Puppy Dog Drama

I'm sure it's every Pet Parent's worst nightmare.
There you are, your dog on a leash. Out and about in public.
And suddenly, inexplicably.
The dog's loose.
Slipped the collar.
Running around.

And right next to you is this super busy road.
With cars whizzing by at at least 45mph if not faster.

And there your dog is.
Running around.
Feet from traffic.
One wrong move on your part,
and Puppy Dog ends up running into the road.
To get hit.
To be injured.
Possibly killed.

Not something you want to see at all.
I heard of it happening at work, back when I first started.
An owner's dog got loose.
It ran.
And Ran.
And ran until it was hit by a car.
And killed.

It's not something I wanted to experience personally, nor have anybody I knew experience.

But today....
One of the Groomers came in with her dog. To groom her.
But in the middle of waiting for us to come to open the doors (as they're locked before official main store opening hours), her dog somehow slipped the harness she was wearing.

Puppy Dog was running around without a care in the world.
Tail wagging.
Prancing. Dashing, Jumping.

But not coming anywhere near her owner.
The Groomer's cries were full of fear.
Cracking as she tried to get her dog to come to her.
Tried to convince the dog that they weren't going to go into the store.
To jump into the car.

Puppy dog wasn't having it at all.

I came into the situation, having been the one on my way to open the door.
I'd been in the middle of bedding changes.
Which meant....as one customer put it as she saw me as she was leaving.
"Were you in the middle of a surgery of some sort?"
Ha...no.
Though it really did look like it.
I had on a dust mask, gloves, a blue medical gown...
Basically a medical outfit by all looks. Though I was using it only to keep myself from getting smelly and covered in bedding material as I changed out the hamster cages for the week.

I couldn't just stand there and watch my coworker as she tried to catch her dog.
So I reacted and walked over towards the puppy dog.
As she frolicked in the parking lot.
At one point getting feet away from the busy road, sniffing in the grass.
I called to her.
Using a more cheerful voice, a more calming voice then the panicked one of my coworker.

Unfortunately.
The customer I let out happened to realize that the reason why I was standing at the door was not to let her out, but to try and get the dog in,
and tried to help out as well.
....the Dog did end up going over to the coworker's car.
But as the lady moved about to try and convince the dog to jump in....
Puppy Dog Took off.

Right into the road.

Thankfully.
It was the other road.
Not the busy one.
Where cars sped past at a frantic rate.
But the less busy one where cars drive a little slower.
And thankfully.
No cars were near as she dashed across the road to the car dealership on the other side.

The lady customer called to the coworker to tell her to get into the car and go after her.
I doubted that would work.
We needed to react quicker.
Get to the dog before she decided to dash across the road again and get hit.

So I ran across the road. (I didn't get hit either, cars weren't close enough to hit me.)
In all my dressed up medical gear glory.
(Totally wonder what people thought of that if they noticed the crazy girl in blue...lol)
To get closer to the dog as my coworker got in her car to come across the street as well.

I stopped in the grass when I could see the Puppy Dog.
And knelt down.
And called to her.
In a calm happy voice. No sign of fear or terror that my coworker obviously had to be feeling.
And she came.
Came right up to me.
I petted her, telling her she was a good doggie. Working to keep her focused on me, and in my grip as my coworker drove over.
Not an easy thing, considering that Puppy Dog wasn't wearing a collar. And she was a midsized dog.
But still. I had a hold of her.

The coworker got out of her car.
"Hold on tight to her." She said.
Originally planning to get the Harness back on to her, she quickly changed her mind. "Let's just get her into the truck."
But as she moved forward.
The puppy dog made a break for it.
A break that obviously would not end well, if she dashed off towards the street.
So I did the only thing I could.
I tackled the dog to the ground. Lunging to throw myself on top of her and hold her before she got more than a foot away from me. (Coworker says I'd be great at foot ball. I have the lunge down. lol)
Safe.
We had her.
We just needed to get her safer.

My coworker took hold of her front two legs.
And I took hold of her back two legs.
And we moved her (pig on a roasting stick style) into the car.
Safe.

Nearly, my coworker decided to take her home.
But instead she had me dash ahead to the store to grab one of the grooming leashes, that would allow for a tighter hold on the dog.
And inside the store she went.

Drama.
Over.
Phew.

No doggy pieces all over the road.
And for that I am extremely grateful.
That would have been terrible. Oh so terrible.
I'm grateful that Puppy Dog decided to come to me, and that I was able to react quickly enough to keep her from getting loose.

My coworker was extremely grateful too.
Later on in the day coming up to me and enveloping me in a big hug of gratitude.
The stress/tension/worry she'd experienced replaced with Joy and Relief.

^^ Happy Endings are awesome. :)

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi