The Fantastic Adventures Of Winston The Dog!
First, let me tell you what happened Thursday night. Sis let Winston out to pee around 9. He’s been barking up a storm at something in the backyard the last few weeks and lo, he found it on Thursday. He comes in the house and Sis says, “Hey, he stinks. I think he got hit by a skunk.” At the same time, he is running into my room. So I yell, “Don’t let him in my bed, don’t let him in my bed.” He jumps in my bed anyway and rolls around on my covers. And boy, oh boy, does he stink! He definitely got hit by a skunk.
So Sis puts him in the bath while I light every candle in the house. Then she dries him, stuffs him in his crate, comes to strip my bed, while I look up skunk-shampoo mixtures. She has to go to Mom’s to get half the stuff we need, makes some skunk-off shampoo and gives him another bath, then sticks him back in the crate. It’s way past her bedtime and she is exhausted and on the verge of tears, but she remakes my bed with fresh sheets and then gives him yet another bath. Finally we go to sleep, but my head hurts so bad from the toxic fumes and he still stinks, so I refuse him entry to my bed and shut him in Sis’ room with her all night. (The next day he made a big pout of, ‘I guess I’m not allowed in your bed anymore, boo hoo’.) The skunk catcher comes the next day, but now he says Winston can’t just be loose in the yard or he will scare off the skunk, get sprayed, set off the trap or all of the above. It’s a catch & release trap so it won’t hurt him, but still. After work Friday, Sis gives him another bath. He is tired off this bathing nonsense by this point. Saturday morning, yet another bath. Now Sis is tired of accompanying him to the yard and he has been having sleepovers at Mom’s lately, as she is doing better, so Sis decides we are sending him there. However, it could be a week before we catch the skunk, so she says maybe it’s time for him to go home anyways. Mom has been asking for him and she is doing well and blahblah. It’s a whole conversation about why I don’t think this is a good idea, followed by my concession that he is her dog and she should have him if she wants him. (I don’t trust her to care for herself, let alone another living creature and there is a story as to why, but it’s a story for another day). I concede under pressure but boy I’ll miss my pup.
Saturday night rolls around and Sis wakes around 2:30 to hear a dog barking. ‘Winston?’ she thinks. No, he doesn’t live here anymore. (Unbeknownst to her, I thought I was hearing it too, but I was like, “Get a grip, he hasn’t even been gone one night and you’re hallucinating his barking.’) She continues to hear it and thinks it must be coming all the way from Mom’s house. After a bit, she gets up to investigate. Once she enters the living room, she can tell it’s right outside. She opens the door and there is Winston! Sitting on our front porch, asking to be let in. She lets him in and he runs around like a mad dog for a minute, then comes and jumps into bed with me. Covered in mud. I yell, “Don’t let him in my bed, he’s all dirty!." Then, "Wait…Winston?” He ran away from Mom’s to come home to us!
Turns out, someone had rung Mom’s doorbell at like 2am. It frightened her quite a bit and she wanted Winston to stay in the house, but he was agitated by it and went out his doggie door to investigate in the backyard. Mom fell asleep, woke an hour later, called for him. He didn’t answer, so she went back to sleep (evidence she can’t care for him, she didn’t get up to check on him after that nonsense.) When Sis investigated Mom’s backyard gate, it seems someone had opened both latches and let Winston loose. This is scary to us, because it seems someone was scoping her house at 2am and when they found a dog, they released him. It speaks to me of someone trying to get rid of the dog so they can come back later and not have to deal with him. Mom wants him to come back. We said No. (if they couldn’t get rid of Winston by releasing him, what might they do if they return tonight?) I would like Mom to come stay here for a few days. She said No. We go to Chicago next weekend, so Winston will stay here until we return from the trip, for our own peace of mind, but how scary to think someone is scoping out her house and letting the dog go. We are getting padlocks for her gate. And she has a security alarm already. But we are still trying to catch the skunk, so we had to get an outside tie-line so Winston can go out to the bathroom, but stay clear of the skunk trap.
