Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce Lilly, the latest addition to my zoo.
First off, she was given to my wife on the 22nd of March. She's a five month old runt of the litter, champion Field Trails blood line (What ever that means, I heard free beagle puppy and was convinced) The breeder and his wife took a liking to my wife for some reason and offered the pup to us because she is so small, she's not a good candidate for either the field trials or as a breeder, and he wouldn't be able to sell her. So on the way home we stop at PetSmart to get a collar, leash, bowl etc. then off to my parents house to pick up my 6 year old son (he spent the night at the grandparents and knew nothing about the dog till we walked in.) Before we go home, I decide to take her outside to see if she needed to go do her business.
I didn't have her collar tight enough and she got away from me. I spent 6 hours searching the woods for her until dark. Sunday I spent 5 more hours, never saw her, came home, made flyers and went out to hang them up, offering a reward. Got a few calls, people saw her in the field down at the end of my dad's street, but anytime someone got within 50 feet of her, she ran back into the trees. This went on for a few days, and I was getting seriously worried about the pup. Granted, she's been an outdoors pup since she opened her eyes, but 20 degree nights with snow, and upper 30s with rain in the wild is no way for a runt pup to be by herself. To top it all off, I had surgery on my foot Monday night to have a sliver of metal cut out, so walking is a challenge right now.
By Tuesday, I'm frustrated and call Animal control to borrow a "safe" trap. I set it in the field at the end of the road and drive the 7 miles back home. Soon as I pull back in I get a call, a ladies cat is caught. Go free the cat, go home, turn around for someone else's cat. By the third cat, I'm ticked, my foot's bleeding again, and I just want to eat dinner. I throw the trap in the truck and head home, praying she's hungry enough to go up to someone who will return her.
Wednesday, my Dad calls me and says he saw her in his back yard, so I stop after work and reset the trap. Go up to the house and have a scotch with him, see her run by, never even looking at the trap. Go home and cry.
Thursday stop after work and let a raccoon out, reset. I have to return the trap on Friday. Pray and cry some more.
Friday, my cell rings at work. The only people who have my cell are my riding friends, my wife and my parents. I'm scared to answer, it only rings when there's bad news. It's my Dad and he has the puppy! He threatened me that if I left work early he was going to keep her. The last hour dragged beyond belief. Rushed to his place and she was sound asleep on his lap. She seems to have learned her lesson, she hasn't been able to get enough human companionship since I brought her home.
She's painfully thin, but otherwise healthy and active. We bathed her, fed her two small meals an hour to 90 minutes apart last night and three small meals so far today, one more in an hour or so. She's scheduled to go to the vet for a complete check Monday after dinner. But she's home now and gets along famously with the other two dogs and she loves my son. They'll get to grow up together.
One caveat though, no collar for her for many years, this little free spirit is wearing a Purple Harness instead of a collar.
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