MY WORST NIGHTMARE
PETER & TONY WERE STOLEN OUT OF MY YARD TODAY!
I was on the phone with a potential puppy owner while watching them in the back yard. The call ended. I go into the house to get lunch going for the puppies. Shazam is relaxing on the dog bed with Lucky. I take a picture. How cute!
I feed Shazam and put Peter and Tony’s lunch in their x-pens and I go out to get them. I puppy call. Nothing. I call them by name. Nothing. I call in the house. Nothing. I look in rooms I haven’t been in all day. Nothing. If these boys know anything it is to come when called.
Lapsed time: 3 minutes.
I perimeter check the yard. All gates secure. No holes in fences. No dugouts under fences. There is no way for them to get out on their own.
Lapsed time: 5 minutes.
I’m panicked.
I grab a leash and Lucky and we speed walk the neighbourhood where the puppies have also been walked. I’m calling. Nothing. We make it home.
Lapsed time: 15 minutes.
At home I call again. Still nothing. It is seeming more like someone has opened the gate and taken Peter and Tony. Why them? Why not Shazam? I can’t believe this is happening. Who would steal my puppies??!
Lapsed time: 16 minutes.
I start calling local vets but I’m thinking if someone has stolen them they won’t be turning them in. While I’m on the phone I’m trying to find recent photos of them for the “STOLEN POSTER” to send to vets but I’m so upset I can’t navigate my phone to find them. This is a waste of time.
Lapsed time: 20 minutes.
After I call the first vet I decide to walk the street and look for neighbours that may have seen something. I speak to a few. No one has seen anything.
I’m trying not to hyperventilate and cry. I cannot believe this is happening.
I make my way back home still puppy-calling… still calling their names. Still nothing.
Lapsed time: 35 minutes.
As I climb my driveway hill I’m still puppy-calling them. Wait. Did I just hear a small bark. Was that Shazam in the house responding to my puppy-call through the window?? I call again. I hear another far away yip and a howl. I call again. More howling. I’m in the yard looking for the abandoned water well Peter and Tony have apparently fallen into…
It’s not a water well at all… it’s the empty stocktub they use as a pool that was leaning against the wood pile. Evidently, they got trapped under it and stayed quiet like church mice through all of my calling. For all the times I’ve told them to simmer down vocally, the one time I needed them to speak up they didn’t! It was one of those moments where I was so relieved I cried… and then wanted to beat the spots off them for taking ten years off my life.
Instead, I fed them and locked them in their x-pens for the foreseeable future.
These puppies will be the death of me yet.
Now, I’m sorry that I gave you the same heart attack that I experienced today… but a rollercoaster needs to be experienced, no? If you’re interested in the discovery video, it’s in the comments.