[Cdnjennga]

Now that the thread sharing embarassing stories has come back to life, I thought it would be interesting to share close calls and scares with our dogs. But only those with happy endings, don't want this to be a sad thread!

So here's mine. It was our first dog, Kelsey. We were up north staying at our friend's gorgeous cottage for a week (we would dog sit and in exchange get use of their cottage, it was awesome) and my mom decided to walk down to the dock with the dogs and look at the stars. I was reading in the cottage when I suddenly heard her screaming at me to get down there with a flashlight. I ran down and she was freaking out. Kelsey had misstepped and fallen off the dock between the dock and the boat that was tied up there. She'd heard a series of splashes and then silence and was terrified that he'd drowned.

So she stripped her clothes off, we untied the boat and in she went with the flashlight. She flashed it around and suddenly saw some eyes. He was alive! He'd managed to crawl into a space under the dock (it was a raised dock) and was perched on the rocks that supported the dock. We were so relieved. But of course the next question was how we were going to get him out. The space he'd slipped into was very narrow and he couldn't fit out lying on his belly. My parents would have to slip him onto his side and slide him out. This was easier said than done, as Kelsey was not comfortable being on his side. It took them 45 minutes to work with him and at one point we honestly thought we would just have to chainsaw into the dock in order to get him out (the dock that apparently cost over $10,000 to build ) Thankfully they managed and he was none the worse for wear for the experience. He went on to live for many more years!

So that's my scariest story with a happy ending. Anyone else have any?

 

[ArreauStandardPoodle]

Holy smokes!! That IS scary! Thank goodness he was fine. Nope, I have some scary stories, but they did not end well. Glad yours did though!!!

 

[debjen]

My scariest story happened at agility class with my lab..Riley did his first run fine..2nd run he didn't even want to start..went to a corner and looked like he wanted to throw up..thinking he was getting sick I start to pack up to go home..as I start to take him to the car he tried again to throw up and poop and couldn't do either ..I take a closer look at him and see his sides are expanding.. our trainer walked by and I had her look and I said I think he is bloating what do you think..she thought so too..so I call the vet of course after hours and get the on call vet who I didn't know and met him at my office..he says he is bloating and will immediately take him to surgery but said even if he does there is a chance he wouldn't make it..I sat in the waiting room all by myself blubbering until the vet came out and said he had made it..

Unfortunately that wasn't the end..he recovered from that and 7 weeks later bloated again..different after hours on call vet and once again immediately into surgery ..which I actually got to watch...which was better than sitting blubbering in the waiting room..

this was all 5 years ago and at age 12 he is still doing great.

 

[Cdnjennga]

Nope, I have some scary stories, but they did not end well.

That's a shame. We've had many other close calls over the years (most involving chocolate), but never any that didn't end out ok thank goodness.

 

[bigredpoodle]

After I moved to my NEW home in Utah I had no yard yet and certainly no real fencing . I had three Setters in Full show coat. So i took several Kennel run panels lashed them together and made about a 20 X 20 yard covered the ground with Fake grass.Astro turf
I came home from work one day The construction guys were all ther and one of them had gone into this area "The run" and left the gate open. My dogs had been let out by Mom and they were gone !
Now mind you these were City dogs Show dogs and had no expereince with Highways or open spaces and I am sure that you know Setters love to run and they can seriously cover some ground. So having found the both males FULL of stickers , they came home . I still had not found my Sunshine baby doo . I drove and called drove and called. I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye backed up the truck and there she was Sitting right on the edge of the highway With Semi trucks going by doing 70 MPH I think I died a thousand deaths that day. She was fine and waited for me to come and pick her up.
A truly happy ending ! Needless to say fencing went up that weekend.

