Blast from the Past

I was cleaning out my office and found this article that I wrote for my clubs newsletter in 2000. I must be OK, because I can read this stuff and not cry.

A Different Kind of Rescue Story
Woof! Summer 2000

From time to time, we all do things that we would rather not have publicized.... but some of them are so funny, that keeping it a secret would simply be criminal! Good Dog club member, Susan DeMar, had one of these moments at our picnic. Following is what happened from her Sheltie's (Jake) point of view.

Woody and I had a wonderful time at the picnic in June. I'm Jake and my brother is Woody - the two blue merle shelties. Our Mom, bless her soul, tries her best, but she is really a spaz at handling. She couldn't get me out of my perpetual loop in the tunnel and poor Woody was too freaked to go over the dog walk.

Unfortunately, Mom is not only a spaz at handling; she is a spaz at life. On the way back to the car, she put the crate down by the trunk because she wanted to get us into the air conditioning. When she turned it on full blast, I kinda freaked out and she slammed the car door so I wouldn't jump out. Here's where the controversy lies.... Did she lock the door or did I? We'll never know.... There we were trapped in the car, but at least the air conditioning was on.

We watched as Mom ran around the parking lot looking for a cell phone. Luckily, Abbey's Mom was just leaving and gave her one. She called our Dad, but he wasn't in the house. Then we saw Mom flag down a nice man in a giant truck and he tried to open the door with his antenna. That was fun to watch. Finally, I saw Mom get a man off the rood of the latrine and he called the fire department. Now the fun begins!

First the Gilbert police show up and offer to break the car window. Mom probably would have done it but the air conditioning was going full blast and we were fine. A big fire truck pulls up and three men with a bunch of tools start working on the door. Even with a manual, it took them some time to open the door. Mom was glad it was so hard to break into her car. We were fine and enjoyed all the attention.

Dad was so glad that we were OK that he didn't get mad at Mom. The car is a little scratched, but who cares. Everyone is fine and that's all that counts.

Thank you all for helping my Mom at the picnic. Good Dog Agility people are good people. And special thanks go to the Gilbert Police and Fire Departments. They are good dog people too!

Jake and Woody DeMar