the year of the dog

what happens when five strangers get together to help find the home of a lost dog? the answer to that question was found this morning while i was on my walk and a huge chocolate lab came running towards me nearing a very busy intersection. i was able to grab her collar and pull her out of the street, and an employee at la bou was kind enough to lend me his cell phone to call the owners. (thank god the dog had tags on!) but of course, the owners were not home, and just then an older woman stopped to help me as well. i was having trouble controlling the beast of a dog, and just then a woman materialized from the parking lot with a length of rope to fashion into a leash. it appears she was eating in la bou and saw the commotion and thought she could help. she sure did. then the other woman helped me call every number on the dog's tags while the la bou employee watched. we finally called the 800 number for the chip and though they couldn't reach the owners, they told me their address, which was a short walk away. so we set off, ginger and i, after i thanked the strangers who had helped us so far. when i found ginger's house, i got her in the backyard and scoped it out looking for a hole she may have crawled through. didn't find any holes, but i did find a sparkly pool, and my guess is the pool cleaner left the gate open or let her out (accidentally, i hope, though i would fire their asses regardless). then i stopped a women running by with her dog to see if she lived nearby (which she did) so i could get a piece of paper and pen to leave a note for ginger's owners. by then, another of ginger's owner's neighbors came out and he helped me ensure the gate was latched so ginger couldn't throw her weight against it to get out again. then i left the note and came home to shower off the smell of dirty dog.

there's a song by matthew sweet in which he says that dog people hate cats, but cat people love all animals. i've found that to be true for the most part.