Sadly, I hit an icy patch coming out of the garage and before I knew it, I had bumped into the corner of the house. My backup camera was no help, either, since it was caked with dirty salt residue. Luckily, it was such a soft bump that there was no damage to the car, and that corner was hit long ago by Rick, so any new damage to that piece of siding was hard to discern. I straightened out and carefully pulled down the rest of the drive.
I still couldn't see well out of the backup camera, so I decided I'd better stop and clean it off. Parking at the foot of my driveway, I saw a young man and his dog waiting to go past. He waved me by, but I got out of the car. "Go ahead," I said. "I have to clean off my backup camera so I can see what I'm doing." In an instant, his dog, a Bull Terrier mix, ran up to me joyously. "Sorry," he said, "I'm trying to train him to walk off-leash."
I bent and petted the wiggly dog. "Oh, that's okay. It's not his fault that I suddenly came on the scene." In an instant, the dog disappeared, and his owner groaned. "Sammy, no! Get out of there! Sammy, come! Aw, geeze, he's in your car. Sammy! That's not our car. You're not going for a ride! I'm so sorry."
I turned around to see Sammy, happily perched in the driver's seat of my Prius, smiling widely, tail wagging furiously. He jumped out and ran to me, jumping up to lick my face. His owner was mortified. I was completely delighted.
"It's been a pleasure to meet you, Sammy!" I really meant it. "I hope I see you in the neighborhood again soon."
Sammy's owner sighed. "I'm really sorry about your car."
"It's nothing! Have a good walk. You have a terrific dog," I said. It really was nothing, just a few wet pawprints that wiped away with a tissue. But the encounter kept me chuckling and smiling to myself for the rest of the morning.
Honestly, that just made my day.
Oh, Sammy! Such a friendly guy. What a lovely interaction!
ReplyDeleteNGS--He was a charming pup, to be sure. I wish I could start every day like that.
DeleteI just said (On NGS's page) puppies are what keep me going in the winter... Sammy is adorable!
ReplyDeletemaya--To clarify, that photo is not Sammy. Just a great image found on Google search that fit perfectly. But Sammy looked very similar and was truly adorable. Dogs are one of my great pleasures in the neighbourhood.
DeleteTo me, this *is* Sammy :)
DeleteWhat a great meet-and-greet with Sammy. It would have had me smiling all day too---especially knowing it was a sweet blog-able moment.
ReplyDeleteJean--It truly was one of the best Meet And Greets. (And yes, it made wrapping up the month of daily posting that much easier, too.)
DeleteAwwww there is nothing quite like an enthusiastic dog!!!
ReplyDeleteSuzanne--So true. This was the first time one ever got in my car, though!
DeleteAww that's great!
ReplyDeleteBug--I thought so!
DeleteHe's so cute! " A ride! Where are we going?" I'm not a dog person but even I wouldn't have minded that.
ReplyDeleteccr--The photo isn't him, but of a dog very similar. It's astonishing what you can find on Google Search!
DeleteBut yes, I thought his behaviour was incredibly charming. Of course I didn't mind!
I love your doggy stories! And I love that you enjoy dogs even though you have cats, lol. I have really fond memories of the 2 dogs we had in my family. The first one was a black lab called Abby who had 16 puppies in one of her litters. 4 didn't make it, but my sister, brothers and I had a blast for several weeks chasing the remaining 12 pups around the yard. Our other dog was a German Shepherd (who my sister baptized with the perfectly stupid name of "Sean" that did not suit him at all, but never mind.) I adored "Sean-Dog." He was very gentle with us, but would bark like crazy when strangers approached the door. One weekend, I came home from college really late at night on a surprise visit to my parents. I was all prepared for wild barking. He didn't make a sound when I got out of the car and was waiting at the door with excitement to see me. How do they know?!
ReplyDeleteOrtizzle--I love that your German Shepherd was named Sean. I am all about naming pets People Names, and Sean is a perfectly dignified name for a stately breed like a GSD. Sean could smell you the moment you got out of the car, hence no barking. And if he ever heard your car even once before, he likely remembered it. Dogs are amazing, and you know I don't use that word often.
DeleteSplendid. I am sure it made both your days brighter. And what a sweetie. Speaking of backing into things, in our house in the city we had a carport, and I had a van full of Brownies (the kind in uniforms that wiggle all over the car) and backed into the post that held up one corner of the house roof over the carport. In my defence, the rear view mirror was obscured by little heads in braids and felt beanies. I am not sure the ridgepole of the house was ever straight again. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteMary--I detest backing up anyway. Having the use of a backup camera has made it so much easier for me. The ice, not so much.
DeleteBless you for driving a van in the first place, and one full of Brownies in the second. In that case it was entirely the ridgepole's fault.
Oh goodness, what a happy occurrence to brighten up your day! I'm not a fan of off-leash dogs, too much risk for danger, but it IS a good idea to have your dog well trained just in case (not that I've ever really worked on that skill with my dogs, I'm sorry to say.) Several years ago I was visiting my dad and step-mom in Portland, and it was icy out, and my dad and I had to get to the bottom of a VERY steep hill (on foot, it wasn't safe to drive). It was horrible, and the solution was to take some cardboard and slide down on our butts, which was not nearly as fun as that sounds, all of the rough parts of the sidewalk were felt through the cardboard, which was wet and shredded by the time we got to the bottom. When I was about 1/2 way down and very frustrated, a loose dog came running up to me, gave me a kiss and a big wag, and made it all better! His person had let him out to pee I think, and he got excited to see me sliding down the hill. A bright spot indeed.
ReplyDeleteJ--I'm not a fan of off-leash dogs, either. They should, at the very least, have an E-collar on, or a collar with a large, sturdy handle. Bull terriers are not always friendly dogs, either. Thankfully, Sammy was chipper and pleasant.
DeleteYour icy hill ordeal doesn't sound fun at all, frankly. Cardboard is a pretty flimsy sled on ice. I can imagine how uncomfortable you were. Thank goodness the dog was there to help you through it!
Yikes on hitting your house, but like you said, it wasn't a big deal.
ReplyDeleteSammy is SO stinking cute. My dogs would jump in anyones car too; they have no loyalty when it comes to a Free Ride. That being said, I could never trust mine to be off leash, and it's too risky with other dogs in the world. I pray for Sammy's safety out there.
BB Suz--To be clear, that's not Sammy's photo. It's actually a photo I found on Google image search. But it's awfully close to what he looked like. (I'm constantly amazed at the stuff I'm able to find to accompany my posts here.)
DeleteI agree that taking a dog for a walk off leash is dangerous. Ours is a very doggy neighbourhood, and not all of them are at ease with other dogs. Fingers crossed for Sammy with the wide variety of (many very large) dogs out and about.
This is a hilarious story. Our neighbor never leashes his German Shephard. He nipped Coach on the calf a few months back and still doesn't keep him on a leash. I don't get that. We have so many cars on our driveway that I can't believe I haven't backed into one yet.
ReplyDeleteErnie--Yikes! Even after a biting incident, this dog is still left unleashed? That neighbour shouldn't have a dog, period, especially a breed like a GSD.
DeleteOh, Rick has backed into me, even, in the driveway! I had to wait on traffic, and he just barrelled on out and right into me. That was a long time ago, and he's settled down considerably since then. LOL