April 10, 2012

Cowboy

I saved the story about the Pomeranian for today since I knew I wouldn't have much to write about. On Saturday, we had plans to go to my mom's house to celebrate my younger brother Nathan's birthday. A couple of hours before we were supposed to leave, I heard a dog bark and I looked outside to see a little Pomeranian on our back deck.

I was annoyed that one of the neighbors let their dog out without a leash, and I was thinking of calling animal control, but decided that since it was a little Pomeranian, it probably couldn't do much harm. ;)  I saw that he was wearing a collar with a tag, so I looked at his tag and it said "Cowboy" and his address and phone number. I didn't recognize the street name, so I called the phone number.

A girl answered, and when I asked her if she was missing a dog, she said no. I told her that I had a dog on my deck with a tag that listed her number. She checked on her dogs and said no, none of them were missing. I told her the name on the tag was "Cowboy" and she started freaking out. "MOM! OHMYGOD, IT'S COWBOY!! I'm going to put my mom on the phone--OHMYGOD!"

I was a little confused, but the mom came on the phone and she was freaking out, too. She was super excited, and asked if it was a little orange Pomeranian, and I said yes. She couldn't have been more excited as she told me the story of Cowboy...

Apparently, she found Cowboy in her yard one day about a year and a half ago. She tried to find the owner, and had no luck--she posted fliers and asked neighbors, etc, but nobody claimed the dog. So she decided to keep him. She named him Cowboy and had a tag made for him. Then she took him to the vet, and while she was there, the vet scanned him for a microchip. Turns out he had an owner. She was bummed, but contacted the owner and gave the dog back. The owner didn't even seem very grateful, and this woman (I never got her name! We'll call her Susan...) was sad to see Cowboy (whose name was actually "Guy") go.

The owner of the dog even asked Susan to dog sit for her once when she was out of town, and Susan did that. But Susan hadn't seen Cowboy/Guy in over a year.

And then I called.

The owner never got a new tag made or even removed the old tag that Susan had made. So when I called the number, Susan was shocked to hear about Cowboy. She told me that she would try and get in touch with the owner. She wasn't able to get a hold of her, so she told me that she'd be happy to pick him up, that she didn't want him to be lost or wandering. She said her husband had the car, but she would come as soon as she could. She kept apologizing that she didn't have any money to give me, and I reassured her that I didn't want money.

Since I was going to my parents' house, I told her I would just drive the dog to her (about 20 minutes away). She was SO GRATEFUL and just kept saying "Thank you, thank you!" I felt like I had just saved her child from a burning building or something! So Jerry, the kids, and I all drove to the dog to Susan's house.

She came running out and hugged Cowboy, and she had tears in her eyes when she was thanking me. She said she would try and get a hold of the owner, and I told her she should just keep him--she obviously cares about him more than the owner. He was such a sweet little doggie, I wish I could have kept him myself!



Last night, I invited Renee to come over for some wine and chit chat. We used to get together every few weeks after the kids were in bed to have a couple of glasses of wine and talk, but it's been a while since we did that. Training for the marathon means I can't drink much, and it has to be on planned days (when I don't have a long or semi-long run in the morning.

Anyway, it was fun to catch up with her, and I think she may go to Minnesota with me in August for a half-marathon. It's in St. Paul, where my brother lives, so we already have a place to stay--and my brother said we could use buddy passes to fly there, so it would be super cheap. And we could make a weekend out of it by going to the Mall of America.

The race looks super fun--it's called Women Rock. What drew me in? A running jacket in lieu of a t-shirt, a zone of men fanning you and giving you grapes during the race; hot firefighters giving you your pendant (medal) at the finish; and champagne! Oh, did I mention it's a downhill race? Maybe I'll be going for my sub-2:00 goal ;) Definitely a girly race that sounds like a blast! Renee's checking out her situation to see if she can swing it, and if so, we'll be "rocking" Minnesota on Sept. 1st!




