dog days

so, my life is run by dogs. right now, to my left, 3 dogs are in action...kelly, the girl, is vying for alpha of the household over voo doo, the big, sulky male. her favorite way of showing dominance these day seems to be in the form of humping him in any way--from behind, splayed on his back, or even in reverse, such that she's humping his face. cochi, the obvious omega in the pack, chews a bone and barks encouragingly, like any good spectator.

we can actually set a clock by the time of their revelry. at 8:30 every night, they have their cool down wrestling match. it's followed by human affection time, when they each come and comfort the crotch of whomever is in the house.

i love dogs, but i don't know how ready i am for this kind of intimacy.

the dogs have provided many opportunities for us to get to know our neighbors. cochi has taken an interest in the german shepard dogs across the street, who dutifully patrol the borders of their owners' home. being the trickster he is, he teases them as they make their rounds, and once or twice has lured them out of bounds. their owners don't like this at all. twice now, one of their humans has come to our house, hammered loudly on the door, and yelled at me. i listened, apologized, and took what actions i could, even though they aren't my dogs. we've kept the dogs in and watched them closely when they are out. yesterday morning, cochi barked at the GSD (german shepard dogs) from our front porch. the owner of the dogs replied with a shot gun. welcome to the neighborhood.

so i was a little wary to say anything when i was walking the dogs (on leashes, mind you!) this evening and a woman slowed down in her suburban, rolled down her window, and asked, "are you the ones who just moved in down the road?".

i paused to center myself for whatever might follow.

"are you the ones who rescued our dog?'

my guard dropped. "oh, yeah!", i spoke, relieved. i was happy to take on the identity of the GOOD neighbor.

see, about a week ago, when the dogs were romping outside, a few of us heard a whimper. we looked at the dogs, and they all seemed fine. then kelly slowed down and went over to sniff at the culvert that runs beneath our driveway. i called to her, and as she ran towards me, we heard the whimper again. it was coming from the culvert.

4 of us converged at the sight simultaneously. looking down, we could see a cut up brown snout and a paw reaching out of the metal tube meant to move water beneath the road. there was a dog trapped inside.

i got down on my knees and saw that his shoulder was wedged against the drain pipe, and his head was resting on rock and ice. he was most definately stuck, and maybe injured on top of that. i stood there, dumbfounded. one of the neighbors got on his cell phone and called the fire department. "bring the jaws of life," he suggested.

i started trying to dig out the ice and dirt beneath the dog's head. my nails filled with grit and cold shards, and my fingertips turned a numb red. we waited.

finally, one of the four got on her bike and said, "i'm going to try to find the owner". she took off down the road, and the dog whimpered once more. i reached in and rubbed his head and shoulders. "you're going to be alright," i said, as much to myself as to the poor pup.

the guys on the scene were passing time and soothing their concerns by trying to figure out how the dog got stuck in the first place. "he must have followed something in from the other side of the pipe," one guessed. "if we only had a jack, maybe we could wedge this gap a little wider," the other proposed.

i heard my cue. "i have a jack," i offered. i ran to my truck and got out the jack, and found a shovel as well. i brought them both back, and the boys went to work. i talked to the dog, in hopes to keep him open to all this activity.

the ground had thawed more than we'd anticipated. with a few strikes of the shovel, the ground loosened beneath the dog enough for us to start to wiggle him out. suddenly, he was free. a horrible stench came with his yelp. he shook and shivered. i held him close.

just then a big red truck jerked into our driveway. a man in flip flops hopped out. "jackson!" he declared. the dog belonged to him.

he told us that he had just returned from a vacation and heard from his housesitter that his dog had been missing for 4 days. he was just heading out in his truck to look when my friend cycled into his yard.

"four days?" we exclaimed. could the dog have been trapped under our driveway for 4 days?

he thanked us all, multiple times. then he called for his dog to jump up into the back of the truck. the poor thing could barely walk, let alone leap into a 4x4, even for his beloved owner. the man scooped him up in his arms and placed him gently in the back.

we watched as he drove down the road, then everyone dispersed. i still don't know any of my neighbors' names.

but i can tell you the name of every dog.