<p>We have a wonderful chow/border collie mix. We adopted her when she was 2 years old. She had been returned to the shelter twice because she was an escape artisit. We took her anyway because she and our other dog seemed to like each other as soon as they met. She was indeed an escape artisit! She was constantly getting out - she could flatten herself out and wiggle under the gate! She would roam the neighborhood until she found someone going for a walk and then just join them. We put a tag on her that said “Hi. My name is Bacardi. I live at … and my number is …” Most people would let her tag along and then either call us or put her back in our yard after their walk. No one ever called animal control, I guess because she was so sweet and didn’t bother them - just walked along behind them. She’s 13 now and her escape days are over but she is still the sweet loving girl who enchanted our entire neighborhood :)</p>
<p>JHS I’m so glad your dog is ok. What a scary, scary situation.</p>
<p>Of course. My dog had our phone number (with area code) on her collar. But no one had gotten close enough to read her collar.</p>
<p>A few years ago my friend and I went on a girls weekend that our husbands had given us for Christmas. While I was gone my H called to tell me that my 6 year old Cockerpoo was in the animal hospital. Apparently H had bought chinese food for my D and her friends. One of her friends left a delicious steak teriyaki, still on the skewer, sitting on the edge of the kitchen table. As my husband watched from across the room, the dog leapt up, grabbed it and gulped it down in one piece. </p>
<p>Well, the x-rays, ultrasounds etc. showed the skewer sitting in her digestive track and the only option was surgery to the tune of 1800 dollars. The hospital had to admit her while they waited for the surgeon to come. My husband slept with his cell phone propped under his pillow so he would be available if he needed to go back to the vet. In the middle of the night he got a call that the tech had brought the dog out to pee before the surgery was to begin. While she was outside she started to gag and, sure enough, threw up the entire skewer in one piece. It just shot out like a javelin. </p>
<p>When my H went to pick her up there was a note on the bill that said “Congratulations, go buy 1800 dollars worth of lottery tickets.”</p>
<p>They gave him the skewer as a keepsake.</p>
<p>On a college related note, my D just came home from school last night (1 hour away…but she rarely comes home!) to pick up our dog so SPARKY could go be a college dog for 3 days! The rescued terrier mix is being pampered as we speak by 4 college kids—already been to the dog park for the first time—and has eaten bean dip on his dog food!
No time before his first beer I suppose.</p>
<p>These stories are great. Thanks for starting this thread!</p>
<p>DMD … I have a new puppy that’s in training for agility!</p>
<p>My older Sheltie is now retired … and this new one is her great grand niece! </p>
<p>The only funny story I have at the moment is that my wonderful agility prospect has a stair phobia … sometimes we can’t go up, sometimes we can’t go down, sometimes it’s not an issue, sometimes she goes up on her own and then barks until I go encourage her to go down … her great grand auntie used to bounce around on the stairs and I’ve added carpet treads since then. Who woulda thought!!!</p>
<p>When my D was a little girl, we had a miniature Schnauzer named Tilly. My D was playing in the living room one day, making a “fort” out of the dining room chairs and blankets. She had a bunch of large stuffed animals in there and was playing veterinarian. She had the dog and me come into her clinic, so we were all crowded in under the blanket. Then D had to use the bathroom, so she told me to keep watch over a large teddy bear who was very sick. While D was in the bathroom, the Schnauzer threw up all over the bear, and it looked like the bear did it! </p>
<p>I told D on her return that the bear was much sicker than she thought and had just thrown up. I was laughing hysterically but D did not think it was funny AT ALL.</p>
<p>
I’m laughing pretty hard!</p>
<p>My dog (black standard poodle) is a very good boy, but likes to rummage through the trashcans upstairs. He empties them onto the floor, and then does nothing with them. He also sits on the stairs, about 5 or 6 steps from the bottom, and “guards” the house. Which means he barks at squirrels and chipmunks, but if a real person comes to the door – eh, whatever. </p>
<p>He has Addison’s disease and we have to give him a shot once a month, which my H administers. We hold him down and H gives the shot, and then he jumps up and wags his tail and licks our faces. You’d think he’d be mad at us, but no.</p>
