As Harv and I walked along the lane that leads to a field that we sometimes walk around, we met an elderly gentleman with a black and white dog. I said 'Morning', which it was, and got a fairly muffled response. He was clearly quite upset about something so I asked if he was ok.
"I've lost my dog." he said. I looked at the black and white dog beside him. "No, not that one, the other one." he said.
"What does it look like?" I asked.
"It's brown!"
"OK ....What breed is it?" I asked, somewhat phased by the bland description.
"It's a ... um ... mongrel."
"OK. What size is it?" I ask, thinking that this is like pulling teeth.
"The same as yours." He says, looking at Harv (who is introducing himself to the black and white bitch)
"OK. What's his name?" I say "In case I spot him and want to entice him towards me."
"Um ... Harvey. I think."
I must have been giving him a questioning look at this stage as he then added "I'm sorry. It's my son's dog and I'm looking after it while they are away. I only looked around for 10 seconds and he was gone. I'm really worried what might happen to him and my son will be really upset. I'm really quite distressed and I'm not thinking straight. ... And I've broken my dentures!"
"OK. I'll look out for Harvey on our walk. If I should find him what number should I call?"
"I don't know."
"Where are you staying?"
"Over there." He says, pointing at nothing in particular. "I'm going to take my dog home and then come back to look for my son's dog."
"OK" I say "If I find him I'll wait at the bottom of the lane for you." I figured if he was a no-show then at least the dog should have an ID tag on it.
Harv and I set off on our walk. He found it quite confusing when I called out "Harvey!" when he was already at my side! I then gave my recall whistle a try (optimistic, I know, but I thought it was worth a try). My Harv came back but not the brown dog of the same size and name.
Then, as we came over the brow of a hill I spotted what looked like a dog sat at the edge of a wooded area. We walked towards it. Yep, it was definitely a brown dog. Yelling 'Harvey' hadn't worked previously so I just held my arms out to the side and yelled "Come on then" in the most enthusiastic voice that I could muster. To my relief he came sprinting towards us but stopped just short - more concerned by my Harv than me I think. I try to calm my Harv while enticing the other Harv with cut up pieces of sausage.
He comes closer and I'm able to fuss him a little (I wanted to make a good first impression rather than lunge for his collar in case I missed and he lost trust in me). A few more bits of sausage and I was able to take hold of his collar. Fortunately, we walk Harv on a harness with a back and front 'D' ring which meant ... double ended lead! Result. I clipped my Harv's collar to one end and the other Harv to the other end. I continued to stroke him for a while and spoke reassuringly to him as he seemed quite distressed.
As I look at the other Harv I can't help but notice that he isn't the same size as my Harv at all, more like half the size, if that. And he is wearing a pink collar. I look at the ID tag and see that this dog is called "Rudi"!!! Shit! Have I just dog-napped somebody's dog?! I look around but there is nobody else to be seen. I decide to head back. There was a mobile number on the tag so, if the worried elderly gentleman told me I was a fool and of course this wasn't his Harvey, I could call the number, apologise profusely and return Rudi. I didn't want to call the number yet though in case it was the missing dog and I distressed the owner of the dog and dropped his Dad in it!
As we leave the field and begin our trip down the lane I see the elderly gentleman, his black and white dog, and what I assume was his wife. "Oh thank God you've found him!" yells the man. Rudi was obviously pleased to see the pair of them so I was fairly happy that this was their dog but anyway, I said to the woman "Sorry, I forgot to look at the tag, what's the dog's name?" "Rudi" said the woman in unison with the man saying "Harvey" - the woman rolled her eyes and I pursued it no further! "Thank you, thank you, thank you." said the man "I'm so relieved." He shook my hand, thanked me another dozen times, and then headed off down the lane.
Of course, they may have found the dog themselves when they walked around the field but I felt good anyway - and walked home with a smile on my face.
I got the giggles the first time but everyone else took it really seriously 
. Temporarily of course!
