Thank you, ladies who saved my dog!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I went home for lunch today and while I was slopping out some tuna casserole, my doorbell rang. I don’t even necessarily answer the door when I’m not expecting anybody, because it’s usually shiftless homeless people I’ll have to call the cops on, but luckily I answered this time! It was a lady who said, “Hi. We have your dog!”

I was, like, “No, you don’t.”

Well, yes, she did. (Or her friend did, who was patiently shepherding him down the sidewalk with her scarf tied to his collar.) Turns out he’d been laying down in the middle of the busy road recently featured in my “I’m scared I hit a cat” thread, with traffic swerving all around him. They stopped, found my vet’s number on his rabies tag (a risky proposition, as he can’t see or hear very well anymore and can be snappish since you’re surprising him), got my address from them, and were bringing him home to me. They fed him a chicken sandwich, too.

Turns out the wind today ripped the lattice off his under-the-porch sanctuary (I know it was fine this morning when I took the trash out) and he’d been wandering around town for some indeterminate amount of time.

So thank you, kind ladies. Haplo is 16 years old, pretty deaf, increasingly blind, and possibly getting kind of arthritic. I don’t know if he would have found his way home, or even the energy to get up and get out of the roadway.

I was so upset and busy thanking them that I didn’t even think about giving them a reward! Now I see the vet called me (probably before I got home and I didn’t hear my cell phone) and left her name and number, but I’m sure it’s a cell. I’ll call her this evening and try to reward her, but I bet she won’t take it.

Any suggestions on how I could phrase it so she’d at least take some cookies or something? I just don’t know what I would have done if I’d been on my way home to lunch and seen him dead in the road.

2

I would probably just call and thank her/them again. If I took someones dog home, I wouldn’t be looking for anything other than thanks.

Glad he is home safe and sound.

3

Great story. I’m so glad it worked out.

The way it works is, you offer something and she of course refuses. Then you insist and it becomes rude not to accept. You’ll have to force your appreciation gift on her. :slight_smile:

4

I don’t even know if she lives anywhere near here - she might have taken half an hour out of her lunch break to not just get my dog out of the road, but make sure he got back where he belonged.

5

I’d make the lady a chicken sandwich, if nothing else. And one for her friend, too. :wink:

6

This sounds like a 16 year saying “Oh no you DIN"T!!”

Hopefully I’m reading into it. As a do’er of good deeds, It’s fire and forget. I doubt they would even dream of getting anything in return,so any thing you do will be icing on the cake… I’m glad you have the post thought to try and provide reaprations of any kind. Good egg, you are. I’m sure your most heartfelt thanks are more than enough. What is a beloved pets life worth? People spend loads of dough just trying to keep one alive. Your words of thanks to another person are sure to be worth more than you can imagine. Take it from someone who will get out of my car and tell someone their tail or brake light is out.

7

Wow, fabulous heart-warming story! Thanks for posting it.

Those ladies really went out of their way to find you. It was pretty resourceful of them.

8

Years ago I was walking down a busy street and caught sight of a chihuahua standing in the middle of the road - as in, on the yellow line, between two constant lines of cars going in opposite directions, on one of the busiest street in Vancouver. My friend stopped a car going one way (with some difficulty) and I ran out and picked him up. He had gray fur all over, was obviously at least partially blind (cataracts or something) and was shaking so hard I could hardly hold on to him.

We walked up and down the street, ringing doorbells, until we finally found his home a few block away. He too had found a new hole in the fence around his yard and taken off. He was 15 years old.

Getting him back to his people took us an hour or so, and we were late for wherever we were going. I didn’t even dream of getting a reward, and the people were in shock to find out he was even gone, so I’m sure they didn’t think of it. The point is, now I can’t even remember where we were going or if being late mattered. I still vividly remember carrying that little, quivering dog back to his home. I wouldn’t have taken the time to do it if I didn’t think it mattered.

9

I like the cookie idea. Especially if they’re dog-shaped. The cookies, that is.

10

A couple of years ago my wife got a call on her cell. It was a woman asking if we had an English Bulldog and a big black and tan Lab-looking dog.

My wife said we did.

The woman asked where we lived so she could drop them off.

It turns out my wife had let them out into the back yard to catch some sun but hadn’t latched the side gate properly when she’d taken out the recycling the night before. (I was out of town on business or I wouldn’t have had her take out the trash.)

Luckily, they’d only gone about four houses down the street before they got found. My wife grabbed their leashes, walked down and retrieved them. She was freaked out about what could have happened to the girls had this neighbor not been so kind hearted.

When I got home the next night I gave them a $50 AMEX gift card. Those mutts are like our kids, and when the neighbor initially refused the card I said, “I can’t, in good conscience, let your act of kindness go unrewarded. If you don’t take the card, I’ll just leave it on your step for someone else to find. If you feel badly about taking it, then please use it for a donation to the humane society or some other animal charity.”

They took it, and we ended up chatting on a fairly regular basis when I’d take the dogs out for a walk.

I’m glad your story had a similarly happy ending. Great name you gave your dog, too.

11

i’m so glad this had a happy ending.

yep, cookies are always a good reward, and if you tuck in a gift card or cash they may not see it until you make good your escape.

12

You know you’ve been on the SDMB for too long when you read the title as “Thank you, LADLES who saved my dog!”

13

Thank you, Ladles who saved my doug.

I always like to hear heartwarming stories about decent things that people do for each other.

Halpo is 16? Holy moley, that is like being 197* or something in human years. What kind of dog is he?

*106, actually. First year is equal to human years, after that it is 7 Dog years to every 1 human year. If I were mathamatically knowledgeable, I could do up some fancy schmancy formula to make it look really impressive. But I’m not, so you all get words. Lotsa words.

14

He’s a Westie. Little dogs do live longer, but this year Hap has started to slow down a bit. His quality of life is still very good, of course, and he’s still quite frisky, but he’s just not quite as fast out of bed in the morning, and his eyes are getting pretty bad.

15

What a great story. Good for those nice ladies. Bless them.

16

Actually, first year is equal to 15 human years. The next year is equal to 7 human years and then each year after is equal to 4 or 5 human years. So Haplo would be about 78.

And of course you can always find more info online. Here’s a converter so you need not do the math. The formula is a little different than the one I learned but the result is the same.

And here’s is Snopes word on it with an age chart at the bottom.
Glad you got your dog back, Zsofia.

As for thanking your vet, just send a nice card to her and her staff since the staff are likely the ones who did the footwork looking up your information. We like getting Thank you cards.

17

I did call the vet and let them know that he was safe and sound - hated to think they’d be worrying about him. They love him down at the vet’s office.

18

First and foremost, I’m so glad you got your dog back safe. I can’t imagine …

Second, another vote for the baked-goods with a hidden gift card. And just don’t take no for an answer. You’re a good Southern girl, you know how to do that.

19

I know a gift they couldn’t refuse. Make a donation in their name to the local animal shelter!

Glad the dog is back safe.

20

I rescind my earlier suggestion. This is vastly superior.