It's never been a problem. We've even accidentally left the side gate open and they just hang around out back, do their business, and then come back in when they're ready.
Last night was different. As I sat on the couch giving Brian a back rub at about 9:30, I kept hearing the neighbor’s Chihuahuas barking. This was not unusual. They’re typically forgotten about for periods
of time, despite their little chirps to be let in. Then Cooper barked a couple of times, his ears perked high. I realized that Mante wasn’t in the family
room with us so I called him. Sometimes
he is known to sneak into a bedroom whose door was left open and chew on
unattended underwear. (mm hmm. yeah.) Cooper
started kind of running around the house like he was looking for
something. We figured that Cooper was worked up about the dogs next door. Then we realized that Mante wasn’t in the house at all. Finally, Brain asked Cooper to 'Go find Mante.' He ran outside,
barked from the deck, then came back in and barked at us. I followed him outside and he
kept looking back at me as he ran straight over to the pond. I called
Mante’s name from the deck and heard a tiny yelp.
I
realized then that the barking I had been hearing was him. He had fallen
through the ice on our pond and was barely able to paddle anymore (just the
black of his little nose was still sticking out). Our best estimate is that he had been swimming for his life for about five minutes.
I
don’t know how, but somehow I ran (yes, ran) down the deck stairs (remember the knee surgery?), across the
icy patio, through 2’ of snow to the other side of the pond to fish him out, in
my PJs with no shoes. I fell to the ground and held him for a minute or
two screaming for Dave and Brian, then back to the patio when they were able to
get me a towel to wrap him in. He was nearly convulsing he was shaking so
bad, and making weird low grunting noises and breathing so fast we could barely
decipher one breath from the next. When he finally started to come around,
he couldn’t walk well because his back legs must have been so weak. Dave
took him from me and ran inside. We went straight to our bathroom, where
I got into the tub, clothes and all, with Mante while Dave ran luke warm and then
gradually warmer water over him. After about 15 minutes of that, when his
convulsions turned to just a violent shiver, Dave wrapped him in towels, and sat in
front of the fireplace with him while I changed out of my now soaking clothes
and joined them. Brian was googling hypothermia, running towels and blankets to
and from the dryer, and consoling Cooper who was completely distraught.
We
felt so bad that he had been out there crying for help and we weren’t
there. It was horrible.
But, by about midnight, he was alert,
jumping onto and off the couch, and walking normally. We kept the heater
turned up and our bedroom door open all night, just in case. This
morning, he was his usual happy noisy self.
Cooper was truly a hero last
night. He saved his brother’s life.
I
love my doggies.
 |
| Cooper the Hero |
 |
| Mante the Lucky |