Tag: dog

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Secondhand Dogs

By the time I got out of bed this morning, the dogs had disappeared from the back yard. I came back in to get dressed, and then rode around the neighborhood on the Onewheel to see if I could find them. I talked to over a half dozen groups of people because so many were outside either on a day off, or working on utility lines all through the neighborhood. I figured it wouldn’t be a terrible thing if we never saw them again, but I wanted to be sure they weren’t just wandering around. My last stop was a garage sale just a block in the wealthier direction, and just as the question left my lips, I glanced down and saw Chani laying on the floor of their garage. Then I saw the other two laying just behind them. She said they fed them some Blue Buffalo and called Animal Control, but that they probably weren’t coming.

I ran home to get the Pathfinder, and one of the ladies gave me a pair of shoes that one of them had been chewing on. I didn’t really want to encourage chewing on shoes though, so I ended up throwing them out. One of the ladies said Stilgar had rolled onto a “MAKE OFFER” sticker from their sale, which I thought was really funny. I got them home and fed them some more, and then Dad came over with some flea and tick shampoo from the old house.

Eaddie had a hiking trip with some friends and left, so I got a roast going in the slow cooker before Summer got home from work. Julie invited us out to the airport where they were grilling burgers, so I took a shower and ended up going out there. Eaddie brought Eli back and they stayed home with Summer.

I took the Onewheel with me, but didn’t really have much use for it. They just had a bunch of friends out in camp chairs, and we had simple burgers and stuff. I left when Dad did, and stopped by the old house to feed the fish before going home. Then I got the dogs out of the back and took them for a walk around the block. They did pretty well for the first stretch, staying right by me. Then they got distracted by a toddler with a diaper, and took off after some sort of critter. They didn’t get super far, and would periodically lag behind or run ahead of me before circling back. We made it back home though, and everyone came in without too much fuss.

The others were sat inside watching a movie, so I cleaned up in the kitchen and then wound down for the night.

No leash; No problem

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Bad Spartacus

I got to work a little early today and was greeted in the parking lot by three puppies. One had bright blue eyes, save for one little pie slice of brown, so obviously he was Muad’dib. Chani was smaller and darker. Stilgar, though; Stilgar was scruffy. Someone mentioned that they were likely dumped there at the school, which was upsetting. They would occasionally try to come into the building, so they hung around the back doors all day.

I went in and cleaned up a little more. Then I took screenshots of the configuration for one of the switches I haven’t been able to reach in preparation for Ben’s visit. I had a plan. He arrived a little late for lunch, so we immediately left for the Junction Cafe where we had a couple burgers. His with brisket looked way better than mine with shrimp. It was odd. Not bad, but less than half the size of his.

After we ate, we headed back to the office and got his little computer to put on our network. He never got it fully working, but then as I was trying to configure switches, the second core switch restarted and then broke everything downstream. Hours later, we came to the conclusion that they were basically all screaming that they had the same IP address, and were unable to reach DHCP. Due to the arrangement of the core switch and those leading to the servers that hosted DHCP, they wouldn’t talk again until I finally pulled every last fiber connection out of the aggregation switches and left nothing but the core and a link from it to the servers.

We brought everything back online and then left. The dogs were still outside, and I was torn. I love the idea of having a well-trained dog for a pet, but I just don’t want animals around holding us back. On the other hand, people were leaving, and the dogs hadn’t moved all day. I sent one last picture to Summer, and she said (perhaps jokingly) to bring them home. I couldn’t ever get more than two into the Model Y at once just because they kept jumping out, so I decided not to risk any damage to her car.

I drove home, ate a couple slices of pizza, and changed before taking the Pathfinder back to the school. I had to stop at Casey’s for some gas, and then made it without incident. They weren’t there. I walked around the back dock area where they had been all day, and they weren’t anywhere to be seen. Then I figured I should check by the fieldhouse just to make sure they hadn’t followed where people were gathered. That was when I saw one of them out in the grass. Usul. Then another. Stilgar. I struggled to get them into the trunk where I had laid out a tarp. Chani was nowhere to be found. I called for her, but nothing. I finally gave up and drove back to the building to wash my hands for the drive home. That was when she came running up to the car, from who-knows where. She resisted, but we finally got everyone loaded up.

The drive home was reasonably quiet. They were super active at first, but they settled down within just a couple miles, and by the time we got through Ola, they were all laying down in the back. Someone did something to cause a couple yelps, but otherwise they were completely silent. I got home and pulled into the driveway right behind Summer as she got home from work. Eaddie and Eli were inside already. As Summer approached, I opened the hatch for the big reveal. Everyone hopped down gently on their own, and then followed me obediently into the back yard. Maybe it was thirst or hunger, but they really were perfectly behaved.

I took the kids to Walmart while Summer played with the dogs on the porch. They needed some lunch supplies, and we got some dog food and treats. I decided to pick up a few groceries as well, and then we headed home. The dogs got really physically rowdy when the food came out, so that was a challenge. I ended up just making three piles on the ground for them to eat. Then they each gently took a treat and I left them to entertain the kids so I could go inside, cool off, and dry out.

Twice today, I asked myself how I got into this mess. I guess it could be messier.

Good dog.