 

[LexisMom]

No scary story here just yet.Wow I am glad for the happy endings

 

[Locket]

I have two stories.
Scary story #1
Our old dog Tippy had a habit of sneaking out of the backyard through our carport at our old house if we were not watching her while she was outside. We would often "hide" just inside the door way and watch her start sneaking to the carport all the while checking the back door to see if we were watching. When she would get close, we'd call her back inside, and the look on her face said "Darn, they caught me again", she was a funny girl.
Well, I had let her out and then asked my sister to watch her while she was eating breakfast. I came back down 10 or so minutes later, and sister was reading the newspaper. I asked her if she let Tippy in...Uh-oh...No Tippy in sight.
I got my shoes and ran out back and brought a HUNK of cheese with me and called and called for Tippy. No Tippy. I ran around the block, asked people if they had seen a little white dog making a break for it, no one had seen her. I ran back home, tears rolling down my cheeks... and there is Tippy on the front porch scratching to be let inside.

Scary story #2
I took Mitch to the ravine, and there is one trail that takes you all the way to a busy road. The trail is divided into two sides with forest through the middle. I'll take Mitch off leash about half way up the trail and then back, making sure he NEVER knows there's a busy road a few kilometres ahead. So we're walking on the trail and he's running ahead as usual, but the trail curved and I lost sight of him. I whistled and called him, but when his head didn't pop around the corner, I started running down the trail. I'm calling him and starting to panic because he's running in the direction of the road, when I see this white blur on the other side of trail through the trees. Relief!!! until he ran full speed straight into me...

 

[Cdnjennga]

... and there is Tippy on the front porch scratching to be let inside.

They love to freak you out with that! A few times people left our side gate open, and we'd let Kelsey out back without realizing and then go out to call him and he'd be nowhere! Every time we'd open the front door and he'd be sitting there like "let me in". One time it happened with our second dog and she walked down the street and then back up it with the mailman. She was happily walking beside him until Kelsey started barking at him, then she joined in. It was too funny. Now they have a self closing gate so it's much safer.

 

[plumcrazy]

Can I tell a scary CAT story??? (I'm kind of a rebel that way!)

Before my husband and I were married, we adopted a kitten together. Her name was Whiskey. My husband (then fiance) was living in the place that I was going to move into after we were married and Whiskey lived with him. It was a new construction "manor home" (like an apartment, but private entrances - no common hallways) in Burnsville Minnesota. Because it was new, the builders were still doing work on parts of it... They told David that they had to paint the front door one day while he was at work. He explained that he had a kitten and cautioned the workmen NOT to let the kitten outside!!!

After work that evening, he and I attended a Twins baseball game and I came over to his place after the game for a little bit... I wanted to see our baby!! We combed through his home and couldn't find her anywhere. It was a nice evening and David had opened his patio door, which was a good thing; because we could hear these tiny meows coming from outside!!! The freakin' workmen had let Whiskey out of the apartment!! We ran outside and scooped her up, so happy to see her!!

Then we noticed a shiny spot on her teeny nose (Whiskey was probably around 4 months old at this point) David looked closer and he said it looked like a BB!!!! While she was out, someone put a BB gun up to our little girl's nose and SHOT HER!!!! David didn't think a BB would've penetrated unless the perpetrator was pretty darn close so there's no way it could've been an accident!! Just as we were deciding what to do about it, Whiskey sneezed and sprayed the white wall with flecks of blood!!!

That was it... I found the number for an emergency vet and called it. I told him the problem and he asked me, "Does it seem to be bothering her?" :wacko: WHHHAAAAAT????? It's bothering ME, you idiot!!!! So he agreed to meet us at his clinic in the next 20 minutes. He extracted the BB and gave us some ointment to put on it... She healed up fine and lived a long and happy life (unlike the a$$hole who pulled the trigger on her if I would've found out who did it!!!!)

 

[Cdnjennga]

While she was out, someone put a BB gun up to our little girl's nose and SHOT HER!!!!

UGH! Sometimes people really suck... I'm glad she was ok in the long run!

These stories are really interesting! I'm glad I put the happy ending on there though, I don't think I could handle the sad endings.

 

[Locket]

Oh my goodness Plumcrazy!! What a sicko to do that to a little kitten!!!

