One day at work, somewhere around 1999 I had left the yard in my work truck and was headed for a drive through coffee stop to get my strong cup for the morning. The pickup truck I was driving was an old Dodge with a gazillion miles on it, and if I floored it black smoke would come out of the exhaust pipe. It had two 4 x 4 posts for a push bumper on the front, as it was an old shop truck that they had put out to pasture (we know this one, don't we?!). I think this truck got about 4 mpg, if I remember correctly, it was an extremely heavy pickup with heavy toolboxes and a heavy headache rack on the back (lumber rack), and a generator.
So as I was driving down the street, a 4 lane 35 mph section, I saw an older lady in a wheel chair, with a young tall thin black guy by her, and two dogs. One was a Dachshund, cinnamon red, and a small black and white fluffy furball.
Image from Pixabay
The black and white furball looked very similar to this one.
All of a sudden, the black and white furball took off going the same direction they were facing, and the Dachshund took off in the other direction; at that moment I realized that neither dog was on a leash.
I saw the young man take off chasing the black and white furball, and I stopped . She said they were not her dogs, so I opted to follow the Dachshund to get it off the street because the young man took off after the other dog, as he would likely get ran over if he continued on this street. It is a very highly traveled street, and no one drives the speed limit on here.
I quickly flipped a u-turn and followed this dog and had a difficult time catching up to him, as that little sucker was a runner and extremely quick! He ran down the street a couple hundred yards and turned to the right down a side street. I continued to follow him to a house about 300 yards down the street, and just as I started to catch up he ducked underneath a gate into a yard. So I pulled up in front of the house, and decided to contact this person to see if it was their dog and that he had gotten out and gone quite a ways away.
I knocked on the door, and a lady answered. I asked her if she had a dachshund, and she said yes, and then I told her where he had been and asked her if she knew he had gotten out. She was extremely grateful, and was not surprised that he did that. She invited me in, and we walked out to the back yard, and she had a menagerie of animals back there! She had a couple of everything! Couple of geese, ducks, rabbits, chipmunks and I don't even remember all of them! And she also had about 4 dogs back there, all small, and all these animals all got along extremely well!
So she thanked me for chasing him back there, and explained how she got him: her husband is an over-the -road interstate truck driver, and they had been in Washington State. Apparently, this dog had been kicked in the face, and been left out in the snow for some time. Her husband rescued this pup, and brought him back down here and he was living with all these other animals, which I thought was an awesome story, and glad that they rescued this dog from those circumstances.
So she thanked me, and we bid bye bye, and I started to walk back to my truck, when I heard her all of a sudden ask if I knew anyone who wanted a dog. Well, I was thinking, what dog, and I asked her, and she said that Dachshund. I knew that my wife had a Dachshund when she was growing up, and I thought about it, and answered her and said, "sure, I'll take the dog." She looked at me as she was handing him to me, and said his name was "Coffee". How appropriate… I love coffee. And he was the right color!
So I drove back to the yard (it was still way early, around 10:30 or 11) and went straight to the office. I was going to take the rest of the day off, and as I was walking back to my boss's office to clear it with him, he was standing in his doorway, and he asked me if I had a dog! What would I be doing with a dog, Ron???
Soooo, after clearing it with him, (I never directly answered him) I got in the work truck and took Coffee out to my pickup and put him in it. And wow, yes, he's a barker, that's how Ron knew I had a dog with me. So I went and parked my work truck, checked out and drove home with a dog for my wife.
When I got to the house, I went into the house and I think she was either in the kitchen or on the couch, but I said to her that I had a present for her, and I told her to get the biggest hot dog bun we had, and come out to the truck.
I said "Happy Mother's Day" to her (Sunday was Mother's Day) and handed her Coffee! She was in love!!!
As an update to this story, he passed on New Years Eve day, December 31, 2015, and I have not gotten another animal.
This has been written on Hive and shared with Blurt, because I believe that good content should be shared to multiple platforms! enjoy!
Do NOT attempt to upvote this post, it has been shared on Hive accidentally and is long past payout.
That little doggie is so adorable! I just want to cuddle him! 💖
Loved this story about how you found Coffee and surprised your Missus! 😊
Fabulous post!
Thank you @thekittygirl! Yes, he was lovable and he had insecurities; he would never just curl up on our laps.
beautiful story @jamerussell ... looking forward to more of them.
Thank you, @shadowspub, hoping to come up with more!
Great story, thanks so much!
I grew up with a Dachsund as well, and a couple of boxers and various other animals, and I love the story of how you wound up with him.
I love when animals live with the people who let them know that they are loved and valued. Thanks for being there for him when he needed you most.
Thank you, @crescendoofpeace for the kind words. I've had a few dogs and cats, but Coffee was very special to me, along with one other dog that I had, and she was a coyote named Samba years ago.
Cool, I had a friend years ago who adopted an injured young coyote, thinking he was a puppy, and the two became inseparable.
It wasn't until much later that the vet told him he had a coyote on his hands, which, if nothing else, explained some of the behavioral issues they'd been having.
We have a fair number of coyotes in our area, but although I love them, I'm not inclined to make pets out of them. But I still love hearing them at night, as I always have.
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Such a sweet story @jamerussell!. Coffee looks like he was a perfect fit for you guys.
You were featured in week 41 of @pifc's Pay It Forward Curation contest by @viking-ventures
Thank you @tryskele! We thought he was meant to be with us especially the way we got him...
What a great and sweet story. Many thanks for taking that dog in... and sharing this with us!
PS: I've find your post because @viking-ventures featured you in his entry for the Pay It Forward Contest
Thanks @trincowski, glad you found it, and thank you for the compliment.
Such a lovely feel-good article!
I thoroughly enjoyed it and chose to feature it in this week's entry into the Pay it Forward Curation Contest. Keep up the great work!
Thank you, @viking-ventures!
I've got tears in my eyes. Always love a happy rescue animal story. Yay for love and kindness! So glad Snook dropped this in PYPT. :)
Thank you @katrina-ariel! As long as they are those happy tears!
hahahahaha this is such a great story!!!!! :)
I totally love it :) the ending "hot dog bun!" LOLOLOL awwww he had been rescued several times! I bet he really knew that he was loved!!!
Thanks for sharing this! You're a great story teller James!!!! hehe
Thank you @dreemsteem, and every bit true, except the year; we're not totally sure but we estimated him to be somewhere around 18 to 20 when he went home. He wound up basically being my buddy; couldn't eat by my self, you know! And I did like taking him on the road sometimes.
It's a blessing when a pet can be such a friend to the end 🤗♥️
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Your story touched my heart in so many ways.
You know a man is good by how he treats his dog(s). You know how great he is by how he treats his Wife.
I have tears in my eyes to read such a wonderful love story. I love how you wrote it too. I felt like you were sitting outside next to me on a fence just exchanging stories of an afternoon.
Thank YOU so much for making my day end on such a wonderful note!!
Someone recently suggested that I write exactly the way you described...So I did. I really miss my buddy...
I bet you do.
He had you at "hello"
Thank you again for sharing your story!!
This is just fantastic. :-) I run a 501c3 nonprofit animal rescue in Virginia, @tarc here on Steem. This story is my life, rinse/lather/repeat ad infinitum. So I get it. But reading about the lengths you went to in order to save Coffee's life and make your wife happy with him as a gift really buoys me up. Thank you so much for sharing this story!
It never occurred to me at the time that it was Mother's Day, until my wife reminded me! And he did have major separation anxieties, which caused us some problems to overcome.
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