35 comments:

  1. "Susan" should keep Cowboy. Sounds like he'd be happier with her, and maybe he was trying to find her when he escaped!

    Women Rock sounds like the Diva Half I'm doing! Tiaras and boas handed out along the race and a rose and champagne at the finish line from a "hunk." Plus the awesome medal with a place for my picture... Can't be beat! (What wine did you have?)

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  2. What a wonderful and interesting story about the dog. I love reading your blog. I'm always telling people, "Well, I read this blog and she said this... or she said that..." Your ears must be itching all the time!

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    1. Haha I am the same way! think I mention you at least once a day!

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    2. Yep, I'm pretty sure my husband is tired of hearing about Katie!

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  3. OMG! I am 2 hours away from St. Paul and my sister-in-laws and I are seriously debating doing Women Rock! I think I will make it my full, especially since it has a 200FT. DECLINE! :) I was all about that! I am scared to commit, but need to just sign up and then I will have no choice! :)

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  4. I live in St. Paul! And this race sounds like the most amazing thing ever. Totally going to do it next year.

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  6. Please sign me up for Women Rock. ;) Your description (and the poster) totally sold me. :D Ah, wishful thinking. :p Sounds like a great time, though!

    I LOVED the story of the dog--it brought tears to MY eyes! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Bad pet owners are infurating! It's odd that she hasn't changed the tag, but it looks like he has been groomed. I hope Susan just keeps him!! Do you know about how far it is from his owner's house to yours? I wonder how far he went.

    Ok I'm ready to run in the Women Rock marathon right now. I'd have to get a shirt made pointing out the fact that I'm single and looking. LOL!!!

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  8. I'm 100000000% jealous of that race! That's the best idea ever!

    Cowboy is such a cutie!!!

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  9. I am doing this race! Totally great race swag and the firefighters are a plus too! If you decide to do it I would love to meet up with you at the race!

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  10. I also think "Susan" should keep Cowboy. Looks like the original owner wants someone else to take care of him anyway.

    That race sounds fun. I'm not far from there but there is no way I'd be ready for a 1/2 in September!

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  11. That race sounds fantastic! Why can't it be in Michigan!?

    What a cute puppy!!! He looks like a "Ross," you know, if guys had wound up taking him in ;-)

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  12. Oh man I pray she keeps that wee lil nugget! If the original "owner" was irresponsible enough to let that beautiful dog go not once but twice, Cowboy is not living a good life there. If you hear anything else about him, please let us know!

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  13. That race looks awesome. I am from Wisconsin and was totally contemplating it until I remembered that I have a bachelorette party that weekend!

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  14. That's such a lovely story about Cowboy. Just imagine how they treat their human kids if they treat their dog kids like that!

    You know, I think more women would run if they knew there were races out there like that - sounds like fun ;)

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  15. I am doing the Womens Rock half this summer in St. Paul, too! Trying to get my friend, Jeanne to come from NY to do it as well. Gotta love the firemen! :-)

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  16. Poor Cowboy. I am guessing Susan is not going to return that dog this time. Same tags? I mean really.

    We had a dog appear on our back deck (which is a complicated maze to get up onto, but there it was. It stayed the weekend while we went around trying to see if anyone knew it and looked for signs. Nothing. Then I took it to the pound (we already have a big dog). On the way home from the pound we passed by the neighborhood where the previous owners to our house had moved and it occured to me that it could have been their dog (7 years later). We went to the house and asked if they were missing a dog. No. Described it... well that does sound like our dog. IT WAS. A WHOLE WEEKEND GONE and they did not notice? The ownder was mad at ME for taking it to the pound.

    I am glad your good deed ended well. Poor pom.

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  17. I hope "Susan" keeps Cowboy!!! What a sweet story - I really hope it has a happy ending!

    And how do I not know about this race??? I live in Minneapolis and work in St. Paul. I'm definitely going to look into this!

