May 30, 2014
The day started at 4:00AM with a lost puppy
Actually Colin’s day started at 4:00AM ( and he only went to bed at 1:00AM ), my day started at 4:30AM. One of the girls woke me and I got up when I realized that Colin was not in bed. Nor was he in the bathroom or in the house. Did he have an early morning shoot that I had forgotten? No, his car is still there. But where is he? I was becoming a bit concerned. Suddenly he came in from outside. “There is a dog in our yard” he explained as he grabbed a towel. I looked out and then I saw it. It seems that a constant yip of a bark had woke Colin up. I never heard it. The dog would not come to him and seemed stressed.
While he continued to try and catch the dog, I called security. Apparently a dog was reported missing at 9:00PM last night. Just about then Colin brought the dog inside.
Poor Colin had been outside for close to 45 minutes trying to catch the dog. As you can see he wasn't wearing many clothes.
At this time of the morning it was 4C/40F and if this was the same dog, it had been out in the cold for close to 8 hours. It was wet and shivering. How did this animal get into our yard? We have really secured our area and our dogs can’t get out. The only thing we could think of, is that this little one came along the beach and rocks. I called security again and found out that it was likely the missing dog and that the owners were on their way over. He said that the dog was called Emma. She did not respond to me calling her Emma.
She was a bundle of wet fur and cold to her core. I wrapped her in a blanket and held her close to try and share my body heat. We turned on the furnace and the fireplace. Emma would not stop shivering. Then she started to pant. I was becoming worried.
Finally a car pulled up. This is a very large RV Resort with over 1000 people living here and the owners live at the other end of the park. When we opened the door I expected the dog to jump with joy but instead there was no reaction other than the violent shivering and continued panting. Something was not right.
It turns out that Emma belongs to this woman's brother and sister in law. Sadly the brother recently passed away on Christmas Day and the sister in law just had eye surgery yesterday. This lady, Marie, was looking after Emma for a while.
It was a very emotional moment. Emma’s human Mom is almost blind and since her husband’s passing, Emma is the only thing keeping her going. Marie and her husband searched until 2:00AM looking for the dog. You can just image their anxiety. Is seems that she somehow slipped out of her harness and took off. Poor thing, she is lucky to be alive, we do have coyotes nearby. What a nightmare the last 8 hours must have been for her. Fortunately Colin heard her cries and rescued her. I imagine that she was crying as she was trapped inside of our yard.
A happy ending.
So now it was closer to 5:30AM and no way were we going to be able to get back to sleep. Colin had a coffee and started to work on some quotes for clients. I put on a pot of decaf, which I allow myself once a week, on a Sunday, but today was a special occasion.
Colin suddenly said....look there is the beaver! He grabbed my camera.
Not a bad shot for being taken through a window.
We were rewarded by Mother Nature. So great seeing the beaver, only our second sighting this year. I sat with a book while Colin worked. The sun came up and bathed our home with it’s warmth. An unexpected bonus to the day.
One by one our girls got up and came to say good morning. We were amazed at how good they were while we had Emma inside, not a peep nor a bark.
If they aren't sitting with us, they are in the sun.
Our girls got a lot of love and attention today.
Another busy day for us…..looks like Colin will be doing 2 days of aerial photography in Vancouver next week, including a few aerials over in Nanaimo.
I'm pretty confident that this is our last storm for a while.
This was a double, almost triple rainbow more visible to the naked eye than the camera.
My day is coming to a close but Colin is out there doing some photography for a few more hours. Then he is up at the crack of dawn to do some more.
With a forecast like this, for the first time since we got back from Mexico, we are going to be busy.
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What a heartwarming story along with wonderful pictures. That poor little dog and her frightened caregivers. The relief on the woman’s face says it all. Great job Colin and Contessa! And how sweet your girls were to be so sharing of mom and dad.
Dodi….yes Marie was crying. She thought that she has lost her brother’s dog.
Kelly….Emma really was at the end of her rope, so glad we could help her.
Connie….love the sun coming thru the windows.
Shelagh….OMG, how tragic! I am so sorry for you both. Words can’t express my thoughts. Many hugs.
That poor little Emma, she has been through so much…..thank goodness she came to your home for help.
Lucky Emma to end up in your yard – sunny days sure warm up your house photos – beautiful!
Lucky little dog. As for coyotes we know too well what they do. Our beautiful blue eyed 23 lb cat at age eleven and a half years was killed 8 days ago. We are stunned. It would have been dreadful if anything had happened to Emma. She sure found the right yard to enter!
Glad everything turned out okay for Emma. Your dachsies know how good they have it.
Hola Colleen….yes our girls are very spoiled, more than most doxies.