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Forgot the dog!


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Has anyone else done this - or something similar? Your stories will help me feel a little less like the most scatterbrained person in the world.

 

Two nights ago, I had to take the 2 dogs out for their last pee. It was about 9:30 and dark enough that I needed the outside spotlights.

 

I try to catch the old girl, Ritz (~ 14.5 years old) before she goes upstairs, otherwise I would have to call her down, and then she has to go back up. She is quite mobile, but at her age, I try to minimize her stair-climbing. So outside we go, Ritz, Torque (5 yo BC) and myself. Ritz pees on schedule, and Torque lies in the grass hoping for some toy interaction.

 

Ritz wants to go back inside, and I realize I needed to do something inside (I have already forgotten what it was.) I know that Torque is happy to stay outside for the few minutes I need. The intent was to go back outside and play with a throw toy.

 

Then I got distracted while inside. I puttered around, doing this and that. After about 30 minutes, I decided to go to bed. Once upstairs, I notice that the outside lights are still on. I sigh deeply and berate myself for forgetting to turn them off. When I get to the outside door, I realize that it is unlocked, so I open it and see ---- Torque is still lying out in the yard waiting for me!!!

 

Aiyeee! How stupid am I? I am really getting old . This must be the OldTimer's Disease! But I thank my lucky stars that Torque was such a goooood dog.

 

I realize that other dogs may be relied on to stay around the house, and while Torque is very good about staying with me while outside, I have always been outside to supervise him. I have no dog fence and live next to and within several hundred wooded acres.

 

Anyone else have a similar experience?

 

Jovi

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I have, once or twice, thought I had let all three into the house and found later that I missed someone - who was not-so-patiently standing by the door staring up at the window, wondering where I was and when I was going to come and let him/her in.

 

One time, I didn't even notice when I put Celt's dinner in his crate, and only noticed that he hadn't eaten a bite - and then looked in the crate to see if he looked sick (Celt does not miss a meal and neither does Megan), and there was no dog in there. Duh. Panic time! All well, dog on porch, staring at door, waiting...

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One of my customers lost her very old dog that way. Somehow she left her outside. She didn't realize she wasn't there until morning. And she was gone. She was so crippled she could hardly walk and normally she just stuck around the front yard. Never did find her.

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a friend and i decided to meet at our local club to practice agility. she said "oh, that will be great, it's near the vet and kira has a 4 o'clock appointment. Let's meet at 2"

 

we meet at the club and i go out to help her unload as she has several dogs she runs. after we get everyone out, i say "where's kira, doesn't she have a vet visit?"

 

that was the dog she forgot to put in the car! we had to quit early so she could go home and get her!

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Never forgot a pet or a kid. Did think of forgetting a kid, though.

 

Used to tell them, "I've come with three kids and will leave with three kids. I'm taking the best three I find. So watch it!" They are all in their 40s and definitely remember that.

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Yup. Let 6 dogs out for their last potty break. Called them in and saw a blur of black and white. I thought I counted correctly. About 2:30 am I heard scratching at my outside bedroom door (fire escape). First thing I thought was, "Crap! The bear has finally decided to climb the stairs!" I looked outside and saw my deaf dog running back down to check the front door again. He normally follows the other dogs inside, but that night he must have gone into the bushes and not seen them run for the door.

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If I don't count heads as they come in, I would probably leave one outside. Since the dog population fluctuates here, what with foster dogs and dog-sitting dogs, the trick is to remember how many dogs I need to count!

The other evening I was very tired and as they came in I counted one, two, three, four, and waited.......and then asked myself "don't I have five dogs right now?", then realized that one of the black-and-white creatures in the house, the fifth one, is the cat!

:lol:

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Raven has been known to sit quietly outside the door all night. Poor dear would never be so impolite as to bark or scratch, she just sits sadly and waits.

Pre border collie I actually left my terrier at my sisters. They had to call and tell me. I hadn't missed him yet.