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  18. Aww Cowboy! Such a cute story! Such a crazy story! I think *Susan* and Cowboy belong together. I hope she doesn't bother trying to get in touch with the "owner". Anyway! That race sounds amazing and hilarious! I'd love to do something fun like that! And a jacket! I can't even find a race that gives out sweatshirts, only tees! Sounds awesome on so many levels :D

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  19. What a great story about the dog! I love a good happy ending.
    That race sounds awesome. I hope everything works out for you and Renee to go. I am heading over to the website now to check it out. I love reading about races I have never heard of.

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  20. She should keep Cowboy! I think it was meant to be.

    OMG I wonder how far of a drive MN is for me? MY first 5K is this weekend and I was looking for something in the fall to keep me running through the summer. Wonder if I could do a half by then? That's totally awesome!!!

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  21. Heartwarming doggie story! I hope that lady doesn't try to contact the "real" owner, because as you said, she cares way more about that dog than that person does. I often fantasize about my little Maggie Rose Bowl coming home. She just disappeared from our front yard about 3 years ago. I think a coyote got her, a neighbor called me and said she thought she saw something big and brown in our yard. Still miss that little dog--the sweetest little dog that ever lived! Glad the lady was reunited with Cowboy!

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  22. I live in St. Paul :) Maybe I should do this... 142 days, hmmmm... I work up in the 911 Comm Center and the firefighters come up and sell the calendars and sign them... the first year I got one, one of them wrote "I have the tool to get the job done" on his month, HAHA!

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  23. I hope Susan keeps him! If he was happy at his other place, he wouldn't have run off again. How wonderful!

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  24. I live in MN and work in downtown St. Paul... and I can't believe I'm about to say this, since I've only run one 5K ever (last August... and have only run once for 15 minutes since then...), but I might be willing to learn to run 10K to do this race! (It might also be kinda cool to meet you, if we could arrange that!) I mean, there is jewelry, champagne, chocolate, and HOT MEN!!! Seems like that should keep my mind off that silly running part ;)

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  25. omg, I just registered for a half marathon!! It will be my first! On the form, it asked me how old I will be at the date of the event, which will be _30_! omg... I am going to be googling all day and trying to figure out how to "train" for such a thing, it says there is a 3.5hour limit. I would never have thought about doing such a thing if I haven't read your powerful blog! I'm pumped, yet still have the feeling of "wtf did I just spend $100 on?!" aaaaah! My goal besides finishing, will be trying to fit into the racing jacket I ordered, an XXL. Thank you Katie! Hope to see you there!

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  26. I am running the Women Rock half marathon as well! For me it was the draw of the hot firefighters and free chocolate, lol! Team Ortho races are so well organized too. I saw one of the shirtless firefighters and the bling at the Get Lucky race in March and it is awesome.

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  27. HEY! I have that calendar. I'm a 911 operator for St.Paul (and ramsey county) so I guess you could say those lovely gentleman are my coworkers who stop by from time to time for a visit. A friend of mine signed up for the halfmarathon, I may join her. Would be lovely to meet you!

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    1. Do it Amanda!! <3 Shar is going to as well :)

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    2. Gasp! You found me! I was seriously thinking of texting to see if I could join :D

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    3. Yes! Please register :)

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  28. Aww I love the dog story!
    Yum to those Firefighters! ;)

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  29. That's really cool you're running the Women Rock half! I'll definitely keep an eye out for you. You should also check out other Team Ortho races -- I did the Monster Dash last year and it was easily the most fun I've ever had in a race.

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  30. I live just south of St. Paul and work in downtown St. Paul. That race looks like so much fun! I am running th Women's Half Marathon the weekend prior or I would've totally run that one! I ran the Lucky 7k race by Team Ortho and it was so fun! You need to do a pre-race meet up with all of your blog readers! I'd be happy to host it!

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