Just call me the Dog Whisperer

Is it a scent that only dogs can smell? Is there some invisible vibe that I give off to the canine set? I'm not sure what it is but it seems like dogs have taken a liking to me lately, specifically the large male black lab variety.

This past weekend, we joined some friends at the lake for a weekend away to drink, eat and unwind. The only way to beat the beastly heat and humidity was to soak in the lake. We were floating near the dock, when I spied something out of the corner of my eye. I love the water, but don't like things that share the water with me (fishies, turtles, snakes, eeek!) so I was a little wary. It was too big and furry for a snake and was moving pretty fast in our direction. As it got closer, I realized it was a dog. A big, black lab to be specific. He was worn out from his swim across the lake so we coaxed him into a raft to rest. We tried to get him to swim back from the direction he came from. No dice, he loved us and would just swim from one person to the next no matter how much we tried to convince him otherwise.

My friend D and I decided to swim him back across the lake to see if we could find his home. It took us awhile to figure out how to get him out of the water (who knew dogs could climb a ladder?) but we had to because he was getting very tired. Turns out, Jake belongs to a couple across the lake and he apparently loves to swim. We returned him to his owners and swam back to our side of the lake. About an hour or two later, guess who appeared again? Yup, Jake apparently got loose and decided we were fun so he came back to visit. This time Mr. M and I returned him to his owners. Swimming across the lake with a 80+ lb lab is a chore, but we couldn't just leave him. Jake's daddy swam over on Sunday to thank us for saving his dog - twice.

This afternoon, I got a call from Skaterboy. "Uhm, I went outside to check on Coal..." Uh-oh, this can't be good. "He was laying in the yard with a black lab. I was able to get Coal inside and in his kennel. But, the lab is just chillin' on the back porch and drinking our water. He won't leave and wants to go in the house." Great, apparently I am now the great Black Lab Whisperer. All black labs in distress must seek me out for help. I figured with Coal inside and Skaterboy leaving, he would wander back to his home. Wrong! I didn't see him when I got home so I let Coal outside. After a minute or two, I noticed Coal was super excited and there he was- Black Lab #2. They seemed happy to see each other and were playing together but without a collar, I'm not sure I trusted him completely. I tried to get Coal inside the house, which wasn't an easy task since the two dogs were generally rolling around each other. Every time I tried to move to the back door, both dogs tried impatiently to get in. I finally distracted BL2 and got Coal inside.

BL2 flopped down on the porch like he was at home and didn't appear to be in a big hurry to leave. Not sure what to do, I tried to call the local Animal Control. "Our hours are 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Please call back during those hours." Darn. I tried the County Animal Control. They are only open 9-5 but if this was an emergency, they provided another number to call. This didn't seem like an emergency so I waited for Mr. M to come home.

A quick thinking guy, he called the non-emergency police line and they contacted Animal Control. They were at our house within 10 minutes to pick up BL2. BL2 had no collar and didn't appear to have been roaming for long. He seemed to be a nice dog and at least knew how to sit. He let Mr. M slip a leash over his neck without a fight (note to Coal - see it doesn't hurt!) I hope that his family is looking for him and goes to the shelter soon. I felt kind of bad sending him to doggy jail, but I don't think I could handle two big, black balls of fur running through my house day and night.

How much is that doggie in the window?

Come on, sing it with me, you know you want to!  (arf! arf!) The one with the waggley tail.  

Mr. Monkeygirl has been asking for a dog for a long, long time and I have been hesitant.  Don't get me wrong, I love dogs.  I grew up with a dog and as soon as I moved out of my parent's house, I got a dog of my own. At one point in time, I had two dogs in my home.  So, I can be classified as a dog person even though I haven't had a dog for awhile.

As much I proclaim to be a dog person, Mr. Monkeygirl puts me to shame.  I overheard a conversation he was having with his brothers at the dinner table and they were naming the dogs that they had as kids. 

     Brother 1: Do you remember King?

     Brother 2: Big King or Little King?

     Brother 3: What about Duke?

     Brother 2: Which one? Duke I, Duke II or Duke III?

     Brother 1: Duke III. What about Satan?

     Brother 3: Oh yeah, Satan!  Don't put him with Devil.  That would be big trouble!

And the conversation continued on, each one naming dog after dog.  I finally stopped them and asked them how many dogs they had when they were growing up?  They paused.  You could see them counting in their heads.  The final answer? Well over 100.  Now before anyone runs to the phone to call the Animal Protection people, Mr. Monkeygirl's family owned a kennel and a canine security service.  They had a reason to have so many dogs and many of them they considered pets.  I'm not sure that I would consider Shizen III trained attack dogs pets, but they did! 

Ever before we got married, Mr. Monkeygirl and his Skaterboy have been lobbying for a dog.  As I said, I love dogs, however I have some reservations about getting a dog again.  Number one, they both want a huge dog.  Generally, one that slobbers excessively.  Number two, they can't agree on what they want.  Number three, while we have decent sized yard, a good chunk of our yard is concrete and we don't have a fence.  Finally, and this is a very selfish reason, I finally got to the point where I could buy and wear black clothes without being covered in dog fur before I walked out the door.

This past weekend, Mr. Monkeygirl showed me a picture of a very cute dog that was up for adoption by Stray Rescue.  He is very cute.  They have a "Rent-A-Dog" program where you can take the dog home to see how things work out before you finalize the adoption.  This dog looks an awful lot like my favorite husky, Keeley.  A dog would make me get up and go for a walk every day.  Mr. Monkeygirl would be so happy and wouldn't complain so much when I travel....

Does anyone else see a dog in my future?