Last month during the heat wave I was off from work and home playing Oblivion. I was so hot and had been and would be for a few more days. It was 98 outside and the coolest place inside my house was 91.
I was mildly aware that I was hearing something "not in game land." Perhaps you have a partner or loved one who plays video games, when I am playing I CANNOT HEAR YOU. Not at all, not one word and if I could I would not care. That is how fun video games are, so go buy yourselves some and enjoy.
It was not a scary sound but it was somewhat regular and close. I ignored it for about an hour until my big boy cat jumped in my lap causing all kinds of yelling and game immersion to stop. Then I heard it-a dog barking. I walked over to the window and there was indeed a big white dog in my yard, barking.
It was sitting in the middle of the yard and every few seconds it would bark. I decided to go downstairs and take a closer look. By then it was standing on the sidewalk looking up and down the street. It looked so intently up the street I too looked up there expecting to see someone standing there waiting for the dog.
There was no one there. The poor dog looked upset and continued looking up and down the street. I could see it was not wearing a collar and was pretty big. Maybe 50 lbs. While I watched it walked up to parked cars and looked in the windows. That struck me as pretty odd but it was blazing hot out.
I decided to take the dog some water, see if it was nice, and in the fantasy part of my brain run away to the beach with my new canine best friend. That fantasy part moves so fast compared to my other more rational parts that the dog and I were best friends by the time I was downstairs with the water.
When I opened the door I realized two things at once-this dog was a lot bigger than 50 lbs. and I was possibly doing a very stupid thing. So from the doorway I whistled, the dog looked at me and I told it firmly to "Sit!"
It sat. I came down the stairs with the water, the dog continued to sit. Good, then when I was about 12 feet away I put down the water and the dog rushed at me. It snapped at me but I stood right up and yelled "No!" The dog backed up a bit and it easily could have run away, I had not blocked it in or cornered it.
The dog backed up to about 10 feet away, dropped its head and raised its hackles. It's tail went under its legs and it began to growl. I wondered very calmly how much defense the plastic bowl would be if I choose to bend down and pick it up. It made a couple more growly noises and started to circle to my left. I didn't know what to do so I kept eye contact with the dog and edged my way to the door. Made it in while the poor dog growled to itself in the yard.
I did not want to call animal control but I did. The dog was not well, it was 98 degrees out and someone was going to get bit. I called, told them about the dog and I felt bad. I figured someone had dropped it off on our street that morning and it was "waiting" for them to come back and get it. But they were obviously not coming back.
Hours went by, others were startled by the dog but animal control didn't come. All night long the dog sat in our yard and barked and growled. It was pretty scary but at least with that behavior no one else tried to go near it. The next morning it was still walking up and down the street. When The Wife and I had to leave for work we waited until the dog to wandered up the street. It was going to be another hot day.
When we got home late that night there was no no dog, only a very scary message from the OPD telling us to come outside and identify ourselves to the police. Apparently the OPD showed up in the late afternoon and we had not waited the 30 hours patiently in the house required for them to come and assist us with the dog. They were not pleased on the phone at all, but really neither was I. The dog was gone which made me real sad. It was obviously sick and/or traumatized, but no being deserves to go to the pound.
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