Yesterday morning, we took all four dogs for a walk in the hills around here. I wanted to get some pictures of the yellow wildflowers that cover the hillside to the north of us but my husband and the dogs they just wanted to walk. And in a hurry they all were too.
I didn't get any good pictures. But I will go back and climb up closer.
These grew close to the road, so I took a quick photo of them.
After a while, we meet a guy on the trail and he and my husband get to talking, the rush all but forgotten. Since I know this may take a while, I wander off to take some pictures.
One of the canyon.
Another of the surrounding mountains.
I'm disappointed that I see no other flowers and no wild critters. So I walk back to see if we will be on our way soon. Suddenly there is a lot of commotion and Princess takes off like a rocket. Samson has somehow gotten away from my husband and is taking off. Since the distance was short, Princess caught up with him and knocked him over with her shoulder. He got surprised and disoriented, so she had no problem herding him back to us. It all was so fast, like a flash!
As my husband continues his conversation with this guy and picks up Samson's leash, Soldier gets away from him and takes off running. I take off after Soldier and so does Princess. My husband says: "Don't chase him," meaning that Soldier will take this as a game and run faster. So I stop, but then my husband starts to chase him and Soldier takes off, running even faster, with Princess following him. I thought good that she went with him, because I'm sure she can find her way home. But I also know she won't be able to keep up with him. And if Soldier gets away, he'll have no idea how to get home.
So we spread out, my husband on the road and I through the bushes. We go to the edge of a cliff where we have a good view of the fields below. We don't see anyone, nothing. I start to think that now both dogs are lost in the hills. So I call Princess and whistle for her. Her hearing isn't that good, but I know she can hear a whistle and the way I yell, panicked that I am, I'm sure she can hear me. Nothing, no rustle in the bushes, nothing at all. I decide to backtrack and my husband decides to continue on the road. When I get back almost to where we started looking for them, there comes Princess. But she's alone….Oh, no, where is my boy? I'm getting very worried, but call my husband's cell to let him know I have Princess. And he tells me he has Soldier. As he was walking down the road, the one we went on to the ruins and that old abandoned beer truck, Soldier had turned around and was coming back. Phew!! That was a close call.
And Princess certainly did her very best to keep up with Soldier, but she is heavier and I believe that she is also older (they are both supposed to be 10), or getting older much faster than he is. So there was no way she could keep up with him. But she really, really tried. And on the same day, she got Samson back before he managed to get away. Princess is a black lab/border collie cross, equally good at herding dogs and retrieving balls.
Here she is – my HERO!
Thank you, Princess; you are the best and most wonderful dog!
The lesson here: It's awfully easy to lose a dog forever in these mountains and we really have to pay attention when we walk with them.
Phew!! What a day! But it ended well and I'm so grateful for that.
Thanks for visiting!