My boyfriend has a funny kitten story. His mom had just rescued a badly abused cat from the military base she worked at, and the cat happened to be pregnant. She had the 4 kittens and they were all healthy and very explorative little guys. My boyfriend came home one day and couldn't find the kittens anywhere in the house. He thought that maybe his mom had taken them for a check up, so went to watch tv. As he's watching tv, he keeps getting little sharp pains in his back and bum. He stands up and sees three kitten paws poking out from the back of the couch cushions! All of the little kittens were playing inside the couch.

 

[ArreauStandardPoodle]

Can I tell a scary CAT story??? (I'm kind of a rebel that way!)

Before my husband and I were married, we adopted a kitten together. Her name was Whiskey. My husband (then fiance) was living in the place that I was going to move into after we were married and Whiskey lived with him. It was a new construction "manor home" (like an apartment, but private entrances - no common hallways) in Burnsville Minnesota. Because it was new, the builders were still doing work on parts of it... They told David that they had to paint the front door one day while he was at work. He explained that he had a kitten and cautioned the workmen NOT to let the kitten outside!!!

After work that evening, he and I attended a Twins baseball game and I came over to his place after the game for a little bit... I wanted to see our baby!! We combed through his home and couldn't find her anywhere. It was a nice evening and David had opened his patio door, which was a good thing; because we could hear these tiny meows coming from outside!!! The freakin' workmen had let Whiskey out of the apartment!! We ran outside and scooped her up, so happy to see her!!

Then we noticed a shiny spot on her teeny nose (Whiskey was probably around 4 months old at this point) David looked closer and he said it looked like a BB!!!! While she was out, someone put a BB gun up to our little girl's nose and SHOT HER!!!! David didn't think a BB would've penetrated unless the perpetrator was pretty darn close so there's no way it could've been an accident!! Just as we were deciding what to do about it, Whiskey sneezed and sprayed the white wall with flecks of blood!!!

That was it... I found the number for an emergency vet and called it. I told him the problem and he asked me, "Does it seem to be bothering her?" :wacko: WHHHAAAAAT????? It's bothering ME, you idiot!!!! So he agreed to meet us at his clinic in the next 20 minutes. He extracted the BB and gave us some ointment to put on it... She healed up fine and lived a long and happy life (unlike the a$$hole who pulled the trigger on her if I would've found out who did it!!!!)

People suck sometimes!!! Poor little muffin.

You should share the story about the cable guy leaving your gate open! GRRRR!!!!

 

[plumcrazy]

You should share the story about the cable guy leaving your gate open! GRRRR!!!!

Yeah, that one was a little more recent (but still before Lucy came to live with us) We were having problems with our cable TV signal and called the cable company to fix it. They sent a workman (isn't it ALWAYS the workmen?? JK to all the GOOD workmen out there!!) who opened the gate to our fenced backyard to do what he needed to do and then proceeded to walk back OUT of the backyard without securing the gate (he left the stupid thing WIDE open!!)

There's NO WAY he couldn't have known we had dogs, I'm sure they were barking their fool heads off while he was on the pole in the backyard (we have a huge picture window that overlooks the yard.) Plus, he would've had to avoid all the organic land mines in my grass as I hadn't picked up the yard for a couple of days... so I can't think of one reasonable excuse why he wouldn't have relatched the gate!

Anyway... David got home from work before I did and let the three dogs (Hannah, Meau and Juliet) out into the yard like we do every day after work, then he went upstairs to the bedroom to change into his play clothes... I got home about 15 minutes after he did and I went downstairs (walk out basement) to let the dogs back inside. Hannah and Meau were right by the door to come back in, but mini dachshund Juliet wasn't there... I stepped out into the yard a few feet to call her but I couldn't see her anywhere in my yard... then I glanced to my right and saw the gate standing wide open :scared:

I hollered inside to David and Katy that Juliet had left the backyard and I ran outside to the front yard (tears streaming) to call for her... I didn't know how far away she was by then and if she could even hear me calling. I was in the front yard for less than 5 minutes when I saw this low, brown STREAK, racing to me from the across-the-street-neighbor's backyard - her ears were flying and she had the biggest smile on her face!!! MOMMA!!! YOU'RE HOME!!! I'VE BEEN EXPLORING!!! But my heart still stopped in my chest because she was running full-bore for the street and I knew that if there were any cars coming they wouldn't see her easily because of how low to the ground she is! Luckily, there were no cars coming and as I knelt down to her level, she leaped into my arms - wiggling like CRAZY!!!! Tears were still streaming down my face, but now they were tears of relief and happiness!

