Cocoon mode,* day 22: Update: Old Girl is lost no more! The 17 year-old dog is home!
Friday, October 2, 2009 at 4:01AM ;)
I just talked to Carol Shay on the phone. The dog has been reunited with its people. After Carol drove the 12 miles to the Borough animal shelter, the good folks over there dug a little further back through their "lost dog" report records and found that a report had been filed that they had earlier missed when Carol called on the phone.
Hallejuah! This meant that the poor old dog had never been abandoned to die, as I had feared, but had somehow wandered off and hobbled two miles into the marsh. She had survived for five days. And she is 17 years old. She is loved and cared for.
Carol returned Old Girl to her "mom," and even learned her name, but she could not think of it when I talked to her.
"Senior moment," husband Dodd apologized. That's okay. Happens to me all the time - as frequent readers of this blog know. Carol did not have an address or a name, but she described how to get to the woman's home, so I will try to find her and see if I can get a photograph of the two of them together. I haven't time for such an activity, but then I take a bike ride just about every day, so I might as well bike over there and see if I can find the dog and her mom.
As for the train, my reason for including it in this post should be obvious.
Let us all be thankful that the dog came here instead of going the same distance in the opposite direction, which would have brought her to the railroad tracks. Being an adventurer, she would have undoubtedly hopped into a freight car. She would have wound up in Fairbanks, where she would have had to eat nothing but Spam, and tough out a very cold winter as she huddled by her hobo fire.
Of course, I hope to get to Fairbanks before too long. Perhaps destiny would also have brought us together there. We could have sat by the fire and shared some Spam, on Pilot bread, with mustard and cheese, washed down by Pepsi that would have turned to slush the moment it left the can and poured into our mouths.
We would have laughed and barked happily. Then one of us would have said, "pass the cheese, please," and the other would have answered, "woof, woof," just before she passed it.
I photographed the train through the window of Family Restaurant this morning. I was thrilled that it happened to pass by just as I was finishing off my ham and eggs, over easy, hash browns on the side, with coffee to wash it all down.
*Cocoon mode: Until I finish up a big project that I am working on, I am keeping this blog at bare-minimum simple. I anticipate about one month.
Reader Comments (9)
Your breakfast sounds better than spam and pepsi slush.
I love a story w/ a happy ending, and I am very glad that Old Girl got her happy ending. Her owners too.
17 is a very old dog. *does the math* That's 119 in people years.
i agree with debbie that there's nothing like a story w/a beautiful ending. also nothing like a delicious breakfast, so well portrayed in many american movies atvarious diners. i'm a diner eater myself - daddypops and terminal luncheonette here in suburban philly.
bill, i'm hoping to see an alaskan native art show at the princeton univ museum on saturday IF i can find someone to ride down w/me. i always get lost wherever i go. NOT cuz i'm having a senior moment but cuz i have no sense of direction. as i commented on my own blog, i LOVED your photos of your dad's military burial.
later!
So glad to hear that Old Girl has found her way home.Thanks for keeping us all updated.
The colors on the train are very handsome.
I'm very glad the old girl found her way home.
that is awesome. so great that you saved that dog. i wonder how often we see lost dogs and never realize their plight.
I'm afraid if that poor Old Girl tried to jump into a freight car, she wouldn't have made it. Can you imagine how arthritic her old hips are? I hope she's lying down on an electric dog bed, kept warm to ease those old joints....
Thank you so much for the update on that sweet Old Girl! She is very lucky indeed. Please try and get a pic of her and her owner. I have to say, I had the same though as you did, that someone just dumped her out die. Thankfully, that was not the case! It would be great to see a pic of her and her very relieved owner.
Oh I am so happy to see this! I found your blog thru Debby (Life's Funny Like That) and I'm loving it! I work w/a veterinarian from Homer, who's turned me on to all things Alaska. Absolutely love your blog and the pictures. Exactly what I was looking for!! You're bookmarked and now my new favorite. Keep up the good work. That grandchild of yours is SO ADORABLE. I can't get enough of that beautiful child's face. (I only read back 20some pages worth of your blog) You capture the expressions and wonderment of a child so well.
Love this dog story too. 17 years old. Wow! Our neighbors have an old dog like that, how it's still alive I do not know. Power went out while they were out of town, gate got stuck open, dog wandered out. I saw it the next day, trucking for open desert. Completely having a "senior moment" (love that expression). We fetched the dog up and took it back home, to the great relief of the neighbors. I imagine your dog's owners feel the same way. What a wonderful thing!!
Thanks, everybody. Now I just have to find her again and photograph her with her human. I did try, twice, but no success yet.
Thanks for the comment on Kalib, Mikey, glad you made your way here. Now, all I need to do is find a million more who feel as you and I could find the way to make this blog really work!