My husband had been out of town since Sunday afternoon, so he wasn't around for all this drama.
I have had a harrowing few days with my little blind dog, Maddie. Monday night, she wasn't at home when I got there from work. Not terribly disturbing because, sometimes, she does wander a bit, but when she wasn't home by 8:00 p.m., I was a little concerned. I was beginning to worry.
I heard a loud knock on my door. There stood my neighbor with a lady, a little girl holding my dog, and a little boy. The lady said that her husband had just rescued our dog from the creek. She said they had seen something odd swimming around in circles in the creek and upon investigation, they discovered it to be a dog. OUR DOG. She said that her husband jumped into the creek and rescued the dog. Honestly, I do not know how they found me, but I know it had to do with my neighbor, because he was with them delivering Maddie to me. Maddie isn't wearing a collar. She rarely leaves the yard, we live on a private lane, etc. I know, I know, no excuse. Anyway, I was so relieved to see my dog, and was so overwhelmed that she was safe, that I didn't catch the lady's name. I feel bad about that, because I would like to write her a note. I did thank them profusely for saving her, though. All is well that ends well. Or so it would seem.
Anyway, to get along in this story. Early Wednesday morning, I let my pitiful blind dog outside to go potty before it got light. I now know that I should have stayed with her, but I was sleepy and didn't want to. Alas, I did not stay outside. I got up at 6:30 and called and called her. She did not come around. I got ready for work and decided to look for her by walking around the front of my house, down the lane a little, and circling through the neighbor's yard. I was at the end of their point when something told me to check the creek. You guessed it. There was Maddie, swimming around in circles in the creek. Well, I ran to my pier, shucked off my shoes, and proceeded to wade into the creek. She never even turned her head toward me when I was shrieking her name -- trying to get her to swim to me.
I am in my socks, but still -- Ewwww, gross. A crab crossed over my foot. I hate the creek. I hate mucky water. I hate not being able to see what I am walking through or on. I have no idea how deep the water is that she is in. I do not know how to swim. What in the world am I doing out here in this creek?
What I did know was that my little pitiful dog was swimming around in circles, probably scared to death. Oh, me, I could not let that dog drown. I proceeded to wade out -- getting stuck in the mud over and over, until I decided to try to go it on my knees so that I couldn't get stuck so much. I got to Maddie, and the water was over my shoulders up to my chin at that point. I even had on my glasses, so I surely didn't want to go in over my head. Anyway, I got to Maddie, cuddled her up, and then tried to carry her to the shore. It didn't work out so good. I kept losing my balance from trying to carry her and keep myself from going under at the same time. So, I did what I had to do. I kept shoving Maddie in the water ahead of me, trying not to push her underwater as I did. I got her to the shoreline, and when I picked her up, her little heart was racing. So was mine. Crisis averted.
I was a sight. I was covered in mud, my work clothes sopping wet, I was a mess. I was completely gross. I didn't want a wet dog in the house, so I put Maddie back in her dog pen and went back into the house -- peeled off those nasty clothes and re-showered and re-dressed for my workday.
Whew. I can tell you, it was pretty harrowing for me. I cried after it was all over, mainly because the shock of what happened had worn off. I guess we all have strengths we don't know we have until we need them.
I would never intentionally or voluntarily go into that creek, much less fully dressed. My husband says I showed courage that morning. I don't know about that. All I know is that I didn't want my dog to drown. If that is courage, then so be it. I did what I had to do.
In retrospect, there are many things I could have done differently. I could have gotten a life jacket from the boat and put it on myself. I could have used a net on a pole to try to shove her to the shoreline. I don't think that would have worked, though, because she was too far away from the pier for me to reach her. I could have gone for help from the neighbors, but honestly, who knows how long that poor dog had been treading water. I surely didn't. I like to think that she had just fallen in and I rescued her before she got too tired. I will never know, because Maddie isn't saying. I could have done many things, but I did what I did because, at the time, it was the only thing that made sense to me. So, that was my Wednesday morning.
Thank you, God, for not letting nasty things touch my body while I was in that water, and thank you for giving me the courage to rescue that dog. Thanks for letting me be able to save that dog and not drown myself in the process. I am grateful for Your many blessings. Amen.
P.S. I am going to be sure to watch Maddie very closely from now on so that I don't have to do that again.
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