I am by no means a super hero. I have no super powers like Underdog, but I do have canine intuition. I was called into action recently to save the day. OK, maybe “save the day” is a bit of a stretch. But if you were there and heard my dad, Bobby, talk about it, I did save the day. While maybe it had no impact on the economy or world peace, it impacted my family and my peace.
Let me set the stage. My mom, Wendi, was signed up to go to a training in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, March 23. She had decided that since it began at 9 in the morning, she would leave on Wednesday night and stay in a hotel. She was going to leave me, Dad and the cats at home by ourselves. She made sure Dad had rolls and white American cheese for his Pastrami, but I don’t think she did anything special for me!
Dad was OK with her going because he didn’t want Mom to stress out about getting there on time. I was not OK with it. I may be a dog, but I need my family together at night (unless I get to visit someone while we aren’t together). She had told Dad that she wanted to go right after work, so she wouldn’t have to worry about driving in the dark. While Dad understood that, he still was going to miss saying goodbye and get a kiss.
When I went to doggie day care in the morning, I had no idea that Mom wouldn’t be at home that night. I guess she went home at lunch to pack, because when she picked me up in the afternoon, her luggage was in the car. My first thought was that we were going somewhere, but after awhile, I got the sense something different was happening.
So when we got home, Mom fed the cats, which is usual practice. Then she changed her clothes, which is usual practice. She put my harness and walking leash on, which is usual practice. But then, instead of heading up the street on our normal afternoon walk, she turned left. I was like “What!?” Something was going on. I could tell mom was in a hurry. But that only made me nervous and distracted, which means I couldn’t go “potty” like I normally would.
Mom didn’t want to walk longer to give me a chance to relax. She insisted that we head back home. That perked me up because usually a short walk meant a ride in the car would occur. To help Mom out, I ran straight to the car. She tried to deter me, but I knew she really wanted to take me with her. So she finally gave in and let me get in the car. She had to get her keys from the house, which I thought was weird. I figured she probably had forgotten them when we started for our walk.
Unfortunately, she just thought I wanted to go to the middle of our neighborhood. (There is a park there.) When she pulled in, I got out and did some sniffing around. Still, cause she was rushing me and I was distracted by other things, I couldn’t do my business. So I finally gave up and led Mom back to the car. I think she got excited because she thought she’d be able to leave. However, I had a surprise for her.
I should explain that usually after I get a car ride, regardless of the length of the ride, I will jump down from my perch in the back of the HHR to the backseat. Mom then will put my leash back on. Well the surprise for her was that I didn’t do that. I stayed on my perch. She called and tried to cajole me to come down, but I knew I needed to stay put. She wasn’t convinced because first she tried to urge me down by coming into the car and hooking my leash while I was in the back. That didn’t work, but she must have enjoyed my antics because she was laughing.
She called Dad to let him know what was going on. While they were on the phone Mom opened the hatch and lifted me out of the car that way. I did not like that and I let her know. Once on the ground, I ran back to the car door. I could tell Mom was at the end of her rope, but I still had work to do. Thankfully Dad said that he would meet us at the top of the hill. Then Mom could leave me with him. Finally we were on track for me to complete my mission.
When Dad arrived, I happily jumped down to the backseat and went freely with Dad.
So how did I save the day? Well, if I didn’t do all that I did, Mom would have left Wooster without giving Dad a kiss goodbye. While I hate it when we aren’t together at night, what would have been worse is if they didn’t get a chance to say a proper goodbye. So Dad kissed Mom and Mom kissed Dad and then all was right with the world — at least under this circumstance.
Dad kept thanking me for the delay, so that he could come and get kisses from Mom. All in all, Mom was only gone for 24 hours, but it seemed like eternity to me. And I might not be Underdog, but for my parents (and especially Dad) I am a super dog!
