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!
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.
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.
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!
