This morning I had everyone dropped off in orderly fashion, so I decided to take Vindaloo for a much needed outing to the Dog Beach. As we drove, she basked in the one-on-one affection and settled into her baby doe pose on the front passenger seat. She looked up when I pulled to the side, and started whining lightly when she saw that it was Dog Beach. I paid for 30 minutes parking on the meter, put the slip on the dash and attached the 50 ft leash to her collar.
We romped down to the water's edge where we met a boy Viszla and his owner. What luck! LouLou twirled around him and his owner in happy circles and inadvertently rug-burned the owner up the inside of her leg with our leash while she tried to buddy up with him as he was playing fetch. I apologized, but it was obvious the owner wished I'd let Lou off leash. I acquiesced. Lou was off to the races (almost literally, as Del Mar racetrack was just behind us beyond Hwy 101 where we'd parked and the Amtrak track beyond it). I was trying to be zen and enjoy her "poetry-in-motion" loping across the beach.
She was giddy. She flushed up every seagull, crow, and plover in sight. I called to her. She ignored me. She absolutely ignored me. Then I watched as she scampered underneath Hwy 101 to the wetlands between it and the Amtrak tracks. I begrudgingly followed, hunched under the hwy. The signs read, "wildlife refuge, do not disturb, no camping.." something along those lines. Where was my pup? Dashing from plover to seagull, and -- oh! -- a big white crane.
I was feeling dejected at that point. I tried calling her in every voice. I tried the "ooh, look at this whee isn't this fun?" voice. Then I tried the "I am serious-get-your-butt-over-here" voice. Then I tried throwing a toy (an abandoned beach frisbee). Nada. Zilch. Zero.
She rolled in a pile of seaweed and decaying sea lion. My chance? Not a chance. She was off as soon as I was nearby.
A surfer dude comes walking up. I beg him to call to her. She only responds to my husband, I explain. Oh boy, big mistake. Surfer dude has an all-too-calm-and-casual Cali voice. "Heeeey, girl. Come here, girrrrrrrrrrrl" he coos. Ugh. He sticks in there for a good 15 minutes. Then I thank him and he saunters on in his wetsuit and one sock.
I don't know what to do at this point. She won't listen and she now seems to be enjoying making a mockery of me. It's been about an hour now. I'm sure I'll get a parking ticket to boot.
Two Del Mar lifeguards show up. I plead my case, thinking they are about to bust me for being in the plover nesting area, ala Nantucket rules. Nope. More surfer dude, cool 'tude action. They are sympathetic, to a point, and then offer me the main lifeguard stand number. As if dialing them up will somehow help me corral my delinquent pup.
I sit down on a giant piece of telephone-pole driftwood. I cry. Just then, Amtrak Starlight Express comes barreling down the tracks. "EEEERRRRRrrrrghhhh EEEEEEErrRRRRggghh EEEEEErRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" goes the engineer. And wouldn't ya know, my puppy comes, tail-tucked, leaning up against my leg? I put my shaky fingers around her collar and I have so much adrenaline flowing I hope I can hold on.
Someday, I'm sure I'll laugh about this. In the meantime, I'm calling a dog trainer.
4 comments:
hahahahahaahahaha Stephanie! that story is hilarious! I can imagine the frustration,anger,hopelessness,and finally the crying..been there ,done that,got 2 tee shirts albeit not on a lovely Beach. :)so now you know NOT to let her off the leash and as it's 50 feet long that should be ample until she is bigger (and then you won't be able to control her) hmm, better get the Dog Trainer in.xx
Aunty Norma.x
I'm with you Aunt Norma. A lesson definitely learned the hard way. Dogs should never be let off the leash unless they respond obediently to voice commands. I'm glad she came back to you eventually. It must have been very scary. Good luck with the trainer. You'll be so pleased and relaxed once she is trained.
Yeah, she ran around the yard one day when I was taking care of your brood. Wouldn't have been a problem except that we needed to leave to get to school and I didn't want to open the fence... We were late.
I agree with Anonymous too, and yea, been there, been frustrated with the dog. No off leash for us, and its been almost 5 years. She has gotten better at coming back, at least, when she escapes.
Not like Montana. That girl was TOTAL RECALL. But I trained her from a pup with no children to simultaneously train.
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