Benji, son of Cujo

    Yesterday evening, I went out to Old State Road to hike the unpaved section out to I-77, trying to get a better sunset shot of the juxtaposition of beltway and dirt road. When I got there, though, there was a little Benji-looking dog (except yellower), looking moreover lost, bedraggled and possibly hurt. I tried to coax him or her into the car, since this place was as far as I know quite a few miles from any dwelling, but my coaxing skills fell short. And whenever I got close, I got growled and snapped at. I decided to take my hike and try again later.
    My wireless provider, which we will call in the interest of avoiding lawsuits DontB-Mobile, did not have enough signal for me to send the little fella's picture to Facebook until I actually got to 77. Presumably, that's where the tower is. Friends shared the picture and also provided advice, but unfortunately I had neither a leash nor any food, so we were left with my very limited dog whispering skills.
    When I got back to the car, the little fella had stretched out next to it, which struck me as a good sign. However, s/he hadn't gotten any more amenable to being approached. The mosquitoes were completely out of hand, as much of a nuisance to the dog as to me, I'm sure. S/he came right up to the open car door and sacked out there, refusing to take that last step and to receive any help with it. I texted my friend Gypsye, whose knowledge of canine ways far outstrips my own, and she suggested I call her and put her on speaker phone and see if a female voice would help.
    Puppy was very, very interested; just not interested enough to jump in the car. (In the film version, though, this trick is totally going to work!) Just then, a pickup drove up, so we got off the phone. The couple in it were not eager to help in getting the dog in the car, but when I told them I had water but no way to give it to the pup, they did give me a water bowl. They also said that there were a lot of people living off Old State Road and many of them let their dogs run wild. So I thanked them and they drove off.
    I gave my new friend the rest of my water, and continued trying to coax him or her in, but it just wasn't working. I didn't know how long I could leave the car idling safely with the air conditioning running, so in the end, I gave up. I hope the little fellow did indeed live nearby and found the way home. This happened before in the same place a couple of years ago (and I blogged about it); since then, I've found out about Chasing Tails Pet Patrol. I have alerted them to when and where I saw the dog and sent along the (very, very, very cute) picture. I haven't heard further; hopefully it all turns out well.