The Errant Dog

This? Is Sadie. Sadie is a Border Collie mixed with Stupid. Lovely dog, pretty, friendly, great with the kids and as dumb as a box of rocks.

Saturday we had a housewarming party. Sadie, of course, got out and bolted, running thru the yard and down the road with a shit-eating grin. A friend of ours showed up on his motorcycle at this point and she started chasing him. He kept going past the house and Sadie ran right out in front of him and he clipped her back leg. He stopped, but she took off. He said she was limping but seemed ok.

We figured she'd come back that night, after everyone had left. That's what she usually does. We called her and walked around the neighbourhood, but we couldn't find her. Sunday morning, when she still hadn't shown up, I drove around looking for her and didn't find her. I didn't find a body either, but that doesn't always mean anything. I called the police and the dog catcher, but they hadn't picked her up.

Yesterday I started calling all the shelters and vets around. No one had seen her. I was starting to think she'd either been taken by someone or had crawled off to die somewhere, that she'd been hurt worse than we thought. Today, I was going to make up posters to put around town, but when I got home from the doctor's, she was waiting by the back door.

She's banged up. I'm taking her in to the vet because I think her back leg may be broken. She's not putting any weight on it and she yelps in pain when she sits or moves funny. This will probably set us back a few hundred dollars. Next time TCBIM says "Oh, just let her run, she'll be fine, she'll come back," I'll wave the vet bill under his nose.


This is why I like cats. Cats don't chase motorcycles. Oscar wouldn't chase anything if his life depended on it. It would be an affront to his dignity. Oscar would starve before chasing down his next meal. I like that in an animal.