I immediately wrote a letter to the cable company, telling them the story and urging them to provide more in-service training to their cable guys and reminding them of the importance of "if you open it; close it!!" I told them that it ended well and Juliet was fine, but if she would've been hit by a car or injured by another animal while she was on the loose, they wouldn't have been the only ones receiving my letter as a copy would've gone to our attorney and to the media. A representative of the company called me personally and apologized for the incident. They gave me $$ off of my next invoice... :doh: Oh well... it had a happy ending, anyway!!

 

[Spencer]

I have a lot of close-call stories with my childhood doggies, but my parents ALWAYS fixed it and our sweet babies always made it home safe...it gets much scarrier once you own the dogs!

A and I live right next to a giant construction site (yeah, it sucks... they start work at 6 am and sometimes work ALL NIGHT LONG with bright lights riiight in my window. Last night it looked like it was daybreak... all night) on one side, and on the other side, 'round the back of our yard, is where they keep equipment like styrofoam and all the other junk they use. Well... evidently one of the people running their little fork lift things can't drive very well... I let out TQ and TPFKAP to potty, and A goes, "Uh... don't freak out, but we need to get them inside RIGHT NOW."

Turns out, they had RUN OVER OUR FENCE (it isn't wood, and we have a lot of shrubs/trees, so it wasn't noticable)! I called out the magic words, "Who's hungry?" and they both came running inside... thank GOODNESS!

Needless to say I immediately called the company and left a nasty message. Let's just say when I got up to let the pups out in the morning, the fence was fixed.

 

[frostfirestandards]

Willow seems to be my most accident prone dog. We have only had her for a year, but she has been through a lot.

Last April I went to let willow out to potty, and she was being....well, good. Normally Willow is a cannonball of hair, and flies everywhere. I put her outside and she didnt do anything, so I let her in and sat in the livingroom just looking at her. she was calm and very...un-Willow like.
I took her to the closest vet because it was almost 5pm, and my vet was almost an hour away. I get to the vet and they take herr to a room, and then ask if she had been vaccinated. she was 7 months old, and had had everything but Rabies. They ran some tests and then told me she had parvo.
I don't know how she got it, but I guess vaccines are not always effective?

anyway, she stayed overnight and was transfered to our regular vet in the AM. She ended up having to stay for a week, but she pulled through, and was back to her normal crazy self again.

So then later last year, during the summer, we were living at a house that had a fence made of welded wire, and the dogs had gotten out a time or two, but always ran to the front door.

One day Willow didnt come in, I couldn't find her anywhere. She and Anja got out and we couldnt find them. we distributed flyers, asked door to door, searched the woods.
this continued for 3-5 days (i cant remember) Then we went to neighbor's behind our house (the house was on 6 wooded acres) and the lady said that she had both dogs, and that she had been taking care of them until someone came looking. thank God!



SO THEN... last week we had a really bad wind storm . We moved in January, and we have a privacy fence. I let Brian and Willow out to potty and play, and stay our of my hairlol , and went about my business. a couple hours later I realized that they had been really quiet. I went to call them in, and NO DOGS! I looked around the yard, and saw that the gate blew open. its on the side of the house and you have to kind of look aroun the edge of the house to see it. I walked around calling, but the wind just carried my voice away.

When Richard got home, we flagged down an alarm system guy. He said he had seen them a few streets over.
We live in a large subdivision that is surrounded by busy roads. I was praying they werent hit by cars.

We drove around and Brian almost ran into our car! He was looking spooked an looking over his shoulder while running head first toward our car.

