Bootsie had a rather harrowing experience yesterday afternoon, and now he’s quietly licking his paws, but he’s fine. It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun fooled us into thinking that the snow might disappear in the near future, the birds were chirping, and the dog walkers were doing laps in the neighbourhood. Our front yard for the Boo, is full of exciting trees, shrubs, scents, and birds, the only thing is it’s not fenced, so he is only out there when we are right there with him. The back yard is just plain lawn, no trees, no shrubs, no where to hide. Most of the time he is content to just explore around the house, but there are moments when he decides to take off immediately. And you think I would learn from the last few times, but no…
So there I was again, wandering the neighbours yard, can of cat food in hand, banging the spoon on the tin, I even knocked on the neighbours door. No answer, their garage door was wide open, the large black dog who poops on my lawn was no where to be seen. She is a nice dog, but she does like to bark at the Boo whenever she see’s him, even if Boo is safe in our backyard. This went on for a half hour, I knew in my heart that Bootsie is fine, he wasn’t lost, he just likes to hang out like a teenager, and he would return when he decided it was time. When we lived in the condo, he was always outside, and it’s a adjustment for him now that he is indoors more often. My husband began to help me call him, we wandered around our front lawn, constantly checking the neighbours backyard for the dog, and for the Boo. Suddenly there was a loud woof, and the big black dog bounded out the back door. Unfortunately Bootsie was in the neighbours back yard trapped between the chain link fence that separates our properties.
Bootsie ran as fast as he could towards the fence, and freedom but couldn’t climb because it was chain link, so he decided to escape up the large fir tree that was there. I was in the front yard and it took me a minute or so to get over the fence, during which time I ripped my only good pair of yoga pants. The dog woofed, and barked very pleased with this new, chase the cat game. Bootsie 8 feet up the tree, and starting to climb higher, furious, and terrified, meowed, and I managed to grab him just before he went any higher. I am over 6 feet tall, and that day I really appreciated my height.
Poor baby, his claws are all bleeding, his pride is hurt, and I am sure that he is sore today. After all he has never climbed more then three feet up a tree, and hung on for so long. So this time there was a happy ending to Bootsie’s most un-excellent adventure, and I guess we need to start a Bootsie land in the fenced backyard for him as soon as we can.