"Oh, So-o-o Funny"
I don't even know his name - and I have to call him somewhat! I could call him "Nothing Special", because that's what he is: no silky skin, no glorious tail, no noble features or colouring. He looks awkward, even uncouth - a pale-yellowish shaggy ball on four short paws, with rosy tongue and a little black button of a nose... I could call him "Nothing Special", but I decided against it - one doesn't give such a name to a friend!
God knows, why he has chosen me to befriend - I have never even given him food, because I never expect to meet him, be it just outside my house or somewhere in the vicinity. He would disappear for ages - and then suddenly reemerge, shoot himself at me and clasp my leg with all his paws and part of his tail. His whole look at those moments was the very reason I named him "Oh, So-o-o Funny" - one just can't help bursting with laughter, while observing (experiencing!) this ball of energy with "Devotion" written all over him. And he would follow me, wherever I go. Normally, it would be to a swimming-pool - about 4 kilometers one way, not too many streets to cross. So he would yo-yo all the way, making numerous detours and always finding me somewhere on the road. He knows that it's but a one-way ticket: the pool administration doesn't really welcome canines - so we have to part right in front of the entrance. He has never given me a reason to worry about him - which means that he has never failed to find his way home.
I got accustomed to him, but it wouldn't even occur to me, that he might dare venturing this very trick on a much longer and completely unfamiliar road. He did!
This time he chose a really bad occasion to plunge into an adventure - I was about to cover no less than 8 kilometers one way, with uncountable crossroads and intersections.
This simple soul has never heard about junctions and traffic-lights - and his innocent habit of running ahead could prove rather dangerous. So I had to teach him by example -not only to wait for the green light, but also to talk to him all the waiting time. Attracted by a human speech, he would forget about his urge to run forward as far and as loose as possible. Even so he did once manage to freeze in the middle of a road, and I barely had time to snatch him out of an approaching car...
Hospitals admit dogs no more than swimming-pools do - so once again I had to leave him in front of the entrance. This time I even told him to wait - hoping against hope that he would obey. I didn't even have an opportunity to water him - and he has run 8 kilometers without drinking...
I haven't seen him thereafter yet. I hope he made it home once again. It would be nice to welcome him on the very next occasion.
And I can't even take him in, because he has a collar!
God knows, why he has chosen me to befriend - I have never even given him food, because I never expect to meet him, be it just outside my house or somewhere in the vicinity. He would disappear for ages - and then suddenly reemerge, shoot himself at me and clasp my leg with all his paws and part of his tail. His whole look at those moments was the very reason I named him "Oh, So-o-o Funny" - one just can't help bursting with laughter, while observing (experiencing!) this ball of energy with "Devotion" written all over him. And he would follow me, wherever I go. Normally, it would be to a swimming-pool - about 4 kilometers one way, not too many streets to cross. So he would yo-yo all the way, making numerous detours and always finding me somewhere on the road. He knows that it's but a one-way ticket: the pool administration doesn't really welcome canines - so we have to part right in front of the entrance. He has never given me a reason to worry about him - which means that he has never failed to find his way home.
I got accustomed to him, but it wouldn't even occur to me, that he might dare venturing this very trick on a much longer and completely unfamiliar road. He did!
This time he chose a really bad occasion to plunge into an adventure - I was about to cover no less than 8 kilometers one way, with uncountable crossroads and intersections.
This simple soul has never heard about junctions and traffic-lights - and his innocent habit of running ahead could prove rather dangerous. So I had to teach him by example -not only to wait for the green light, but also to talk to him all the waiting time. Attracted by a human speech, he would forget about his urge to run forward as far and as loose as possible. Even so he did once manage to freeze in the middle of a road, and I barely had time to snatch him out of an approaching car...
Hospitals admit dogs no more than swimming-pools do - so once again I had to leave him in front of the entrance. This time I even told him to wait - hoping against hope that he would obey. I didn't even have an opportunity to water him - and he has run 8 kilometers without drinking...
I haven't seen him thereafter yet. I hope he made it home once again. It would be nice to welcome him on the very next occasion.
And I can't even take him in, because he has a collar!