Winter's never shown any interest in escaping from the yard. One time the gate was open and I found her on the front porch trying to get in. That was about two years ago. But yesterday she was outside for a long time. And aside from the general quease in my stomach I felt an extra utz in there and knew..just knew that gate had opened and she'd gotten out. But we couldn't really see from the windows if the gate was open and she wasn't answering when we called from the back door. So Cody got dressed and went back there. After about three minutes with no signs of either I got dressed and went out there too. The gate was indeed open so I walked to the front yard and there was Cody and Winter walking up the street. He'd found her down the street sniffing in someone's yard. But he asked if she knew where mommy was (yes, we call each other mom and dad to the dog. stfu) and she headed straight for the house..and there I was. I was happy to see her and am just trying not to think about what could have happened.
All the animals have lived a very sheltered life in our house. No one has ever been mean to them. Ever. The cats lie in the middle of the floor on their backs completely confident that human feet will not step on them. Granted, the dog gets excited and decides to give a cat a chase every once in a while but she makes sure she doesn't catch them it's just for fun and the cats have specially designed escape from the dog places.
So now each of them have had their short adventures into the real world. Even the hedgehog has her "getting behind the sideboard where the hand couldn't get to me" story. And our great two year record without an outdoor escape has been broken. Damn. The gate has been properly latched now. I admit we usually have it slightly rigged but not well latched because the latch is a pain in the ass for service people to open. But they can just suck it up my baby is not escaping again.
I don't want to think about what a stranger would make of her ridge or the fact that she shrugs away from letting strangers touch her on the top of her head - even though she wags her tail and is very friendly strangers are not allowed to touch her on top of her head. Or what she would do if she saw a car coming. Or had gone just fifty or so feet behind the house to that really busy road. This is not helping my stomach.
Cody has decided this is a cold. And now that I have a sore ear and a general achiness he might be right. So I'm being sent to bed frequently with a cup of tea and some alka seltzer cold. I've been half-assed working on a skin for people on dialup but not much is getting accomplished at this rate.
I did get a birthday present for him for next week and a christmas present ordered. So that's good.
I'm glad Winter's home, safe and sound. Our dogs call us "Mommy" and "Daddy' too. LOL Phredd's even been trained to fetch my husband when I say "go get daddy."
I used to know a family that had a Ridgeback when I was a kid. Great dogs.
Hope you feel better soon.
Posted by: Beth at November 18, 2004 9:14 AM
*HUG*
I hope you feel better soon, honey!
Posted by: Jocelyn at November 18, 2004 2:26 PM
Aiee! Scary. Stuka (the cat) keeps trying to run out when we take Kami outside to go potty. Mostly we can pick him up and he's content to look around and just be where everyone else is, but it still worries me. As for our names, Kami knows Daddy without a doubt, but asking her "where's Mommy?" will sometimes get you a stuffed animal instead. :) Glad Winter's ok.
Posted by: Anonymous at November 20, 2004 9:28 AM
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