Tralfaz does it again!

Yet another adventure of Tralfaz the Porch Dog Hero!

Longtime blog readers (and how is the medication working?) may recall that our big dog, Tralfaz, saved the life of our little dog, Nipper, when the latter was running free and about to dash into the street back in October 2016. Tralfaz raced off the porch all a-bark and chased the little guy back onto the front lawn.

Well, yesterday I was in the backyard with the little guy, trying to get some beans out of him, and I heard the garbage men come up the street. Tralfaz was up on the porch, tethered by his collar. I left the kid in the back to go get the garbage can (Nipper is scared of garbage cans) and slogged up to the street -- and that's when I heard Fazzy barking.

It was early in the morning, and I'd had no coffee yet, but I remembered that Fazzy never barks at the garbage men. Plus, they had moved on up the street. Was it a deer or something? I looked back and saw him on the porch, focused in that direction; there's a wooded bit over there, and we often see deer around, or rabbits. But no, that's when I saw what he was barking at, and I think he was trying to draw my attention to it -- or rather, her.

There was a little pointer standing at the curb, shivering. She was cold, she was scared. She was looking at me.

I texted my wife fast -- I had no dog treats, and I hoped she would take Tralfaz in so he wouldn't scare her. Then I walked up to the dog slowly. I talked gently, holding out a hand, and eventually got her to trust me to pat her. She had two collars, including one for those fenceless-fence type arrangements, but no tags.

My wife brought Fazzy inside. I wanted to lead her in, but I had left the leash with Nipper, so I bundled her up gently and carried her inside. My wife took sweet care of her while I rounded up Nipper.

Both our guys were really good. Tralfaz met the girl and was very gentle, very gentlemanly. Nipper, always the playful type, gave off little yips of joy, but they didn't seem to alarm her much. We kept the boys in the kitchen while the girl rested and had some treats in the hall.

A little later I bundled her up again and took her to our vet; we knew they could scan her to see if she had a locator chip. Indeed she did, and after a couple of calls from the terrific staff, they got in touch with the pointer's owners, who said they'd been looking for their girl and would come right down. I went home.

So I'm really proud of my wife, who was so good helping the girl dog relax in a strange house. I am also proud of my dogs. They didn't react aggressively at all to this interloper. Nipper -- who ran to the street when I let him off the leash before, recall -- stayed in the backyard until I got him, despite the excitement out front. And if Tralfaz hadn't sounded the alert, I probably would not have even seen the little shivering puppy.

"When doggies are in trouble, I am not slow!"

So what have we learned from all this? Well, we should always make sure our dogs have their tags on when they're outside, and we should definitely get the ID chip for them. (Tralfaz and Nugget have theirs, and I'm thinking of getting one for myself in case they find me wandering through midtown one day looking for Nedick's.) Also, those fenceless fence things are not foolproof; worse, if a dog charges through the field he or she may be unwilling or unable to pass through again to get home. I suspect that's what happened here. (I think she had PetSafe's but they mostly work the same way.)

Fortunately this story had a happy ending, for which I thank my wife and Nipper and Tralfaz! My little hero.