Five Minutes of Panic!

Written by a CP Foster Mentor

Tonight I am doing a bed and biscuit for Hampton a 12 year old sweet wheaten boy who will be flying cross country tomorrow, from NYC to Seattle only to finally find himself once again in the air on Sunday ending up at the home of his foster mom Allison S. in Canada.

He is a super sweet thing who only wants to snuggle and whose ability to wrap people around his little paw is already well known. He charmed the staff and spent way more time than is supposedly allowed at the high kill shelter we got him from, then charmed the whole staff at the animal hospital where we had him vetted. And tonight he charmed Larry into feeding him some people chicken while I was out with Spanky. Of course Larry caves at the thought of a dog so his being charmed was a given. And of course he has me charmed as well. If Spanks was not of the ilk where he needs to be an only dog, this one would be going nowhere.

About 45 minutes ago I put Spanky out front and took Hampton out back. I put him on the lead as I cannot easily maneuver through the grass. I put the clip of the lead around the double D ring on the back of his harness which has all his tags on it. They put the harness on him at the vet and it felt tight. I let him drag his lead from his collar although, in the house, the lead is dragging from his harness. After all, dragging the lead was extra protection.

I am following him around the back yard as well as I could. He got tangled around some things and I untangled him. I was no more than 5 feet away at all times. He tangled himself again and it was tight. In the blink of an eye he had slipped his harness and was trotting towards the side yard. I quickly followed and tried to step on the lead. Just missed it. He takes off into my down-hill side neighbors yard. All the while he was out of his harness I was screaming LARRY LOOSE DOG LARRY LOOSE DOG. He heard me and ran downstairs. Spanky was barking out front.

Here I was panicked. After all, I am an old timer. I am a foster mentor. I was even there to help scrape Timber off the road .

I am the most super paranoid of people when it comes to a harness and collar being fit properly.

I have a Sharpie on the table in the den. It is there because I was prepared to write the CP toll free phone number and Hampton's tag number on his belly. This was to be my first job when we came in from our outing - the one where he slipped his harness that has all his ID on it.

So now, here I am driving around. The village park that is about 2 acres is right by me. There are tennis courts, a ball field, a large pool, etc. The park is on the water. The village dock is about a block away. There were so many places for him to go on a cold NY night.

Larry chose to go on foot. I go into the parking lot of the park, thinking I am going to go into the park and call him (although he doesn't know his name), when I hear Larry yelling that he has him. Larry turned left at the bottom of my street.

The neighbor whose yard he ran into would have been a right turn. I would have never gone left. But there Larry was with Hampton in his arms. The sweet little boy saw Larry and came a running. He was so happy to see his sucker - er um I mean friend - that he almost jumped into his arms.

So this has a happy ending. But I have to say that here I am, about as experienced as they come, being super paranoid and this happened. You can bet that when he goes out for last call tonight and in the morning before his flight, he will be super protected. I can't handle any more excitement.

So, I ask all of you - how secure is your dog's harness? Have you had him or her on a diet? If so, it might be too big. Check it now. What about the collar? Can you squeeze more than one finger between the collar and the neck? If you can it is too loose. And most importantly, is the harness on correctly? I think the vet might have put it on incorrectly as it was tight when I put it back on him. But I did not check at the vet if it was on correctly. I just checked the size. Believe me, from now on I will check everything.

Thanks for listening. And go check every dog in your household NOW.

Did you know Col. Potter has a Tag Program, which includes a continuously monitored toll free number to help your dog get back home if he does get loose? For more information on this program please click the following link: CPCRN Tag Program