Scrappy saves the day...again

So here is Scrappy's hero story.  A few weeks back, we were going through the addition behind us on the way to the north end of the woods when we saw this little curly tan haired dog.

This is pretty close.  Google gets distracted so easily...

  It was loose, no one around, but wandered off without following us.  I said to myself, someone will regret not paying attention someday, and moved on.  Friday, we no more came out for a walk, going the other way, and there he was again.  He had collar and tags, but while he and Scrappy hit it off, he'd evaporate on me after I got within about 3 feet.  So I said to Scrappy, "Let's just go, maybe he won't follow us."  So we crossed the street, and he crossed right with us.

I said, "Hmm, let's see if he'll follow us to the bark park."  Which he did, in a sort of Nyah Nyah can't catch me sort of way.  But when we got there, he wouldn't follow us in.  He was an independant chap, had pulled off the great escape before, and was too smart to be easily cornered.  Just then, a car pulled up in the Bark Park lot- a Latina lady and two kids.  The boy, about 9 or ten, hopped out and started calling him.  I think he called him Ruffy, but it might have been Ralphy.  I'm gonna go with Ruffy at this point.

So he gets out, as I said, but has no better luck apprehending the little felon than I did.  All the time, Mom's in the car yelling instructions in Espanol, but neither she nor the little girl come out to lend a hand.  Just then, Ruffy dashes in the Bark Park, I slam the outer door, and think, "Now we got 'im."

Ha.

First problem is that Ruffy has no intent on slowing down, even in our lovely mud-soaked oasis of a bark park.  Second, the boy is a bit of a... well, a weenie, and the first indication of that is when he wouldn't go into the park because he had brand new, neon-turquoise shoes on and the first couple of feet into the BP was a quagmire to be generous.  So, with a sigh, Scrappy and I entered the park while the kid climbed the fricking fence so he could land on somewhat drier terrain.  I'm guessing some of Mom's Spanish lingo stood for, "Get those shoes muddy and I'll emasculate you."  Followed by, "And don't let the gringo steal your dog."

The next few minutes were spent with Ruffy making a flat fool of the three of us.  Finally, someone with a dog and no interest in the proceedings walked past, and the doggies inside traipsed over to the fence to see the doggie on the outside.  At this point, the boy, as he asked me if my dog bites and informing me that his does, manages to snag him by the collar.  The other dog and master takes off, Scrappy comes up on Ruffy, and Ruffy swings around and apparently bit the boy.  I doubt seriously that it was more than a hard nip, but the boy yells, grabs his hand, and says, "I think I might be bleeding," which I assure you he was not.

So now I'm not real fond of the idea of getting bit, and I ask him if he had a leash.  "No, we just got home from school and he got away."  WON-derful.  So now I have few options between trying to get bit myself and leaving them to their devices and let Mom watch son fail to catch the dog before it keels over from exhaustion.  That's when I said, "Scrappy!  Go hump him! Slow him down, pin him down!"


And Scrappy was more than willing.  Doing his part, I was within half-inches several more times before Ruffy would get away from me, if not Scrappy.  Finally, another kid with a dog came by, and assessing the situation, took his dog to the outside of the entrance.  Ruffy followed, and so did Scrappy and I.  And while they distracted Ruffy, I came up with Scrappy's leash.  Ruffy gave me a "What're you doing, ese?" growl, and then saw the leash and found it good.  He returned his attention to the dogs, and I got my clip on his collar.


I walked Ruffy unwillingly back to his car, while the second kid and his dog kept an eye on Scrappy and Ruffy's boy repeated his MacGyver fence-scaling routine.  The Mom said nothing;  the little girl thanked me, and I told her, "S'okay, I just like to think that someone would help me if this happened with Scrappy."  Ruffy amazingly let me get the leash off without further incident, and I returned to Scrappy, telling him that was enough adventure for one day.