure yard, think again. A new pup needs supervision. Someone needs to be present, if for no other reason than we have coyotes in our area. Check the entire area for ANY teensy tiny escape hatch. Accidents can happen, but too often it's carelessness. I just hope for that darling pup's sake, this doesn't happen again.
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