Adventures of the Puppy Patrol

Early this morning, our neighborhood puppy patrol kicked into high gear.  And by neighborhood puppy patrol, I mean the self-appointed duo consisting of my husband and me.  :)  

At about 7:00 am, I got a call from my husband who was already on his way to work, to alert me that there was a pup on the loose in our neighborhood.  Now, this wasn't just any pup, not that that mattered.  But it turns out, it was one that we see every day in the front yard of one of the houses on the main road in our subdivision.  We have no idea what this pup's real name is, but John decided to start calling him "Ralph" a long time ago, and that's what we have called him ever since.   Heck, we don't even know if this pup is really even a boy, but that doesn't matter either.  Ralph has an electric fence in his yard, so he's out and about often, but never outside the confines of his happy little yard.  So when John told me Ralph had made the great escape, I knew I had to act fast and come to the aid of this prodigal pup who clearly knows nothing of the outside world.

 

Now, one of the perks of working from home is not having to get dressed if you don't feel like it.  Needless to say, I was still in my cozy jammies this morning.  So I threw on a hat, tennis shoes, and a coat (over my jammies).  I surveyed myself, and thought, dang, I look rough.  But I knew Ralph wouldn't mind.  I quickly scooped up a leash and ran to the car.  I was on the main road within a couple of minutes, but Ralph was nowhere to be seen.  EEK!!  So I started checking the side roads as I slowly drove through our neighborhood, and sure enough- there he was snooting around in someone's front yard. 

 

I stopped my car, grabbed my leash, and gently kneeled down to his level.  Ralph was a little hesitant about all this.  He came over but wouldn't let me leash him.  Oh dear.  Then he started off again.  NO!!!  So I left my car, and started on foot (in my jammies, I remind you) to his owner's house.  Thankfully, Ralph saw that I was headed in a familiar direction and decided to follow me.  We walked in the COLD, the WIND, and the SNOW for a couple of blocks until we made it to his house.  Of course, as soon as we arrived, he leapt up on the front porch.  He knew he was home.  I rang the doorbell and waited there with Ralph by my side.  Thankfully, a young man came to the door and Ralph went running inside.  As it turns out, the battery in his e-collar was dead, he had wandered off and his owners had been looking for him. 

 

Thank goodness, a happy ending.  Chalk another success story up to our neighborhood puppy patrol.  This isn't the first, and probably won't be the last.  Naughty pups seem to abound in our neighborhood.  We ought to know.  We have one of our own.  :)  Although, I never did catch that pup's real name.  No matter.  Ralph is safe and sound at home once again.  Mission accomplished!