Saturday, January 30, 2010

Interesting Saturday Dog Walk

So I was taking Bear for a walk today on one of our usual routes. We passed by the house where his puppy girlfriend lives (one of the many!). Her name is Elle, she's about 4 or 5, some kind of mutt, but she's gorgeous. From the minute they met a couple years ago, they loved each other. We walk by and she comes bolting out to the street to see Bear. She's off leash and just running around the yard. We say hi and 'visit' for a bit. Then we try to keep walking, but she wants to play and she's following us down the block. No owner in sight. So we take her back to the house and knock on the screen door. The front door is open and I can hear the TV blasting. I knock on the door several times - no answer. There isn't a doorbell. So I pound louder and louder, still no answer. So I look in through the screen door and I can see someone laying on the couch. I open the door a little and call out to the guy and knock really hard on the inside door. Nothing. I'm starting to get a little worried, but I can see him breathing. So I yell out to him, "Excuse me sir!" I'm literally like a foot from his head. He stirs a little but that's about it. I bring Elle inside and notice an open bag of dog food by the door. Well, now I know he's alive, so I decide to continue on my walk. I get Bear home and get showered up cuz I was running some errands. I decided to go back and check on the guy, make sure everything was kosher. I was also concerned that Elle was going to eat all that dog food since the bag was open. I know Bear would probably eat himself to death in that situation! So I go back and when I pull up I see Elle at the door, licking her lips. She was probably munching away on that food. Anyway, I knock on the door really loud again. I can see him still laying on the couch. So this time I go in. I'm about 6 inches from his face, practically yelling at him. Finally I shake him, he wakes up a little and looks at me. I ask him if he's alright and he mutters 'yeah' but then rolls right back over. I shake him again and ask him if he's a diabetic (thinking maybe his blood sugars are too low and he's in a diabetic coma). I think he said 'no'. He's still not getting up, so I close the bag of dog food and decide to go talk to his neighbors. So his neighbor tells me the guy is a huge drunk and has done this several times. Apparently, there's been many occasions when they've had to let Elle in so she doesn't freeze to death outside. I guess he's been taken to the hospital a bunch and tried rehab but it didn't work. The neighbor said there's a lady that comes and checks on him sometimes, and he called her earlier but said he was going to call her again. So, that's my interesting Saturday Dog Walk. You know, it's funny because you walk by all these houses when you're out walking the dog, and you never know people's stories until something like this happens. Well, I'll let you know if I find out anything more about what happened. Poor Elle, I want to adopt her. I think she'd have a better life with us.

5 comments:

Jeff said...

Had to be a bit freaky walking in to a strangers house. Surprised that dude isn't homeless. Does he have a job?

yfsil said...

Adopt her.

Heathrow's World said...

Wow, you are way braver than I am! I would have been sketched out and probably ran away all the while hoping the dude wasn't dead.

Sara B said...

It was a little strange walking in his house, but from the front door to the couch (and the dude's head) was like a foot, so I didn't have to go too far. And honestly, I was more concerned about the dog than the guy! You know, it's funny cuz I met him a couple years ago when he was out with Elle (when the dogs met for the 1st time) and he seemed like a totally normal dude. I never would have taken him for a raging alcoholic. He's prob in his 60s and sounds like he's a veteran, so it's possible he doesn't work. All in all, just a weird situation.

B-dog said...

That is so crazy Sara! You are soooo brave to do that even if it was that close to where he was-I don't think I could do it. It doesn't surprise me too much though because you are that type of girl who cares about dogs and people that much. You're awesome! Great story!