<i>“The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be.” – <b>Konrad Lorenz</b></i>
If we are very lucky, dogs come into our lives when we need them – or they need us. Virginia Key has four pieces of luck: Otis, Leo, Abby and Gauge – all of them rescued for one reason or another.
They share her home and six acres of land. Three of them are small “mutts” (Otis, Leo and Abby) and the fourth dog is a 100-pound chocolate lab (Gauge).
Gauge was so named because labs are hunting dogs bred to retrieve prey brought down by a 12-gauge shotgun. Gauge adopted Virginia and the other pups when he decided it was more fun at her house. Their everyday lives together were normal loving chaos – until last Tuesday.
Virginia got up that morning and let her pups out to do their morning business while she dressed for the day. Normally, there was no concern about the dogs coming back in when they finished, because they did and most of the acreage was fenced – except in the corner by the creek. When she opened the door Otis, Leo and Abby gamboled back in – no Gauge. That wasn’t unusual because sometimes he liked to bask in the sun and that’s what Virginia thought he was doing. She walked outside and called him – no Gauge.
She began looking for him and calling him. She cancelled her first appointment for the day to look for him. She called her grandson to help. She walked the property line calling Gauge. He was nowhere to be seen – and worse yet, she couldn’t hear him bark.
It was well after noon then and getting hot – still no Gauge. Virginia was worried, but had to be at the church to open for the chair yoga class. Reluctantly, she went to the class. She told her friends about Gauge’s disappearance.
She also mentioned that she was going home to drive the streets around the property to look for him. When she got near home, she spotted Julie Barnett (from the yoga class) already driving the streets searching for Gauge. Julie did not find him either. They went back to Virginia’s house and regrouped.
While Virginia had been gone, her grandson had taken the 4x4 down by the creek – but had not found Gauge. Virginia and Julie then walked the tree line calling Gauge’s name and then went down by the creek. Otis and Leo accompanied them. The creek bed was dry and sandy. Suddenly Otis and Leo jumped into a deep hole – and couldn’t get out. Julie jumped in the waist deep hole, caught Leo and lifted him out. But Otis would not let her catch him and ran down an adjoining tunnel. Wow – then they had two dogs to find. It took a cypress knee, a walking stick and an assist from Virginia for Julie to get out of the hole.
Suddenly, Otis started barking. Virginia and Julie turned toward the barks and saw Otis exiting the tunnel he went through and … Gauge lying, exhausted, three quarters out of that tunnel barely big enough for him to exit. He was so tired he could not bark or walk out – but he was alive. Virginia and Julie could not carry the 12-year-old, 100-pound dog out, so Julie stayed with Gauge while Virginia went for her grandson.
He brought the 4x4 down and brought Gauge back up to the house. Gauge was covered with mud and well … dog tired. Panic over.
Virginia figured that Gauge had been chasing something – a deer maybe – and had fallen into that hole and wasn’t able to get out. So, he must have started digging toward the creek trying a horizontal exit. He was drained before he could make that exit. She also figured Otis knew where Gauge was when he jumped in the hole. Otis must have pushed Gauge to finish the last stretch so Virginia and Julie could find him and bring him home. Another few minutes – without Otis’ help – Gauge may never have been found.
He was so exhausted he could not stand or bark. While Otis and Gauge may snip at each other over a treat, when the chips were down, love found a way.
After a good drink of water, a nice long bath, a good dinner and a good night’s sleep on a vibrating bed, Gauge is recovering nicely. He’s back to barking a welcome when Virginia gets home. And the moral of this story is – never give up on your friends, whether they have two legs or four.
Welcome back, Gauge. Give Virginia those sad puppy eyes – she might get you an ice cream pup cup.