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I always walk around the house and make a last head count before going to bed. If I don't count the right number then I have to stand there and try to figure out who's missing. I haven't forgotten one outside yet, but that's probably only because of my OCD tendencies and my obsessive counting every night (or really every time I need to bring all the dogs in for some reason).

 

J.

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A friend of mine trialled her dog one Saturday a couple of years ago. Before leaving the trial, she went to use the bathroom & tied her dog up outside. As she came out, she started chatting to someone, got in the car & drove the 2 hours home. It wasn't until she opened the back of her car that she realized she didn't have her dog.

 

Meanwhile, many of us were trialling the next day as well, so were camped overnight. When she rang in a panic, We had the dog with us and offered to drop him off the next afternoon on our way home.

 

She felt so bad that she jumped in the car, drove 2 hrs to get him & then another 2 home.

 

Lol, for months afterwards, we used to write signs to stick on her windshield at every trial "make sure you have got your dog"

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Glad I just read the thread, I think I maybe missing one....:)

Mine do really well even if I misplace one at times. What does help me is that I keep track all the crates and kennels. So if a gate is open, we best go a hunting!

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I let everyone out to pee before bed one night and then called them all back in and went to sleep. When I got up in the morning and let everyone out to pee again, I found Piper curled up very pitifully on the front porch door mat. I'd left her outside overnight! I felt like the biggest asshole.

 

Conversely, one evening when I let everyone in after final potty, there was no Mr. Woo to be found. I spent 45 minutes in pajamas and gumboots with a flashlight outside in the rain whisperscreaming his name. I was so frustrated when I stomped back inside that my rage must have been palpable, because I saw his orange tail disappearing under my bed as I stormed into the house. He'd not gone out for evening potty and was inside all the while!

 

My dogs must now sit and wait near the front door and are let out one by one as I call their individual names. Coming back in I let them squeeze through the door one at a time and count them in my head as they go by. It's been almost 3 years since I left Piper outside all night, and I STILL feel like the biggest asshole!!

 

I have not left anyone behind before or since, but I have been known to stop my truck on the side of the road after agility class or a beach trip and count dogs, just for peace of mind ;-)

 

RDM

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I haven't forgotten any of my current bunch, but my old dog? Poor thing...I forgot him outside once at our old apartment for a good while, but not overnight, thankfully. Then there was the time I dropped him at the groomer before work, forgot to pick him up afterwards, got home and said, "Where's Ted?". :blink:

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Back when I only had two dogs (gah, such a faint memory) my ex-husband left Ginger and Bree outside by accident one day when he went to work (he left after me, and I returned before him). When I got home I pulled up to hear Ginger YIPE!ing at the back door. One night he also let them out for final potty and then forgot to let them back in. I woke up around 2am to hear Ginger YIPE!ing at the back door and got up and let them in.

 

After that dogs went to bed with me every night, and I made sure they were in the house and crated when I went to work.

 

Now that I live alone (and have considerably more dogs) I take head count before work, before bed, before leaving my house (with dogs) and before leaving somewhere to come home. I too have been known to stop out on the road to go head count again.

 

With the exception of Ginger, the others would just stand all pitiful at the back door. So if I were to leave any of them out there they'd better hope I left them with Ginger. :lol:

 

I'm much more likely to put a dog in a crate and forget it's there - and then go looking for it calling and calling...

 

Then there was the time I dropped him at the groomer before work, forgot to pick him up afterwards, got home and said, "Where's Ted?". :blink:

 

I'm sure you were horrified at the time, but for some reason at this moment ^^this struck me as LMAO funny. Sorry Ted. :lol:

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When my choc lab was a pup I also had a large black lab male whom I was training for the blind.

They loved riding in the bed of the truck.

 

Went to the movie store to rent a movie and backed the truck in.

Went home.

 

Usually the two labs would sleep under the deck during the summer so I didnt find them missing until the next morning.

 

Next morning I became worried but still thought they were home last night.

 

After 20 some phone calls to my local town 's dog control.

