Adventures in Dogsitting

So, a quick recap of the previous entry: I was taking care of a dog, T, for a few days while T's owners were in Taiwan. They entrusted T to the care of our friend L, but for various reasons, it's difficult for L to take care of T during weekdays. I had T at my place Sun night and Mon during the day. The plan was for me to get the couple's apartment key from L on Mon evening. Also at my place was M, my roommate's parents' dog, who would be picked up Mon afternoon/evening.

My Monday plans were sparse: no work, and only one errand that needed to finish by Wed evening but that needed to be started that day.

So, Mon morning, I gave T a walk, then came home and gave M a walk. Both M and T are the only pets in their respective families, so they're used to getting a lot of attention, and aren't used to having other dogs around. So when I got back with M, I eased the two of them into getting to know each other. I separated them with a partition that would let them see and smell each other. Then I had each of them on leashes and removed the partition. Then I sat on the couch and held one with my right hand and the other with my left hand. And eventually they seemed to more or less get along. But this took the better part of the morning and the early afternoon, and I still had that one errand I needed to start.

Around 4 pm, not having heard from my roommate or his parents, and knowing that I was supposed to meet L sometime after 6 pm to get the apartment key, I left both T and M at my place and went out.

6 o'clock rolls around, and I get back to my place, and see my roommate's brother walking out the door with a big flashlight. Hmm, I wonder, what's that about? A few minutes later, I see my roommate and hear the story. My roommate's mom came by around 5:30 to pick up M from my place. She has a key, so she let herself in. Not knowing that there was another dog around, she saw M, gathered some stuff for M, and then saw for just a couple of seconds, T running out the door of our place.

And so my roommate, his brother, his dad, and his mom were either walking or driving around the block, hoping to find T. His dad suggested that I stay outside my place, in case T found her way back. And so, there I was, standing on the sidewalk, hoping against hope that one of them would find T.

The evening grew darker, and every 10-15 minutes, my roommate, his brother, or his mom or dad would come around the block, holding flashlights and shining them into neighbors' yards or bushes. Each time they'd come around, I'd hope that one of them would be carrying T, with her long white fur. And each time I'd be a little disappointed. Every so often I'd walk around the condo, and look into the bushes myself, and call out T's name. My roommate's mom came around, and explained the details of what had happened, and I could tell she was pretty anxious about it. But it wasn't her fault. She wasn't expecting a second dog, and I'd never done any dogsitting before, so there was no way for her to have expected T at our place.

6 turned into 6:30, and L called me, saying she was done with work, and asking if I was ready to take T to the apartment. Then I had to tell her that I'd lost T, and that my roommate's family and I were trying to find her. She asked if she should come to my place, and I said yes, hoping that T would recognize her voice better than mine or my roommate's family (who have never seen T before, as far as I know).

Then I continued waiting, hoping, fearing. All kinds of thoughts whirled in my head as I waited. Perhaps T would be hit by a car, perhaps she'd get into a fight with another dog (I've noticed that a lot of small dogs seem to be particularly aggressive), perhaps she'd run out into the fields beyond my block and never be seen again. What would I say to the couple, who are pretty attached to T? What would I say to L, who had trusted me with T after T had been put in her care?

A little after 7, it was getting dark and cold. My roommate's family gathered on the sidewalk with me, and decided that there wasn't much chance of finding her that night. They'd been around the local streets many many times, had asked various people if they'd seen T (to the point that one guy got angry because he'd been asked 3 times), and found various other stray dogs and a cat. But since they hadn't seen her at this point, they probably weren't going to. They told me that if I could get a flyer with T's picture, they'd be happy to make copies and post them on the light poles around. There was a good chance that T had been picked up by some family. Hopefully, they'd see that she was cared for and had a collar, and would call the number on it. And that that was our best hope. Then they left.

Not certain whether L would find my place, I stayed outside, and a few minutes later, L, her boyfriend, and 2 other friends (Y and S) from church who live near L drove up. We knew that T had a collar and a tag, but we didn't know if it had the owners' current telephone number (they'd moved a few weeks before) or if it had the cell phone number of either the husband or the wife. L sent her boyfriend and S to the apartment to check if there were messages and to get any cell phones there.

My roommate explained that his family had been looking for the last 2 hours, so our chances were slim. Nevertheless, he, L, Y, and I gave it another go around the block. I hoped that L's voice would be more familiar to T, and might coax her out from under a bush or from someone's yard.

L and I went one way around the block, and the other two went the other way. We called out T's name, shone our flashlights under cars and into bushes, and ventured into quasi private property (apartment and condo common areas and such). L was very careful in her search, not leaving any area unexamined. After a while, we met up with my roommate and Y, and my roommate repeated the things his family had said earlier, and recommended we go back to our place. He led the way, but Y, L, and I went slowly, still searching, since we hadn't spend the last 2 hours doing so.

We came across a slightly scruffy looking guys near a garbage dumpster, who had a walking stick, a flashlight, and a large trash bag with stuff inside. L asked if he'd seen a small white dog, and he said he had, around 5:30 that evening, over by the river beyond the bike trail (as he pointed towards a particular direction). Not knowing where these places were, I asked him how to get there, and he explained that in another direction, beyond the houses and yards, was a fence. In one corner, there was a gap that would allow one to pass. Then we should head in another direction and we'd run into a bike trail that would take us to the river. He'd seen this small white groomed dog over by the river running back and forth, and he'd thought that it looked out of place.

