I had promised my dogs an extra long walk yesterday. I had been so busy with work this week that I hadn't been able to give them the attention they so richly deserve. I delivered on my promise and we were almost home, when we rounded the last corner and I saw a frantic Jack Russell terrier darting through yards and out into the street. Hot on her heels were two tiny puppies. Someone must have let them out, I thought and as I walked a little further I saw a woman standing by the open slider of a mini-van trying to coax the dogs to her. I just assumed they were hers, but as we got closer, she asked me if I could help. She said she'd seen the dog and her puppies aimlessly roaming the neighborhood all day, and the mother dog kept running into the street and nearly had been been hit several times.
The terrier came over to check out my dogs, but she was horribly skittish and ran away anytime I got close. I could see the dog had no collar. There wasn't much I could do as long as I had my own dogs, so I told the woman I had to go drop my dogs off at home and I would come back. I returned with one of my dog's harnesses, hoping I could get close enough to catch her and hook her up. The puppies had run off into some bushes to hide, and when we found them they had curled up against each other and were fast asleep.
For 20 minutes we tried to catch the dog, but it was hyper and frantic because it didn't know where it's puppies were. I got the bright idea to try and lure her with her kids, so we retrieved the puppies from the bushes and I sat on a lawn with them in full view. It did the trick, to a point. The terrier came to me and inched up to her babies, but every time I made even the slightest move, she was off again.
I then thought perhaps if we could lure her into our backyard, at least in a confined space she'd be easier to catch and would at least be out of traffic. I picked up the puppies and started walking home. The terrier followed behind at a distance and the woman trailed us all in her mini-van. Along the way, we ran into several neighbors and I asked each if they knew who the dog belonged to. They mentioned they had seen the dog in the neighborhood for the past several days but didn't know who it belonged to.
We got to the house and I opened the gate and carried the puppies so the mama dog could see where we were going. The woman parked and I told her to come up from behind and when the dog entered the backyard to close the gate. The plan almost worked, but the terrier is smarter than most people here and just as she was about to come into the backyard, she realized something was up and turned tail and ran. We tried it a couple more times, but the dog was on to us, so finally I brought the puppies back out onto the front lawn and once again tried to lure the dog with her babies.
The puppies were adorable (see above) and several times we were close to catching the dog. But she seemed terrified of people and I could only imagine what kind of abuse she must have endured. We were on full view with our dilemma and slowly other people stopped to try and help. It was heartwarming to see how many people truly cared. Some people tried to catch the dog, others stood in the street to slow down cars, a couple of people brought out dog food and water. But in the end, it may have been too many people, because soon the terrier was running far down the street and disappearing completely for long stretches of time. By this time an hour and a half had passed and I didn't know what we were going to do. We had the puppies, but they couldn't have been more than a couple weeks old and I was pretty sure they hadn't been weened. And abandoning the mother to save the pups seemed cruel.
The woman suggested we call the dogcatcher.
They have a dogcatcher here?
Eventually people started to give up and leave and I hadn't a clue what to do at that point.
And then, out from the neighboring condo complex, lumbered Deena, the lesbian.
"What's going on? " she asked.
We explained the situation and Deena said she'd seen the dog a couple of weeks ago. She said, in fact, a friend had seen her too and mentioned that if they were able to catch the dog, she's be happy to adopt her.
"Let me make some calls..." said Deena.
She disappeared for about ten minutes and when she returned she was carrying a dog crate.
"I talked to my friend and she's on the way. Says she'll adopt the mother and the babies too. Take them to the vet and get them all checked out and healthy."
That was great news, but we still had to catch the mother.
Deena stomped into the yard and plopped herself down on the lawn sitting Indian style with the crate behind her.
"Give me the puppies" she demanded.
I know from experience you don't fuck with Deena, so I handed over the pups and she placed them in her lap.
At this point we hadn't seen the mother in about 20 minutes. I didn't even know if she was in the neighborhood anymore, although I suspected she wouldn't abandon her kids.
Deena sat with the pups. And whistled.
A loud, shrill whistle.
Suddenly, across the street, the terrier's head poked out from behind our juniper. The juniper the boyfriend had accidentally butchered over the weekend. Deena whistled again, and the terrier calmly trotted across the street and slowly approached her. Deena sat there, unmoving, and the terrier circled her a couple of times.
And the the terrier sidled up beside her and laid down!
Deena reached over to pet her, and I figured this was when the dog would bolt. But it quietly sat there and let Deena pet her. Deena stroked her back and slowly rubbed her ears.
And then, in a flash, she performed some lesbian jujitsu and the dog was in the crate.
Seriously, I didn't even see it happen, it was that fast. Dog on the ground, dog in the crate, in the blink of an eye.
The dog freaked out at first, but then we placed her puppies in with her. Once they were reunited, everyone calmed down.
Deena got up off the grass, picked up the crate, said a terse "Thanks", and she was gone. Crisis averted. After two hours.
I always thought of lesbians as cat people, but not anymore. Deena is a "Dog Whisperer".
