HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-03-20, Page 10Page 10
Mystery
of the disappearing
do
has been-
where Mobie took over com- but we did find out, later, that it came children, Sunday, but that night he
The mystery ofa the disappearing country
dog has been solved! Finally; and you plete reign. With a stream and gully from a lady, just a bit up the beach, didn't answer our call. The next day
can only imagine how relieved we to roam around in, and ground hogs whose invitations Mobie often acc- was cold and sleety, the kind of
are. just waiting to be picked off, he peted for refreshments. weather he just hated to be out in, and
thought he had arrived in Canine Still, he continued to disappear for we were afraid he'd been shut up,
Heaven. ::...................................-----•........-- - ::,:...........:�
When one settles into a new place,
one always hopes to get off on the
right foot with the neighbours, so I
was extremely disquieted when, one
morning, I saw Mobie munching on a
strange, but expensive looking boot.
Quickly, rescuing it, 1 dashed across
the road to ring the doorbell with
some fear, and a lot of embarrass-
ment.'Upon seeing the slightly chew-
ed boot, the man of the house admit-
ted, with some chagrin, that, yes, it
was his, and went off to replace it with
its mate in the garage. Only, the mate
was missing, too.
So, I tramped off to search for it in
the snow, all the while scolding
Mobie, who danced and pranced
around me, thrilled that we were go-
ing for a walk. Finally, I gave up,
trudged back home to find the boot in
Mobie's bed. I was really angry, this
time, and put him on his chain, but he
was so broken and contrite that I had
to let him come into the house and
curl up in front of the stove.
Despite the bad start, he soon won
over the neighbours and took it upon
himself to see they were always safe-
ly escorted on their walks. He also
apopinted himself official greeter for
the whole subdivision, and many was
the startled visitor who had a big
black dog leap up, place his front feet
on their shoulder and • give them a
slobbery swipe across the nose.
Nevertheless, though admittedly over
exuberant, he still made many friends
up and down the beach.
Then, suddenly, he went missing.
After three days of frantic searching,
we concluded he was gone forever.
Then, a very surprised friend, about
a quarter of a mile away, opened his
shed to find a relieved and hungry
Mobie, who had been unintentionally
locked in. This harrowing experience
should have kept him home, but no,
it just began a pattern of disappear-
ing. Every time we'd reached the
point of giving up hope, again, he'd
nonchalantly come strolling in,
wondering why we were in such an
uproar.
We could never find out where he
went, although, one night, he did
return with a note tucked into his col-
lar which said, "I hope you don't mind
that I have given your pet a pork -chop
and a baked potato for supper; he's
such a good friend." It wasn't signed,
Times -Advocate, March 20, 1985
Over the years, we've had four
dogs, each of them smarter than us;
each enslaving us to their every
whim. None, however. has mastered
the art better than the animal who
presently owns us and who sleeps
under our roof, t but just when he feels
like it).
Eight years ago, he arrived in the
arms of our son, a bit of black fur with
shiny brown eyes and the tip of a tiny,
pink tongue peeking out from under
his saucy nose.
"Isn't he cute, Mom?"
"limmm," I answered, refusing to
commit myself; then, with growing
suspicion, "Whose is he?"
This unloosed a tear -jerking, heart
rending, dramatic tale of how he
t Braden) had snatched the pup from
the very jaws of death by rescuing it
from beng drowned with an unwanted
titter. "i couldn't let him die, could
I?" the boy implored. "Mom, I pro-
mise he won't be any trouble.... I'll be
completely responsible for him."
Now. 1 was used to those kind of
promises. so I stated flatly and une-
quivocally, "No, no, NO, we are not
going to take in another dog." L We
already had an old German
Shepherd.;
Disappointment flooded the boy's
face, but the little black ball of fluff,
with the bright beady eyes, sitting in
the corner of Braden's elbow, just
cocked its head to the side and smil-
ed beguilingly. It had already figured
me out for a patsy.
And he was right. A hurried con-
ference with the boy's father ended
with us both succumbing to the
unrelenting gaze of two pairs of eyes.
one set that begged, and the other that
just looked at us with all trust and
knowing. "Well," we assured each
other, "it won't take up much room.
It's such a little dog. -
Little dog! Every day. Mobie (nam-
ed after a rock group) sprang up
several inches. In six months, he had
reached the dimensions of a small
horse, and already demolished
several shoes, three cushions and two
afghans. Of course, we scolded and
disciplined him, but he was so shat-
tered by our harsh words, and put on
such a sad show that we invariably
ended up begging his forgiveness and
giving him a big hug.
In time, the aging German
Shepherd died, and we moved to the
1
II IP
It Seems to me,..
three and four days at a time, leav-
ing us completely mystified. It seem-
ed even a stranger when he arrived
back, last fall, with his collar and tags
missing. However, as tthe winter set
in, Mobie was content to stay by the
fire and cease his wanderings... until
about two weeks ago.
We'd seen him playing with visiting
s
by Gwyn Whihmith
again, by some of the summer people
who had come Tor the weekend. For
three miserable days, my husband
and I (our son having long since gone
and given up his dog responsibilities )
scoured the territory, calling fran-
tically and peering into vacant out-
buildings, but with no success.
Finally, a much hoped for telephone
The Ever Thrift Store
IS OPEN
There is a great variety of good used merchan-
dise at reasonable prices.
Something for everyone.
We accept good used clothing on consignment.
It will be a pleasure serving you
at 157 Main St. Exeter 235-2687
successfully solved
call came, "Are you looking for a big,
black dog?" When my husband drove
out to retrieve him from two miles up
the beach, he found him completely
relaxed, stretched out on the living
room floor, just tike he owned the
place. He was visiting his adopted
family, and according to them he'd
been doing it, regularly, for two
years. And although he had won their
hearts, they were just as baffled as we
were, not knowing from whence he
came or went.
Another mystery was cleared up.
Mobie was wearing his collar again.
Rather sheepishly, the folks explain-
ed they had taken it off and forgot to
put it back on when they gave him a
bath, last fall. Now, you can't get
much more intimate than that! So, it
seems to us, we might as well except
the fact that Mobie's heart is big
enought to love two families. He's cer-
tainly smart enough to manage two
households.
MARIA'S
Do not ail to fee
ibis gilled lady'
OPM gam eom
148 Wellington Road
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MOTHER GOOSE TALES — Marfan Doucette brought "Mary had a
little lamb" and many other stories to life on Thursday at the Exeter
Branch library. The puppet show was sponsored by the Huron Coun-
ty Public Library.
Hurondale 4-H elect
Fehruary 18, Hurondale 11 met for
their first 4-11 meeting at the home of
Pat Ballantyne The Leaders for the
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227-4817
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club are Pat Ballantyne and Mary
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Officers chosen were: president -
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press reporter - Tracey Oke.
February 25, the second meeting
was held at the Factory Fabric Outlet
store in Vanastra. Here, members
were able to pick out patterns and
material that they liked.
The third meeting took place March
3 at the Coven Church in Exeter. A
name for the club was chosen being
the 12 Fashionable Friends.
The fourth meeting was held on
March 11 at the Thames Road Church
and involved fitting, sewing seams,
finishing seams and pressing knits.
Pat and Mary demonstrated seam
finishing and everyone was able to
test their skills on the sewing
machine. The next meeting is to be
held at Pat Ballantyne's on March 21.
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