We'd lost my roommate, but Y, L, and I headed to the fence. We found it, then found a gap, and went through. I began to wonder whether T was the same dog that this guy had seen, since it seemed a bit far for T to have run after leaving my place around 5:30. Still, it was our best unexplored lead so far, so we walked through these wild fields with long grass, shining our flashlights into the bushes and scrub near the fence.

We then saw the same guy, who explained that he thought we might not find it, so he was going to lead us there himself. We walked, he and I side by side, with L and Y behind us. More dark thoughts went through my head. We were a considerable distance away from any homes or yards or other people. The guy was a little taller than me, but leaner, and I thought that if he were to attack me with his stick, I might have a chance against him, but that he'd likely take me. On the other hand, I could probably hold him off long enough that L and Y, though they're both relatively small Asian girls, would have enough time to join the fight, and that 3 on 1 weren't good odds for him, even if he did have a stout walking stick. On the other hand again, maybe he had another weapon on him. Still, he'd done nothing bad so far, and we might find T and spare ourselves much unpleasantness.

Anyway, we kept walking and walking on a trail that he said would take us to the river. We got to an area of paved road, and I saw a sign saying that we were entering the Kern River Parkway. I felt a shiver of dismay at the sight. When I had been handling criminal cases, I had a fair number of cases against folks who'd broken the local municipal code by camping there. And I also knew that some of the folks who camped there were hiding from the law, since they had open arrest warrants against them.

Still, we'd come this far, and the guy said it wasn't much farther. So I kept with him, while L and Y began to lag behind. Not a good feeling.

Then the paved area ended, and the guy was leading me through a walking trail in the midst of the long grass and scrub and trees. I didn't see where L and Y were anymore. I looked at myself and tried to remember if there were any signs of conspicuous consumption--wasn't wearing a watch, my cell phone was primitive, and my jacket had some signs of dirt and wear. Maybe the guy was sincere and didn't mean to rob or injure any of us.

We walked on for a bit and he pointed out where he'd seen the white dog. He mentioned that some dogs like that are sold for $500, and the suspicious part of me wondered if he expected some reward money if and when we found the dog. Which I'd be happy to give him if it was T.

L called me on my cell, and I told her I was up ahead, but that she and Y should stay near the lightpole I'd passed earlier. I'd only go on for a few more minutes, then turn back if I didn't see T.

We went on into the brush, calling for T, while I also kept a nervous eye on the guy's walking stick. The guy said that in this area, sometimes there are guys who walk through these fields, and that many of them are the kind that you shouldn't trust. I thought, but did not say aloud, "and what about you?"

Eventually the guy with me went on ahead, calling T's name, and I lost sight of him around a bend in the trail. Then I was even more worried. Even if my companion was a good hearted man, there was a chance I'd meet someone else who wasn't. Especially because I was calling T's name and shining a flashlight around, attracting attention to myself.

Another phone call came from L, who said she and Y were worried about me, and that I should go back, and that her boyfriend and S had driven to where they were. I told her that I would. Then, as I began to follow the trail, I heard my companion of a few minutes before, calling for T. I rejoined him, thanked him profusely, and told him I needed to get back to my friends. I left my cell number with him in case he found T, wished him a good night, and headed back.

I walked along the trail, shining my flashlight, hoping I'd meet my friends before I met any unsavory characters. Fortunately, I saw the group of flashlights from L, Y, L's boyfriend, S, and my roommate walking towards me on the trail.

We drove back to my place, a distance of somewhere between half a mile and a mile. We regrouped there, and agreed that we should call the couple in Taiwan, and see if they remembered what phone number they put on T's tag, and ask if there were pictures of T we could use for a flyer.

I led L up to my extremely disorganized and cluttered room, and she got the couple's number in Taiwan as well as her international calling card number. I then overheard her having what must have been a very difficult conversation with the wife, explaining what happened. While I don't understand Chinese, I could hear the tone of voice, and the pauses, and a word or two of English here and there. Then the husband got on the phone, and L passed her phone to me, and he and I talked for a bit. I explained what happened and apologized, and found out from him that the number on T's tag was the number of the husband's cell phone, which he had with him. The pics of T I could find on Facebook. And I thought I could hear the wife in the background crying.

We went downstairs and L and I told all we knew to the rest of the group. I told them I'd make flyers and post them tomorrow. We then had a short prayer for T, who we trusted to God's hands because we were just unable to do anything for her. And they left.

I went back to my room, and started the disheartening task of making a "Have you seen me?" lost dog flyer. Looked at the wife's Facebook albums, and saw various pics of T, many from when she was a puppy. I selected two pics, and tried to start typing the text.

Then my phone rang. It was the husband, who said he'd checked his voicemail, and that someone had picked up T earlier that evening. Could we go and pick him up? Absolutely, I said, elated.

My roommate and I put on our jackets, I grabbed T's leash, and we walked to the address I'd gotten, about a 5 minute walk down the same street as our place. We met a guy at the front door, invited us in and said he would go upstairs to get the dog. A few minutes later, we had T, and the guy said he'd picked her up around 6 pm, and that his daughter had given T a bath.

My roommate and I were absolutely thrilled as we walked back to our place. T was happy and oblivious to all the efforts that had been made that evening on her behalf.
I called L, and told her to call the couple in Taiwan as well as the others who had joined us in our search to let them all know that T was back.