January 12, 2010

The Prodigal Dog

Fisher the Chesapeake ran off this afternoon while M. was walking the dogs.

She brought Shelby the collie home, then went back after him.

I woke up from a nap to find that she had even taken her Jeep up the Forest Service road looking for him.

I drove around too. We walked the neighborhood and the forest edges, calling and blowing his "come" command on the whistle.

Every dog on our road was riled up, but no Fisher.

  • Probability one: He found something very good to eat.
  • Probability two: He found a mountain lion.

Sunset came. Shelby, meanwhile, curled up on her bed on the veranda with an attitude that said, "Not my problem. I'm the good dog."

Four hours after he first ran off, he came back down the trail from the national forest boundary.

He was very thirsty. He smelled of meat. He is a skinny dog, but now he had a paunch.

He went to bed.

But now it's dog-dinner time, and he is standing in the kitchen. He does not look completely at ease. I expect that we will be awakened tonight by dog-barfing.

There went the whole afternoon when we should have been editing and proof-reading. But today, Fisher was an authentic dog.

UPDATE, Jan. 13: Amazing—no barfing in the night. 

7 comments:

PBurns said...

It was high tide and the Chesapeake was running through his veins. As an old dog, I imagine he will dream about that meal. Let us know what it actually was (I too am pretty sure you'll be seeing a little bit of it pretty soon).

Patrick

Chas S. Clifton said...

Actually, he is only 2 years old, but I expect that we will see what he ate.

jason said...

Glad he made it back. That's serious stress.

Galen Geer said...

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Now you can add that adventure to the water adventure, the "there was a grouse under the seat" adventure, "the what happened to that dove" adventure (er, was that Cookie?). You are going to be able to write a book about him. "Adventures with Fisher" Should be a best sell in doggie world. glg

mdmnm said...

Scary evening! Glad you got him back ok.

As Galen Greer mentioned water, how's he coming in that area?

Chas S. Clifton said...

We were making progress on the water issue. Then winter hit and all the small water around here is frozen. I was just thinking that I need to start driving down to lower altitude with him where I might find a manageable open pond.

mdmnm said...

Glad to hear you all are getting a handle on that.