We looked for Willow and could not find her or hear her.
The next day we printed 50 flyers and started posting them around the subdivision.

We were working our way to the back, I was looking at a stopsign to decide if we should put a flyer there when Richard said "hey, I think thats Willow"

The little brat who caused us so much worry was walking down a street with some little girls, she was just following them.

we scooped her up and brought her home.

That one dog has time and again worried me!

 

[Trillium]

Oh some of these stories would have scared me to death. Though I have a few of my own.

We had gone out for a boat ride on Georgian Bay (which is a huge body of water) with some friends and our first spoo Rusty. He was laying sound asleep on one of the seats on the boat. Well we were quite a ways off shore and going fairly fast when we hit a wave wrong and turned suddenly. I watched as Rusty still laying down was tossed into the water. I yelled and told the rest what happened and we carved the boat around hard. No sign of Rusty anywhere. I was so worried. Tom (my husband) was just on the point of diving in to search for him when all of a sudden his head broke the surface and up he came. We hauled him into the boat and made him lay on the floor this time. He was just fine. Bless his heart he even still loved the water. That time scared both Tom and I silly.

Of course scary moments have happened since. My parents have a lovely place on a dead end road. They have about 40 acres. A lot of it is bush and there is further bush that is behind their property. Well we had gone to visit for a few days and were all outside. It was a lovely and very hot day. Sport was out in the back yard with us off leash. Sport was a very good boy and would always stay near me and immediately came when I called. However that day while we were out the kids were playing with him. Sport was sure that all squirrels were the enemy. He took off after one. He didn't come when the kids called and by the time I knew what had happened he was gone. My kids went to pieces I was pretty upset myself. I went into the bush looking for him and had no luck at all. I finally headed home again when I was exhausted and way over heated to cool off and make sure he wasn't already back. I was pretty upset and my kids were a mess. Grandpa had told them that if he had any kind of a nose on him at all he should be able to follow it back to the house. Especially as I had walked around some of the bush he should be able to follow his and my scent back to the house. He went out to look for him on the atv without success anyway. Well by this time several hours had passed and the kids needed to eat so we sat down to eat supper and decide what to do next. While we were eating Grandpa heard something at the back door and there was Sport. He was a tired but very happy poodle. We were all so relieved and the kids were besides themselves they were soo happy. Of course Sport didn't get let off leash at Grandma and Grandpa's after that.

 

[Cdnjennga]

I watched as Rusty still laying down was tossed into the water.

Poor Rusty, what an abrupt awakening! That story is kind of funny, but only because he was ok in the end. I would have been freaking out when he flew off the boat and disappeared from view! I don't handle things like that very well...

 

[Trillium]

Poor Rusty, what an abrupt awakening! That story is kind of funny, but only because he was ok in the end. I would have been freaking out when he flew off the boat and disappeared from view! I don't handle things like that very well...

I was definitely freaking out too. All I could think about is On no he's going to drown. In all that water I couldn't even be sure if we could get to him in time. I was so thankful when his head came up.

 

[april1694]

One of my previous poodles scared us bad but it was kinda funny in the end. All of a sudden she started panting really bad would not eat or drink so I knew something was wrong. I rushed her to the vet and when he went to take her temperature he found a sewing needle stuck sideways in her butt. Pulled it out no damage done.

 

[LexisMom]

lexi played a joke on mommy

So...this morning we took Lexi outside...Lesson number 1..... Don't take lexi outside when it is pitch dark outside and she has on no collar or shirt or anything...You can see her AT all.

So were in the front yard which is pretty Big....and she hears a car start up way down the street and as soon as I blinked my eye she was GONE.( come to find out she hid behind one of our bushes)

hmmmm,so I start freaking out....my other half is laughing at me because we can not see her (he knew where she was).... and of course she not listening to her name being called by me.

So,I decided to walk to the front door and just wait..sure enough after 5 mins of me thinking I will never find my puppy again....she walks thru the front door and sits in the living room and looks like shes laughing....Go go figure...