We joke that Piper turned herself into foster care. She just showed up in the front yard one evening with no collar, standing outside the fence looking like she wanted to come in. This foster home has an open door policy....so come in she did!
I don't know much about Piper, she seems like a very sweet lady. Because she's a foundling I'm required to hold on to her for two weeks before I can post her for adoption. This will give anyone looking for her a chance to find her before we place her in a new home.
The few times I've lost a dog in my life I've been heartsick until they were found and came home. It's become apparent that no one is looking for Piper and it just baffles me and breaks my heart. This is a sweet, sweet dog! Piper knows sit, stay, down, shake and is a lady on a leash. I can't find one bad habit.
My faith in my rapport with canines is shown once more on the first night Piper is here. Because I don't know much about her I decide to keep her outside in the kennel for the night. I make sure the dog house is turned so the wind isn't blowing inside and that there's a nice cozy blanket inside. Piper doesn't want to go in but I convince her, tell her good night and head inside.
A short time later I'm sitting in my cozy bed reading and I can hear Piper barking. I decide to leave her for a while to see if she settles down. Soon the barking changes to a very strange howling whine. After a couple of minutes of this I decide I better go check on her and bring her in. My neighbors have all been very nice about the foster home, but I don't want to push it!
I realize as I head out into the backyard that I don't have a flashlight that works. Start a Wal-Mart list! As I round the corner of the garage I can suddenly see what the problem is. Piper, by standing on top of the dog house has managed to wedge herself into a hole where the chain link is not attached to the top rail. She's got her front half thru but is stuck and panicking. I immediately run over and start trying to either push her back thru the hole or pull her the rest of the way out. She seems to be firmly wedged. Thank God I'd bought a pair of wire cutters just a couple of days before to fix a hole in the fence. I get the cutters and widen the hole, it's then that I find that Pipers collar is also hung up on another piece of wire. Poor Baby, the whole time I've been trying to pull her out I've also been choking her and she hasn't said a word! I finally manage to get her free and carry her in the house. She's exhausted and falls asleep, I'm scared that she's passing out so for a few minutes I wake her up just to make sure all is well. She licks my hand and seems to be trying to reassure me that things are fine.
It's only later as I'm laying in bed still trying to calm down that I happen to think, "What would have happened if Piper had been a mean dog?" She was scared, hurt and stuck. Here I was trying to pull her out of a fence that was over my head. My face was right there by hers. Thank God for protecting fools that rush in.
We soon discover Piper's special secret. She smiles! The first few times she graces us with a grin Sierra and I look at her closely and try to decide if she's baring her teeth at us. Soon enough we notice that not just her tail but her entire back end is wagging and she's got a big grin on her face. The few times I've had to scold her she sits with her head ducked a little and sheepishly gives me the smile. How can you be mad at that? And how could anyone ever give this dog up?
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