topdog
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120 |
Story...
Every once in awhile, we have an experience in life that has all the components to create a story worth telling...action...drama...sorrow...fear... ...and of course...a happy ending.
The other night, Dave came to load the dogs for a mid week hunt. On these work nights, he has to plan for an early start and is always hopeful of an early end to the night...on this night, it wasn't to be, there were circumstances written in the stars that would mark this night as one to be remembered, perhaps for a life time...
Tonight, it was Leinie's turn to lead our young pup called Slim, through the woods in quest of wily ol' ring tail. After a couple of dumps and tough going, a track was started and both dogs worked pretty hard to make a tree out of it. At first, it didn't sound exactly right but they treed so he started to them with the same anticipation he always has...Mr Coon will be in the tree...
They had the meat so considering that it was a work week night, he thought it was good enough and loaded the dogs and headed home. Upon arriving back home, he started unloading the dogs like he always does...always a struggle it seems...On this occasion, the gate was stretched tight so he had to let go of Leinie's collar to get it unsnapped and in a heart beat...she was gone...The pup was also running around loose but he's easy to catch so he got him rounded up in short order and penned but now...where is Leinie?
The last he saw of her, she was heading around the truck and maybe down the driveway towards the woods...a bad feeling starts to well up inside him as he searches the yard and walks down the drive calling her name...nothing...just the silence of the night in response to his calls. He waits and calls at least 40 minutes, hoping for a sound or some indication of where she could be...he watches down the drive, fearful that a vehicle will come racing down the road...not knowing where she is or even where she might be. The first thing we do when we get ready to pen the dogs is to remove the tracking collars so even with all this new technology, a simple routine we have always followed has created a situation where there is no hope to be able to use it to find her.
Eventually, the reality of a work night hits home and he decides he can't wait any longer so he jumps in the truck puts it back in the garage and then jumps in his truck and drives home.
In the morning when I get up for work, I always check my emails and there in my inbox is a message I dread...Leinie is lost...I couldn't find her and I had to get home to bed with morning coming quickly. He goes on with few words to explain the situation and hopes that I find her in the yard waiting to be put back in the pen...
I get ready and out the door I go to search for her...I also have limited time to be able to find her before I also must answer the call to get to work...I walked to the kennel area and called her name...nothing...not a sound...no rustling of the leaves to indicate she might be curled up along the building or under a bush somewhere close by. I checked the kennel runs that were open, looking in each of the 3 empty runs to see if she had crawled inside to find warmth and refuge...nothing...I walked down the drive and called her name, I looked in the shed and in the garage, under the deck and steps...nothing...
Finally...I had to accept the fact that she wasn't going to be found in any of the usual places, she wasn't out there...I had to get to work...I got my stuff organized to leave with a heavy heart, worried sick that something bad has happened to her...
I have a two car garage and my work truck is parked next to my regular truck, the one that Dave uses to go hunting with all the time. I had to work my way between them to get into my truck and even though this routine is so normal and everything else seems so normal...today...there's no comfort in this routine...things aren't normal today...As I got into my truck to start the engine, my mind is deep in thought wondering how I'm going to arrange for the time to come back and expand my search...neighbors will need to be visted, ads put in the papers...on and on my thoughts race...
I put the truck in gear to back out and as I turned to make sure I didn't hit the side of the garage...a movement catches my eye...not in the drive...not in the yard but right next to me...in the other truck  As my eyes focus a little more...it finally becomes apparent what it was that caught my attention...it was Leinie's smiling face...looking through the passenger side window at me...from inside the other truck...HAPPY DAYS!!!
Evidently, as she raced around the truck...instead of charging down the driveway with wild abandon...she simply hopped into the truck and curled up in the back seat. Even when Dave got into the truck to back it down the driveway 50 yards or so and then parked it in the garage...she laid motionless in the back...hoping that she wouldn't be discovered...after all...this was a pretty cozy place to spend the night from a dog's perspective.
Two emotions hit me at the same time...one was great elation and joy at finding her...the other was even more great emotion and joy...because I was going to have some fun with this story...it's way to good to not share with my good friends.
Just goes to show that even in the darkest of times, we should not lose hope because an opportunity to share a story like this could be right around the next corner Old as I am...this is one of the best memory makers I've had the wonderful opportunity to share...these kinds of little events are what makes our sport worth experiencing...priceless...
__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones
Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.
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11-09-2010 02:44 PM
