Just A Big Softy

It’s official, I’m really just a big softy. Yes, the side I normally present to the world is hard, ridged and stubborn but if you hang around long enough, you may catch a glimpse of a more vulnerable, softer Shinks. True its rare, but it has been known to happen. I even cry at  movies, the emotional ones of course, not just any random comedy. And one particular commercial on TV, tears me up EVERY time. Its the animal rescue one, with the sad Sarah McLoughlan music playing to the footage of various little pooches and kitty’s who have been rescued from abusive situations. God, that commercial just makes me want to bawl for hours. If you haven’t seen it, look out, its pretty tough going.

But this past weekend my softer side instinctively rose to the surface when after a run through the trails of a nearby forest, I noticed a dog wandering lost and alone and moving at a hurried pace towards a very busy road. A quick look around and I realized nobody was with this dog. The Poochie is lost, alone and appears to have no idea that she is heading into the path of some very aggressive oncoming traffic. In an effort to stop this potential disaster, I take off sprinting after the dog. I’m watching the dog trying to judge her distance to the road, at the same time, I’m trying to judge my distance from the dog and at the speed I’m running, will I get to her before she gets to the road? My brain along with my legs are racing with calculations of distance and pace. The dog is close to the road. I am close to the dog. She gets closer, I get closer. She pauses for a spit second behind a parked car and that's all I need.  A split second pause was enough for me to not only reach her, but also to get a hold of her collar. Phew, such a relief. But now what? My goal was to stop the dog wandering out onto the street, beyond that I had no plan. 

First thing I do, get the dog some water. The second is to contact the Park Ranger and inform him of the situation. Then we wait. Poochie and I sit for about an hour. She’s all stressed, and I’m trying to reassure her with constant pats and rubs that everything will be ok, although I have no idea if that’s true. All I know is I can’t leave her here, it’s getting dark and coyotes are prevalent in these parts at night. Then I’m thinking, I can’t let her go with the Park Ranger either, they’ll just give her to some animal shelter and if nobody claims her, then bad things will happen. Now I’m stressing. I whip out my phone and open up a dialog with Husband, basically I’m trying to give him the heads up that our little animal family, is about to get a little bit bigger. Fintan (my Kitty) won’t be pleased, not by a long shot, but I’m sure with time, they’ll both become best friends. 

Poochie and I are starting to get pretty comfortable around each other when all of a sudden I notice her ears pop up, she’s on her feet, staring at a man walking along the trail. Good sign. Park Ranger arrives and begins to ask me some questions, but I point to the man walking towards us and explain that we may have found the owner, at least Poochie believes she has. Turns out the man is a friend of the owner and has been out helping her search for the dog. I’m so relieved. Relieved the dog was not struck by a car. Relieved she is happy and going back to her own home and relieved that I now don’t have to worry about Fintan’s reaction to a new step-sister. Everything has worked out. Happy endings all round, not least for this little fella here.