Monday, March 1, 2010

The dog with a special gift...


This is Oscar. He's a rescue pointer cross who is staying with us this week while his owners are away.  He looks pretty innocent doesn't he? But we found out today that Oscar has a dark secret. He can open doors...


This is Bella, she can't open doors, but she likes to steal things and take them into the garden... 

....Alone they are harmless, together they are carnage.

Now before I start this story, I should say that there is a curse that stalks this blog. If I write a post about anything I particularly love, by the end of the week something awful will have happened to it. See here and here for the quilt story as evidence.

So anyway, we left for work this morning and as we normally do we shut the dogs in the kitchen with access to the outside. Any mischief they can get up to there is confined to painting works of art on the tiled floor with their muddy feet.

It was a quiet, non-eventful day at work. Then shortly after 2pm, I had a call from my neighbour Laura, who started the conversation with that slightly unnerving phrase "Don't panic, but..."

It transpired that shortly before she called, she had looked out of her kitchen window and seen Oscar & Bella making off down the street. As she told me this I was desperately racking my brain trying to think of a way in which the dogs might have climbed a 6 foot wall or unlocked a padlocked steel gate, but there was it turns out a simpler explanation...

At some point today Oscar had impressed his new buddies by opening every single door in the downstairs of the house, allowing the three of them free access to the sitting room, sewing room and eventually front hallway.

From there he opened the front door and the two dogs (note Macy stayed in the house!) trotted off down the street.


They were eventually captured by Laura who returned them to the house which was, to quote her "covered in pieces of fabric and your camera is out in the garden".

You can only begin to imagine what went on in my mind at this point... The beautifully stacked piles of fabric I had for my current quilting project, or (God forbid!) my stash of Amy Butler Full Moon, which is so lovely I can only look at it.

I drove home imaging all sorts of chaos. Jim fortunately beat me to the house and cleared a lot of it up and as with many things it could have been a lot worse.... It turns out the fabric that was all over the house was the contents of the rather tempting brown paper bag I keep on the table. The bag contains all the tiny scraps of fabric I have left over, which to be honest most people would bin.

The camera fared a little worse. Bella loves taking things into the garden for her little stash (apparently this is a rescue dog thing!?) and she particularly likes taking anything of mine. So our little beagle heaved a rather large SLR camera, with an even larger flash attached to it into the garden and plonked it down rather heavily on the patio.... which is why that wonderful lens I was raving about yesterday is no more...

(Oscar's "just been told off" face)

I confess, I have cried a little at the sheer waste of its destruction, but I have also been productive and ordered another immediately, it wasn't particularly expensive (in camera equipment terms!) and there is an outside chance the house insurance may cough up.... So onwards and upwards...

PS - Oscar has learned nothing from his experience and has already opened the front door again this afternoon. It is now locked!

10 comments:

  1. Oh I'm sorry!! I know exactly how you are feeling! I have also "lost things" because of my dogs and it is really sad and disappointing to say the least. At least you know what Oscar's "flaw" is, but it's unfortunate that you found out the hard way...I'm glad your friend was there to get Bella & Oscar...That's one bright side; they are safe! Hope the rest of the week is uneventful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh NO! But they look so...innocent! Are you sure an intruder didn't come in and spread out fabric to cover his tracks, saw your camera and took it out into the garden to try out a outdoors shot, where he encountered the dogs, dropping the camera in the garden out of surprise and fear as the dogs chased him out of the house and down the street?
    No?
    I didn't think so either,
    Sierra-dog

    Sorry to hear the bad news about your camera! You must be so sad. =( Boy those pups sure are cute, but sometimes....
    Here is to a better day tomorrow,
    LL

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am really sorry, but I just collapsed laughing when I read your story! I have two dogs who love playing tug of war with my possessions ........

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've just been told to read this post and it made me chuckle - I love Oscar's style. A very inventive doggie.

    I love the way you write too - must be the fellow Leo/Dragon thing!

    Looking forward to reading more.
    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  5. So sorry Clare but try as I might laughter is winning out over the serious sympathy that I'm trying to aim for! As you say, with luck the insurance will pay out and the damage will therefore be limited. As someone else mentioned though, brownie points to Macy on this occasion! Love to you both, Zoe xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is tragic and hilarious at the same time, but I know you were in tears at the sight of your camera! We have a two year old at my house and he can get anything and everything! We call him Houdini and I even blogged about his episode with the dog food. (I want to forget the episode with "Crimson Vixen" nail polish.) Anyway, I'm glad you are getting a new lense...dogs are smart little guys, aren't they?
    Liz (aka Ninny)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you everyone for your comments. Niiny, Zoe & Liz, you are not alone in finding it funny! I had a few comments along the same lines on facebook too and of course I wrote the post 90% for entertainment and 10% for sympathy! ;-)

    Sierra-Dog, your theory made me laugh out loud!

    The blogging community is great isn't it, who can remain grump when you have people to laugh at it all with you! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. PS - Croap Queen, thank you for the wonderful compliment about my writing style, you are very kind. x

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi there, Clare
    GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!
    It's amazing what doggies will do when they find new companions! Celebratory riots are common and their frenzy spurs them on to greater celebratoy endeavours. Your account is hilarious and Im really sorry about your camera and your fabric. Oh the joys of owning dogs! Both Oscar and Bella look delightful!
    Lotalicks and take care.
    MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just been catching up with your posts and reading about the carnage caused by those two tinkers!I feel for you.
    Bella has... ripped up the kitchen floor(hasn't been replaced yet!) chewed most of the pine funiture in the house,bitten a hole in my crochet blanket,wrecked the garden,been sick numerous times on the carpet etc,etc, but I still love her to bits!

    Bellaboo :o)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for posting a comment, I really appreciate your feedback and messages!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...