Always ready……..#2

A Friend in Need

As promised here is the 2nd story of Gopher doing therapy when not officially working. For privacy the names of our friends have been omitted.

Just over a year ago Carla and I were out spending a wonderful evening with a group of friends celebrating the birthday of one of our oldest and closest friends. The night was great, good food, drink, and many moments of laughter that are commonly shared with groups of friends. Probably more than most as we are outliers in this group as all of them are artists and more creative than Carla and I. The evening passed, we said our goodbyes to the group the birthday boy and his fiancée another wonderful friend of ours. Carla and I went home and she went right to bed, while I sat up for a little while. I am not sure how much time had passed when my phone rang, the screen showing the incoming call was from the birthday boy, and I picked right up.

In my life I have received a few phone calls that make my heart drop, this was one such call. While we were out enjoying our evening together their home was invaded, many possessions were stolen, but worst of all their new pup a rescue puppy mill poodle was gone. Insurance will take care of the possessions, but nothing could replace the pup, and she had only been in the home a few days and had to be frightened. In the course of our short conversation I was already grabbing boots, coats, car keys, and leashing up my own dogs. I hung up and yelled up the stairs for Carla to get dressed and downstairs, that our friends needed help now.

We were loaded in moments and on our way driving as fast as we reasonably could, blood boiling, because if you know me personally you know that my friends are counted as family, and this was an attack against my family. I am also rational so Carla and I discussed method to conduct an efficient search to find the little poodle. We had the dogs because as we knew via work with rescue, that if you want to find a shy scared dog bring a friendly pup. When we arrived at the house the police were still on the scene and we could not enter the house so we began the external search for the pup. Gopher was annoyed as he did not want to go for a walk as he wanted to be with his Auntie and Uncle. For what happened next, I will have Gopher’s auntie tell the story.

“I remember that by the time you guys got to our house I was no longer screaming and crying, but not by much. You and Carla and I took Gopher out to walk up and down the block and the alley, calling for my poodle. Gopher would walk around and sniff a little, but he kept coming back to me, nudging my hand while we walked, standing by me when we were still, nudging some more if I stopped petting. He would get very concerned when my voice broke, and once the Crime Scene folks were gone and we could go inside, he sat and let me pet him for a bit before you guys went home to get some sleep. Gopher’s Concern Face is a huge comfort – it looks like he’s saying, I know something’s wrong, why not tell doggy all about it?”


Gopher was good to his auntie, but not so helpful in the search as I had to try to keep him going he wanted to be with Auntie the entire time. We did not have any luck that night, but there were some flyers ordered with a color image. The plan was for me to pick them up in the morning and return to help canvass the neighborhood. Fortunately when I arrived I saw a man walking down the street with a miniature poodle. He had seen her running down the street the night before and picked her up and was looking for her owners. The biggest loss of the night before was home.