June27
Today Mr. Giles, Lily, my friend Lindsey and her two Cavs, Abby and Mason, took a trip to Annapolis, Maryland with our friend, and Cavalier group organizer, Anne, and her Cav, Robbie. Phew!
We trouped up the beltway to spend the day at Quiet Waters Park. They have tons of picnic pavilions, a playground, a dog park, and… a dog beach! All the pups were very excited to be out and about, walking the trail and sniffing every leaf and twig that came across their path. Luck for us ladies the only snake on the path was very tiny, bright green, and fast as lightning. Anne and Lindsey didn’t even notice it.
As soon as we were in sight of the Chesapeake Bay Giles went loopy with dog swim fever. He wanted to jump right off of the pilings and sail off with the yachts and the birds that circle their masts. I told him he had to wait until we got to the dog beach before he could take a dip. The dogs were all let off their leashes and off they went! Giles waded in immediately and swam out as far as he could. We called him back to us. We called him crazy. Anne said, “He’s really something else, that dog”.
And he really was! It was exhausting just watching him. After quite a few long laps I made him come out, sit down, and take a break. Dogs can easily become over tired while swimming and run the very scary risk of drowning. This is the number one reason that Fido Floats, or any dog float devices, are so important, regardless of how they look!
I tried to lure Lily into the water and almost got her swimming when a big Portuguese Water Dog leaped into her path and deterred her from coming out any further toward me. She was brave though, and that made mommy happy. Abby was a real sport out there in the bay. She went after the tennis ball with the best of them. It was so funny watching her try, try so hard, to get that darn ball in her mouth! She kept chomping at it, missing it, and swimming around in little circles in order to bring it back to the beach. She was so determined! Mason cried, wanting to go after the ball, but not having the jumping off courage. So Lindsey gave him a little shove and off he went, swimming with his sis, Abby. Anne tossed around a stick for Robbie. Robbie has what’s called a Bully Stick and even Anne says, “It’s like a pacifier. It keeps him busy”. Not to mention it’s his favorite toy. She would throw the stick to the edge of the water for Robbie to fetch and he would splash around the waves, happy as a kitten in a yarn box.
While all this was going on I decided to get out my camera and snap a few. I got a couple of cute pictures and a little video of Abby going after the ball. But when I turned around to take Giles’s picture… he was gone! Oh my God! Where’s Giles? Have you seen Giles? Where did he go? I wasn’t frantic yet, just mad. I knew he would run off without a leash! It’s so Giles!
I walked down the beach, over a fallen tree, under some over grown bushes, and checked out the far side of the beach. Giles had wanted to go over there earlier, but I had told him no. I called for him by his name, I told him to come. Nothing.
I walked back down to the main part of the beach hoping that Anne and Lindsey had found him, but to no avail. My dog was lost.
Dammit!
I berated myself for trusting him so much. This is such a Giles thing to do! I think I just like the idea of my dog sticking by my side, following my every move. But Giles is a parameter dog. He has to sniff out the edges of ‘the territory’ and get lost in the wood. Rather, he gets lost in his own little head and doesn’t answer to his mommy when she’s screaming his name!
I made my way back up the trail on a tip that another dog beach goer gave me. She said that sometimes dogs run up the hill and go to the dog park. It happens. I called his name while I walked, ask some hikers if they’d seen him, then started to cry. Okay. NOW I was frantic. What if he had drown?
I walked back down to the beach with tears streaming down my face, all the time thinking “What if he drowned?”, this awful picture in my head of my little baby, limp and wet, floating up against the pilings.
By now I felt I was making a spectacle of myself, but honestly, I didn’t care. I just wanted to know where in the sam hell my dog was. I made my way across the beach again, over the log, around the overgrown bushes, then all the way down the inlet where no one else was. I called and called. Nothing. But I could hear Anne calling him, trying to get his attention and knew he was found. My phone started ringing and Lindsey gave me proof. He was found. And I was angry.
He had run through the swamp behind the beach and over to a pond to investigate. Anne said when she found him he looked like he was having trouble getting out of the pond and that he was tired. It’s a good thing she found him when she did.
Let me not forget to mention my Lily in all this. As soon as my heart rate went up she began to follow me. She followed my every step up and down the beach, up and down the trail, and when I got the call that Giles was found I made my way back to the log separating the beaches and there she was, standing upon the log, looking out for me like a beacon. She looked like a little doggie angel. I could tell she was concerned for me and would not let me out of her sight no matter how far I wandered searching for her brother. I wish I had been in the frame of mind to snap a picture, alas I was not. I was angry with Giles for deserting me and leaving me to believe him drowned.
Anne brought him over to me. I gave Anne his leash and told her that I was too upset to handle him at the moment, meaning that I could not touch him or hold his leash and command him with rational thought. She reminded me that he’s just a dog and that dogs wander off. Well, this is true, but masters also become extremely upset and are likely to take it out on the pet if not careful. And believe me. I would have liked to give him a good smack for what he did, but I know better. He has no clue that he did anything wrong, so it would be pointless for me to lay an angry finger on him and I really never could.
Anne saved the day! She said, “I risked snakes walking through that mucky swamp!”. I thanked her profusely. We all discussed our fears of him drowning. I eventually reached laughter through tears though when Anne called him “Swam Thing”. I told her that’s his new nickname and that I’d have to get him a new tag that reads “I’m the goddamn Swam Thing” instead of “I’m the goddamn Batman”. After ‘the ordeal’ we took the pups over the the regular (fenced in!) dog park to dry off. I’d tell you about the rest of the day, our crab lunch, the governor’s wife, ice cream, shopping and more, but I’m sure you’ve had enough blood pumping excitement for one day!
Enjoy the pictures that cost me approximately 37 days off the end of my life!