 

Apparently they jumped out of the truck at the movie store. I had already left when they retumed. They contnued to jump on the movie store door so the empluees called the NYS troopers who came and took them to the Rhinebeck dog warden.

 

Thank goodness the dog warden new they were taken care, of collars ans tags.

 

Took me three days to locate them.

 

 

 

 

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1. Forgot a dog

2. Forgot a kid

 

When I forgot the kid, I confided in several friends and found that almost everybody had forgotten their kid at one time or another....they just don't talk about it!

 

Now, after reading this thread, I see that many have also forgotten a dog outside. It's comforting to know that. :)

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Let all the minions out for a hurry up potty with a rain storm blowing in. Opened the back door and called them to hurry up, come on in! Everyone came running, or so I thought and we settled down to let the rain come. Carlie is very storm phobic so when I didn't see her for a while I didn't think anything of it, I figured she was under the bed as usual. But when I went into the bedroom I didn't see her tail sticking out from under the bed (she never remembers to pull her tail in with her when she hides) and started worrying. I called and called but she didn't come and she is flawless on her recall. She was around 10 years old at the time and is 12.5 now. All of a sudden I panicked and ran and opened the back door to find her huddled by the back door, soaking wet, with the most pitiful expression on her face. She scooted in and glued herself to my legs. She needed a good drying with a towel and a lot of cookies for me to even start to feel better and the guilt stayed with me for weeks.

 

On another day I could have sworn I put Lilo the chihuahua in her crate and I left the house, into the garage, got in my car, raised the garage door and backed out of the garage. Was just about to put the door down when she trotted out of the garage toward my car. I don't want to even know how close that little 5 pound dog came to getting run over by my car that day. She must have followed me out of the door, she's so small and she's solid black so she's easy to miss. I had worked a long shift at the ER and was exhausted so I just blanked out on crating her. I was honestly sick at my stomach when I realized that she could have died that morning.

 

Now I count noses and count again. Everyone gets a cookie at bedtime so if I have a cookie left I am missing a dog and go hunting. I often stop on the road to count dogs when we load up to go to shows or are coming home from the park. I'm so happy to hear that I'm not the only one that does that!

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Last spring we were doing a building project. Missy hated the air nailer noise and was always quick to get back inside again after going potty. She got let out one afternoon and nobody let her in right away afterward. A half hour later my grandma called because Miss was at her place a half mile away. Poor dog couldn't get back inside was trying to get away from the noise so she went to the next best place. I felt horrible!

 

My uncle got left at a gas station on a trip once... It was about 15 years ago before everyone had cell phones. There were 3 cars traveling together and everyone thought he was with someone else. They were 2 hours down the road before they stopped to get something to eat and realized that he wasn't with them.

 

And my folks drove off without my little brother once when we were camping at Colorado National Monument. They always did a head count after that.

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I left my 5 yr old special ed son at his karate lesson. I thought he was in the back seat, and even talked to him the whole way home--about 5 miles! I sure felt stupid driving back to pick him up!

 

Oh, and I was left at the beach as a little kid. I was there with my Mom, Aunts, 2 sisters and 9 cousins. It was about 3 hrs before anyone missed me! I just went and sat with the lifeguard all day!

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Oh dear, what a bunch of funny and sometimes sad stories so close to my heart! I have had a few near misses, but one story was sort of a reversal. I had pups and a nice couple came to visit to see the pups. All went well and after a couple of hours they drove off. busy with straightening things up i have not noticed that I had not seen kelly- the pups mother fore a while. We went out into the yard calling her.

 

Calling her, and calling her.

 

Panic. Wild thoughts. Total freaking out.

 

Kelly loves to travel by car and she's been known to jump into the friend's cars in the past, so grab the mobile and call them up. The young people a bit out out, but dutifully looked in their car for our Kelly. Nothing.

 

More panic.

 

After a long search, I found behind and underneath our kennels a hole leading to a den which she must have dug earlier, and a nose peeking - she got in there but couldn't get out. Oh, drats the pathetic looks and the soulful eyes, doggie! You gotta bark! I can't hear your pleading looks.

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