What is it with dogs today?

As I was driving down the road to pick up some clients at Cap Suizo, I kept seeing a weird black and white blur out of the corner of my eye, in the rear view. I finally stopped to look in the back seat and nearly jumped out of my skin when a Chihuahua was back there doing hot laps from door to door. WTH? My first reflex was to assume it was a skunk or raccoon, or even cat. But a chihuahua? I can only guess that it got in there when I was closing the front gate-- I left the car door open to close the gate, then remembered to run inside to grab my coffee cup. All told the door on the car was open in the driveway for maybe a minute. So there I am, with a frantic little dog in the car, on the way to collect clients. I finally wrangled the darn thing to the front seat to read its collar and called the number on the tag. Turns out to be one of neighbors, but she isn't home.

Ok, no worries, I'll just grab the clients, then drop the dog off on the way to show properties. The clients got a good laugh and we decided that the dog would be fine in the car with windows down, while we toured a condo. Then we had to run out to the store for something, so I tried the collar numbers one more time and decided to just take the pooch with us once again. I parked in the Auto Mercado (supermarket) underground parking to keep the car out of the sun (no cooked chihuahua on my watch!) and we ran in to grab a few essentials, including water.

It occurred to us that the pooch was probably also thirsty, so I opened the tailgate to get a bowl that I keep in the back for my own dog. While I was opening the tailgate, the mutt decides to jump out of the front door of the car and make a break for daylight (and the busiest street in Tamarindo). Fortunately for us, the guard was nimble and cut off the dog's egress, herding it back towards the car. I hoped that he would jump back into the car, but apparently he had decided by then that we weren't such fun people and instead he hid *under* the car. So there we are- four adults, two kids, and a chihuahua playing catch-the-escaped-and-freaked-out-dog-that-belongs-several-miles-away while also trying to keep him from darting out into traffic.

If it sounds fun, go back and re-read. It sucked. I'm not particularly anal about my professional image. I work in flip flops most days. But I do try to maintain a minimum level of dignity and decor, and crawling under the car in an oily parking garage saying "Come on, buddy, it's ok!" Doesn't exactly seem.... seemly. Ya know?

We finally murmured enough sweet imploring to get the dog close enough for someone to grab, then jumped back in the truck and drove it home. Of course, by then it was POURING rain. There was still nobody at the house, but I could see where the dog had dug out under the gate. I dug the hole out a little more, and despite his protests I managed to gently smoosh the little guy back into where he was supposed to be (keep in mind, POURING rain). I then spent a few minutes finding large rocks to pile up on the escape hole, to help ensure he didn't dig his way back out (at least not while I was within boarding distance). By the time I got back to the car, I was drenched, but happier.

Phew. Dogsaster averted. I hope that someone else would treat my dog as well as I did this one, despite the fact it made me miss an appointment with my clients. At the very least, they'll have a funny memory of their time shopping with me.

And speaking of my dog: Caly is moping around the house. Surely she feels neglected since Jocelyn is out of town and I've been out of the house more than 12 hours/day with work. All she wants to do is go sleep under Jocelyn's desk (which is most of what she does all day anyway, and not that weird).

To top it all, there is some other dog in the neighborhood who is yelping piteously. Probably got left at home, can't dig out to jump in anyone's car, and doesn't have an owner to ignore spitefully for the abandonment.

Dogs. Sheesh.

Labels: dog, real estate, tamarindo