I just can’t believe he ran away and came home to us! We don’t live too far from a main road either, so I am glad he had a little adventure, but then came home. My puppy!
So Sis puts him in the bath while I light every candle in the house. Then she dries him, stuffs him in his crate, comes to strip my bed, while I look up skunk-shampoo mixtures. She has to go to Mom’s to get half the stuff we need, makes some skunk-off shampoo and gives him another bath, then sticks him back in the crate. It’s way past her bedtime and she is exhausted and on the verge of tears, but she remakes my bed with fresh sheets and then gives him yet another bath. Finally we go to sleep, but my head hurts so bad from the toxic fumes and he still stinks, so I refuse him entry to my bed and shut him in Sis’ room with her all night. (The next day he made a big pout of, ‘I guess I’m not allowed in your bed anymore, boo hoo’.) The skunk catcher comes the next day, but now he says Winston can’t just be loose in the yard or he will scare off the skunk, get sprayed, set off the trap or all of the above. It’s a catch & release trap so it won’t hurt him, but still. After work Friday, Sis gives him another bath. He is tired off this bathing nonsense by this point. Saturday morning, yet another bath. Now Sis is tired of accompanying him to the yard and he has been having sleepovers at Mom’s lately, as she is doing better, so Sis decides we are sending him there. However, it could be a week before we catch the skunk, so she says maybe it’s time for him to go home anyways. Mom has been asking for him and she is doing well and blahblah. It’s a whole conversation about why I don’t think this is a good idea, followed by my concession that he is her dog and she should have him if she wants him. (I don’t trust her to care for herself, let alone another living creature and there is a story as to why, but it’s a story for another day). I concede under pressure but boy I’ll miss my pup.
Saturday night rolls around and Sis wakes around 2:30 to hear a dog barking. ‘Winston?’ she thinks. No, he doesn’t live here anymore. (Unbeknownst to her, I thought I was hearing it too, but I was like, “Get a grip, he hasn’t even been gone one night and you’re hallucinating his barking.’) She continues to hear it and thinks it must be coming all the way from Mom’s house. After a bit, she gets up to investigate. Once she enters the living room, she can tell it’s right outside. She opens the door and there is Winston! Sitting on our front porch, asking to be let in. She lets him in and he runs around like a mad dog for a minute, then comes and jumps into bed with me. Covered in mud. I yell, “Don’t let him in my bed, he’s all dirty!." Then, "Wait…Winston?” He ran away from Mom’s to come home to us!
Turns out, someone had rung Mom’s doorbell at like 2am. It frightened her quite a bit and she wanted Winston to stay in the house, but he was agitated by it and went out his doggie door to investigate in the backyard. Mom fell asleep, woke an hour later, called for him. He didn’t answer, so she went back to sleep (evidence she can’t care for him, she didn’t get up to check on him after that nonsense.) When Sis investigated Mom’s backyard gate, it seems someone had opened both latches and let Winston loose. This is scary to us, because it seems someone was scoping her house at 2am and when they found a dog, they released him. It speaks to me of someone trying to get rid of the dog so they can come back later and not have to deal with him. Mom wants him to come back. We said No. (if they couldn’t get rid of Winston by releasing him, what might they do if they return tonight?) I would like Mom to come stay here for a few days. She said No. We go to Chicago next weekend, so Winston will stay here until we return from the trip, for our own peace of mind, but how scary to think someone is scoping out her house and letting the dog go. We are getting padlocks for her gate. And she has a security alarm already. But we are still trying to catch the skunk, so we had to get an outside tie-line so Winston can go out to the bathroom, but stay clear of the skunk trap.
I just can’t believe he ran away and came home to us! We don’t live too far from a main road either, so I am glad he had a little adventure, but then came home. My puppy!