Runaway Dog!

This evening I finished placing the last of the railroad ties across the main front section of the fenceline. This meant that I had to saw a tie in half. I used a handy little handsaw that cuts superfast and was assisted by Farmer C. I loaded that tie on my very old worn out dolly and wheeled it to the gate. Farmer C was my gatekeeper, you know, because Max might get out.

I haven't mentioned this before, but Max is a great ranch dog except for one small thing. Once he gets past the main perimeter of the property, he's like a teenager on a joy ride in a racecar. He's a runner. Not only does he run, but when I call him, he stops, looks at me, grins, and runs faster. Not cool, dog. Not cool.

So Farmer C opened the gate for me. I looked both ways to be sure Max wasn't anywhere near us. I started on through the gate and BAM out of nowhere Max shows up.

I told him "Sit" and "Stay". He grinned and shot through the little gap in the gate and you guessed it, he RAN.

First he went to visit Bear, Raj, and the old white dog with many names. They live next door. Then he went to visit some strange dogs behind a fenceline further along. Then horses. Then (and I was following him this whole time telling him to come back) he shot off into uncharted, unfenced territory.

That dog was gone.

Grr.

Farmer C and I told Farmer G that Max had left. We told him to stay put in case he came back and we got in the truck to try to hunt down our dog. We drove past the big wash, through a neighborhood and a road that bordered the back of our neighbor's property. Nothing.

We came back and sighted Max back on our neighbor's property running like a crazy dog. I called him. He stopped, looked at me, smiled, and RAN AWAY. Argh!

My kids went after him.

I lost sight of them. I gathered a leash and some dog cookies then met up with my neighbor who has a cool four wheel drive thing. He was driving his granddaughter around in the thing. We all loaded up in it and he zipped around the property, then on down the road and then he proceeded to take me on a joy ride through the back desert over rocks, hills, across places that had no roads. He told me he sighted Max while I was gone. Max had played with two labradors and then took a swim in another neighbor's pool.

Crazy dog.

We searched all over the desert behind my neighbor's property.

Nothing.

I texted my older son who had the good sense to have his cell phone with him. He said he was at Tanque Verde Stables and Max was there too. So we headed over the hills and through the brush to the stables and found Max with a bailing twine leash being detained by a very nice lady who had simply told him to sit and then tied the rope on him. Oh and my son was there. My oldest.

But when I asked him where my other child was, he says," Oh he was right behind me but he didn't keep up."

So my middle child is out wandering in the desert somewhere. Alone. In an area where everything looks the same. And the sun is getting low in the sky. And we have a 4H meeting soon. And when I call his cell phone it's clear the dang thing isn't even turned on.

Dog and son in tow, we hightailed it back to our property and scanned as we went. No sign of Farmer C. At this point, I'm beginning to freak out. Where is my child? Why didn't he stay with his brother? Why isn't his cell phone working?

Anyways, we make it back and here he comes walking up like nothing's amis. He'd been back twice and was wondering where we were the whole time. *sigh*

And Doc Holliday the mad mean rooster got out at one point during all this. I caught him, trimmed his vile spurs and his claws again and put him back in his pen. Strangely, he didn't try to kill me.

What a weird evening.