<p>A stuffed animal story, not a real one: When my D was about 5 and Beanie Babies were all the rage, she had a particular Beanie Baby she loved very much – a little dog (I think a beagle). H and I went on a trip to San Francisco and for some reason, H bought the same BB at the airport and we photographed Beanie with us all over SF – Beanie ate soup in Chinatown, perched on our shoulders as we walked the GG Bridge, and so forth. When we got home, we developed the film and really had D going that Beanie had gone on vacation with us.</p>
<p>My oldest dog has a two sided name tag. One side has my information with cell phone number; the other side says, If I am alone, I am lost; phone home! The few times she has strayed from my husband while hiking off leash, someone always calls to let me know they have her. She is very friendly and goes up to every person on the trail, and I guess many people do check the tags. I like having a cell phone number on the tags; if they are lost, you most likely are not at home to answer the phone as you are out looking!</p>
<p>When my D was in kindergarten, she had a friend come over to play Monopoly. They were sitting at the kitchen table, and when one of them threw the die, it fell on the floor and was swallowed by my 14-year-old dachshund. I threw the 2 girls and the dog in the car and headed for the vet’s office, all the time thinking that it was his last ride. In the back, the girls are discussing how they are going to play the game without the die. The friend says, “Maybe your mom could stop at my house and get one from my mom.” I am ready to freak! The vet looks at the dog, looks at me and suggests that maybe we could get him to throw it up. Otherwise, it’s surgery and because of his age, he does not think he will survive. I call the friend’s mother, whom I have never met, and explain how she has to pick up her kid at the vet’s office, not at my house. The vet puts morphine in his eyes, he throws up the die (which I get back in a prescription bottle!) and my angel gets one more year with us. We always referred to him as Nathan Detroit after that!</p>
<p>I have some cute cat stories. Some years back we had a stray adopt us and we never found the owners so we kept him. This cat was so funny because he liked to go on walks with us. He always kept by our side during the whole walk as if he was on an imaginary leash.</p>
<p>We have an outdoor cat now that has trained my H to feed her whenever he opens the garage door to go get the paper in the morning. My H started getting up earlier and didn’t want to feed her so early but actually she convinced him to do so. Anyway one day he told me how he had outsmarted the cat by going out of the front door to get the paper. Guess what the very next day she was waiting for him at the front door. I told him that now that she knows his habits that if he was going to try and outsmart her then I wouldn’t be suprised if she would start waiting on top of the paper.</p>
<p>After we lost our dog, Mia, after 12 years we swore that we would be a one-dog family from now on (we had another dog, Izzy, at the time). Izzy was a rescued pit and we formed a close bond with the people who rescued her. </p>
<p>A few months after Mia died, the same people showed up on our front porch with a 6 month old pit bull. Her face was mutilated and she had something like 50 stitches. They begged us to take her because they didn’t have the room and she would be put down if they took her to a shelter. We couldn’t say no. A few months later, Izzy passed away and we were down to just Cleo (the new rescued pup). </p>
<p>We instantly noticed that Cleo picked up on tricks and training right away. We decided to train her to be a therapy dog and she has since been certified. She still has the scars from her young days as a bait dog and that makes it really easy for kids in hospitals to bond with her (especially those who have been in accidents and have scars). </p>
<p>Not only is she a therapy dog, but we are also using her to change the face of pit bulls in America. We brought her in when our city wanted to ban pits and the measure was voted down (and we got a promise from the mayor that said he would never sign a “doggie racism” bill). </p>
<p>She is just a great dog and an inspiration that you can become anything, no matter where you come from :).</p>
<p>Oh, and everyone loves her. I’m having a get together this week with my college friends (who are coming in from all over the state) and the first thing that almost all of them asked was “Is Cleo going to be there?!”</p>
<p>There is the saying, dogs have Masters, Cats have Staff.</p>
<p>My last box of Cat Litter came with a few sample Litter Box Wipes - yesterday the cat showed up in my bathroom with a wipe in her mouth and dropped it at my feet. I’m pretty sure it was an order, not a request.</p>