And if these four walls tumble down I’ll see you
Posted on | 2 months, 2 weeks ago, around lunchtime | 8 Comments
I didn’t update yesterday, but I did write. Not much, but yeah, well. Yesterday was kind of a mess.
Long story short, right around lunchtime Greyson broke loose, running off to play with a couple of neighborhood dogs. (They live around here somewhere – I’ve seen them before, and they’re quite friendly.) He achieved this free-form party-time by launching himself off a curb and over my shoulder, over/through/past the back yard gate … when I tried to gently corral the two wandering pooches inside our yard.
All three dogs took off like wildly happy bottle rockets. I went bananas, shouted myself hoarse, and ran so hard/fast/desperately that my whole body aches today. But with the help of the husband, several neighbors, and the landscaping lady – we eventually chased them all down and retrieved Greyson. Thank God.
(We temporarily nabbed one of the other dogs, but she escaped our neighbor’s yard and is on the loose once again, now hanging with a new third dog – if neighborhood reports can be believed. Everyone’s keeping an eye out for them, and trying to snare the whole batch of wanderers … and that’s one really nice thing about this neighborhood. But the major not-nice thing about this neighborhood: There’s a state highway running through it. So I had my reasons for trying to bring the two interlopers in off the street, and for having a good hysterical panic when Greyson took off after them.)
Anyway. I’ve done literally everything I can to help the loose canons, and Greyson is home safe – and undergoing a fresh round of obedience training. He’s never been very good about coming when he’s called, and no, I’m not asking for pointers. He’s young and stubborn, and highly distracted by other dogs. We know what we need to do, and we’re working on it, thanks.*
So. Yeah.
Like I said – not a huge word count yesterday, and the total was basically halved when I sat down to work this morning. However… here’s recent progress on my fin de siecle gothic epistolary about Lizzie Borden fighting Cthulhu with her trusty axe, now with Bonus! ghosts, guilt, girlfriends, arcane science, and an accidental villain who’s losing his mind and his humanity in tandem:
Project: Maplecroft
Deadline: October 15, 2013
New words written: 3243 (2-day total, but not terrible)
Present total word count: 45,846 words
Things accomplished in fiction: The adorable girlfriend has discovered her inner treacherous liar. Well, she’s kind of being manipulated by forces beyond her ken or control – so it’s really not personal.
Next up: Deciding the adorable girlfriend’s fate.
Things accomplished in real life: Daily jaunt around the neighborhood with the dog; went to the post office to mail off contracts re: Jacaranda for Subterranean; drove out to ACE to pick up supplies for the yard; went to drinks/supper last night with old friends, which took the edge off a terrible day.
Other: Quitting the fiction composition early today, partly because it’s been an excellent writing day. (About 3k of the net came from today’s session.) And partly because I have other things to square away this afternoon. And partly because I’m really tired, and one of those things might turn out to be a nap.
Number of fiction words so far this year: 41,719
* It’s worth noting that when I finally located him and caught up, I shouted his name and told him to “STOP.” Reluctantly, looking longingly over his shoulder at the other dogs who were running off without him … he did in fact stop – and let me bring him home. And there, he received many hugs, snuggles, and cookies because coming home should ALWAYS be nice, and not filled with yelling or recriminations.
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February 28th, 2013 @ 1:04 pm
Heavens! I’m so glad this had a happy ending. You must have been frantic.
February 28th, 2013 @ 1:06 pm
I quite literally have not been so frightened since I woke up to a smoke alarm in the middle of the night some years ago – because my apartment was on fire.
February 28th, 2013 @ 1:12 pm
Ack! Definitely can sympathize! My three mutts got out the front door when I was pregnant… My bully went for the neighbors chickens, my akita mix took off the other direction and my lab was running circles around me…
Frantic doesn’t even begin to describe it.
So glad you managed to wrangle him and good luck with the others!
February 28th, 2013 @ 1:28 pm
That has to be one of the worst feelings in the world. My dog got away from me when she was a pup – we’d only had her for maybe a month – and took off at a dead run, right into the middle of the street after a car. I sprinted after her, and lucky for all of us, a guy walking down the street had the presence of mind to run into the street and step on her leash, instead of trying to grab her. The whole thing took only moments, but I swear I lost years off my life. I’m so glad Grayson is safe and sound!
February 28th, 2013 @ 3:07 pm
Whew! So glad he’s home safe and sound. I do love dogs but it is stories like this (and dogshaming.com) that make me appreciate my 4 indoor kitties even more!
February 28th, 2013 @ 3:24 pm
Sorry to hear about you adventures with the dog, but they do happen, even to well trained pets. I know you didn’t want advice, but you might have to resort to what my older sister and her best friend did. Both of them, the women, hardly broke 120 on the scale but they both got big dogs. My sister an Old English Sheep dog and her friend a St. Bernard. Needless to say, every time they took them to the dog park it was the dog going where ever it wanted and the women being drug behind, occasionally literaly for the full grown St. Bernard. They both had to eventuall buy choke collars for the dogs for their own and the dog’s safety. My sister could get by with just the sliding chain variety, but Karen, her friend, because of the St. Bernard’s thick fur and huge body, had to buy the choke collar with spikes on the inside of the collar. It doesn’t sound very nice, but the dogs weren’t actually hurt and it kept the women from being pulled off the curb and into the path of an oncoming car if the dog decided there was something on the other side of the street he just had to see. From what I’ve seen of the size of your dog and the size of you, you probably fall into the same situation. Both my sister’s and her friends dog had been to dog obediance school and were usually well trained dogs, but a sudden squirrel or a strange new dog could still get them to take off some time. I’d hate to hear that you got layed up because of a sudden fall from the dog yanking your arm and knocking you over or even out into the street.
February 28th, 2013 @ 7:58 pm
So not offering advice
Glad you got your boy back safely, few scarier things than a “fur baby” running off. I caught up with my two demon labs once after a twenty minute run through the north Georgia mountains just as they were diving into a lake they apparently detected from quite a distance. If I still had any breath there would have been mighty cursing to go with the relief
March 1st, 2013 @ 8:40 am
I’m so glad you got Greyson back! That is the worst feeling…so scary!
If you ever do need or want advice, you should check out mysmartpuppy.com. It’s a wonderful website run by very well-known dog trainers who have written tons of books on the subject. The authoress/trainer herself frequently answers any questions asked in the forums and, aside from any gleaning of doggie knowledge, it’s a really nice, well-moderated online community.