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A Charming Dog Christmas Story

I baked more cookies yesterday.  And then it was time to rest.

Bill announced he was going out to get the mail (a mile or so down our unpaved country road).  I was about to doze off when he returned carrying a sweet faced little Beagle, and we both forgot all about the mail!  I wish I had taken a picture but the lost dog looked something like this:

Bill found him wandering the road, stopped, whistled, and the pup came right to him and wanted to be picked up.  At our house he had a  big drink of water and then we began our search for his owners.  We thought the Beagle might be a guest dog with a visiting family at our neighbor’s house.”  Not so.

We noticed the little guy had two collars, and while Bill was gently patting him, the pup suddenly began to scream.  I thought he might be injured but then realized the pain was from a flashing choke collar! I think the device was being used as a finding tool since the dog’s agonized barking was so loud it could surely be heard over some distance.

I removed both collars and he stopped crying and buried his head against my legs while I reassured him.  On the inside of one collar was the name and telephone number of the owner. We called and, yes, there were people looking for the little fella.  They came right out and the pup seemed happy to see them.  There were three big men in  neon orange garb who looked like hunters.

• Bill thinks “Ace,” as we now know him, is well loved since he came and attached to us so readily.
• I think Ace is part of a hunting pack and does not have the happiest dog’s life.

He didn’t look malnourished but there was a rash in his ears.  Mostly I hated the idea of the shock collar. Using it to find a lost dog may make some sense, but my heart went out to that poor little thing who surely did not understand.  And listening to him howl was unbearable for me.

Ace’s owner was very happy to find him and said, “You will never know how grateful I am.”  He then put Ace in a “dog box” in the back of his truck.   Bill thinks there were other dogs in the box too.  Maybe it was a pack and maybe Ace was glad to be back with them.  I hope so.  He did wag his tail when he saw his owner so that was a hopeful sign.

In the end, Ace was lost and then found, and he may have a Merry Christmas after all.

And this could be A Charming Dog Christmas Story.

But I am not so sure about that.

What do you think?

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