Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008

Loose snow dog

So I almost lost my dog last night. While most of you were admiring the freshly fallen snow, I was crying in my front yard, searching for my white dog among the white roads.

My dog is still a puppy so he has a lot of energy. It's difficult to keep him restrained the first three minutes of going outside for a walk. Not that we don't walk him often - he just loves to stretch his legs. If he gets loose, he'll run for miles before willingly come back.

I was about to shovel the driveway before Mr. Big got home, when I decided to bring Mochi to the front yard. I put a chain collar around him, then attempted to tie his leash to a bench. I turned around and the collar was lying in the snow, my dog nowhere in sight.

The eerie thing about snow is that everything is deathly silent. I tried listening for his paws, but all I could hear was my breathing.

I started running up and down the street, hollering for him, but still nothing. I stood in front of a stranger's house, frantically searching the streets, when suddenly a bolt of white shot past me.

He gave me good chase, dodging slow oncoming cars and my attempts to funnel him against neighbor's fences.

Finally, I sat down in the snow, exhausted, with tears starting to stroll down my face. I was defeated. I was dogless.

That's when Mochi trotted over to me, out of nowhere, giving my shoulder a lick. I quickly wrapped my arms against him, grabbing his collar, and dragged him all the way back home.

By the time Mr. Big arrived, I was just beginning to shovel the driveway.

After a looooong walk, we put him in the backyard. He had pulled his doggy bed into the middle of the yard when it first began to snow and has been sleeping on the snow-covered cushion ever since.

As we peeked outside our bedroom window, we saw his head tucked underneath his tail in true Husky fashion. It looked as if he had built a mound of snow to lay on, making him look regal. Either that, or he was really a dumb mutt. As we giggled to ourselves, he awoke and came up to the sliding glass door. Super adorable, we let him in and he happily laid on his warm, dry doggy bed in the corner of our room.

But still... A loose white dog in a wintery white wonderland is a bad, bad idea.