Wednesday 15 September 2010

It's Amazing What You Can Find At The Dump!!!

I have a few friends that I swear take more home with them from the dump then they drop off!! Our dump (or more correctly - the Waste Management Facility) at Perryvale actually has a 'Take it or Leave it' section which is like a giant free garage sale!

'Dump Days' here are Wednesday and Sunday. Today is Wednesday and this is what I picked up  -

I know, shocking that you can find a Group Placing, Champion, Iditarod Finishing, main 'gee/haw' leader Siberian Husky at the dump. But I did!!

Here's the story!

Simone and I were having a nice run with the team this morning. I had Bang and Beauty in lead and decided that rather then go looking for 'steak on the hoof' this morning, we'd head up the driveway and do a loop over to our neighbours road and back home.

We stopped for our water break..



See has her own technique for getting water!


..and then headed towards the driveway...


Now that we have neighbours down in the valley, I have to worry more about traffic coming over the hill then in the past, so halfway up the hill when I was having issue with Bang and Beauty 'Geeing over' (running on the right hand side of the road) I decided to put Dasher in lead. She has a rock solid 'Gee Over' - I'd work with the others at a better time (like when I could see what was coming down the road).



When we were switching dogs around, Dasher's tug line somehow came undone. That usually isn't a big deal. It happens occasionally and I just call the dog back to me, rehook them up and we are underway again. However, this morning Dasher decided that wasn't how she wanted to play the game and off she went.

The last I saw of her she was heading towards the highway.

I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone how sick I felt. The next 4 hours were a nightmare of making phone calls and driving around in the van and on the ATV searching.

I had finally decided to feed the kennel in hopes that if Dasher was still in the area that would lure her back home.

We were just about finished when the phone rang. It was Rhonda from the Perryvale Store telling me that Dasher was at the dump!!!
I yelled at Simone to finish feeding and bolted for the van.

When I pulled into the dump I didn't see my errant little lead dog, but as soon as I spoke a little grey fur ball ran to me from the 'empty can' section.
I buried my face in her burr filled ruff and hugged her as tight as she would let me.
Apparently her harness was tangled around her neck and the dump manager cut it off her and shared his lunch with her.
He told me at first she scared him half to death 'cause he thought she was a coyote, but figured out she wasn't when she ran straight to him.

It is probably worth noting that the dump is night next to the Perryvale cemetery, which is a normal stopping place for our teams later in the season. It is about 5 miles from the house - 3 of those mile in the ditch of a major highway.

So many things that could have gone wrong - but that thankfully didn't.

Dasher is sleeping at my feet right now.

She was stuffed with cookies and just about any other treat she wanted. After she is done napping, I will sit down and groom burrs out of her - that is if I can stop hugging her.

It was a very scary morning.

14 comments:

redwings19 said...

How scary a morning, but what a wonderful end to the saga. I'm sure many prayers were said and answered today. Keep hugging your baby!

Karen_SanDiego said...

Oh my Karen, that is pretty scary... just be careful what you are teaching this little weaselette. Cookies, human food, hugs, kisses from mom, time in the house & grooming all a wonderful reward for running away.... lol.. it's ok I don't think I'd let go of her til at least tomorrow.

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

OMD!

Trust me, if I lived up there, it would be Khyra found at the dump -

Sorry for some of the longest hours of your life...AGAIN!

Susan said...

Karen, your postings just give me such a warm feeling every single time. Thanks for this story. My border collie decides every once in a while he needs to go visit the pound so they call us up and we pay his bail. Aren't dogs just hilarious?

D.K. Wall said...

Yikes - we have all had those long, scary hours - and hate them. Glad everything turned out ok.

Anonymous said...

I know you must have been crazy with worry. So glad this story had a happy ending!

granimar said...

Oh My Gosh. Dasher of all the NW crew. Karen I can see why the hugging was hard to stop, once she was found. I can just imagine the awful feeling in the pit of your stomach as she disappeared. So glad it worked out well.

Jack & Moo said...

OMGosh, thank heavens it all turned out ok. When I read your headliine "see what I picked up at the dump", I thought "Your dump is way better than our dump!" LOL! Glad she's home safe & sound.

Summit the Super Mal said...

I have a similar picture of our Denali who had a run about in our corn field for two hours a month ago. I had a pit in my stomach just reading but was sure glad for the "spoiler" up front to know she OK. Hope you are OK soon too. They take a lot out of us some times!!
Shelly...

Chris said...

So So glad it all went Dashers way and she is fine and well.
Cheers Chris

Unknown said...

No, you don't need to tell anyone how sick you felt - most of us have been there. So glad The Dasher Dog is home and safe!

Huskymom said...

As a precaution, put a regular pet "dog tag" on your little runaway so the next time she goes visiting, her host can give you a call. Sounds like someone has too much energy....

Liz said...

Oh My Word!! You must have been frantic with worry! And yes, most of us with sibes have been in that boat a time or two. Really glad there was a happy ending!

Christine said...

Yikes! glad you got your traveler back! We have a lady who drinks like See! She was a rescue who spent 5 years crated and bred, now she hops into water and dunks her whole head into buckets -very weird. Her son (she was preggers when rescued) actually gets into the shower with us! I hose him off and he loves it! Must have learned it from his Mom!