If You Love Something Set It Free A Little Furry Miracle Comes Home
S
ome readers may remember the old 1970s phrase ‘If you love something set it free; if it comes back it’s yours, if not it was never yours to begin with.’ Sometimes, without any forethought or planning on our part, things have a way of working out for the better. And all it takes is to do the right thing. This story is about a neighbor of mine, Crystal Rienick, a high school literature teacher who works in Valley Center. Crystal and her husband Jameson have a perky, active 8-year old Miniature Pinscher named Pippin. Crystal, a lovely, ebullient and free-spirited woman who loves all animals considered getting a second dog as a companion for Pippin. About two weeks before Christmas, she was driving home from work, passing through Escondido, when she saw a Chihuahua running loose on the street. Being a dog lover, she acted immediately to rescue the frightened dog. “So, of course,’ she said, “I flipped a U-turn and spent fifteen minutes trying to coax him over to grab him. He had no tags, and when I took him to our vet, they found no chip. I took him home and he immediately began to sniff and pee on everything I owned. I could overlook this, however, due to the amazing fact that he and Pippin hit it off instantly.” Crystal brought the Chihuahua over to meet us, that is, Jane, myself, and our Yellow Labradors Musket and Saffron. She said in a grave voice, “We have a problem.” She put the dog in my hands. “Okay,” I replied, knowing of Crystal’s sense of humor, “but what’s this ‘we’ stuff?” She explained about finding the dog on the street and intended to try and find its owner, but it was obvious she was already smitten with the little canine. For the next few days, while on Christmas break she fell under the new dog’s charm. “I posted ‘Found Chihuahua’ signs the next morning in the area where I’d found him, but when I heard nothing after two days I decided I to take him to the local Humane Society because if I didn’t take him right away I was going to keep him forever. “I had already fallen in love with him and had named him Pickle.” “I learned I could pay the adoption fee up front and if the owners didn’t claim him, he would be ours; neutered, micro chipped and vaccinated.” Yet fate intervened. “Pickle was with me on the way to the shelter. As I was crossing Citrus Avenue my phone rang. ‘Hello?’ It was a little girl who said she saw my signs and believed I had her dog, whose name was Spikey.” The girl described Pickle in perfect detail. When Crystal said the name Spikey he responded and she felt a little chill in her heart. “‘Where do you live?’ I asked her. Winter 2015
Mark Carlson
Citrus Avenue, she told me. Almost within sight of the shelter, Crystal turned around and drove to Citrus where she found Spikey’s little owner waiting with open arms. The little dog was ecstatic to see her. “She thanked me and I made my retreat before the tears started.” That might have been the end of it, but Crystal had been bitten hard by little Pickle’s tiny beating heart. “I began my quest for a second dog. Pippin and Pickle got along so well. He was so damned snuggly and affectionate. I wanted that, too. I began obsessing on Petfinder and the local shelter sites until I knew all the dogs by sight. I gravitated to Min Pins and Chihuahua mixes trying to recreate the compatibility with Pippin combined with the snuggliness for me.” Christmas was approaching and she knew time was short. Once she and Jameson were back at work acclimating a new dog to the house would be almost impossible. She wanted to be home to help smooth the way. Three possible dogs were located at that same humane society shelter she had intended to take Pickle. “On Christmas Eve I broke out my laptop to show my family the pictures.” Crystal, not one to leave any stone unturned, scrolled down the page to see if there had been any postings since she’d last looked a week before. “And what to my wandering eye did appear, than Pickle himself! It was him, I knew it instantly. Same markings, same colors. But now his name was Mr. Moose.” “The shelter was closed on Christmas Day so I had to wait until the 26th.” Unable to sleep, Crystal worried if the little Chihuahua would still be there when the shelter re-opened. “We packed up Pippin and off we went. The place was packed, and as we waited we told our story to other hopeful pet adopters. People were stunned and excited for us. Finally we went out to the interaction
yard. And there he was. Pickle, without a doubt! He was very underweight, but he knew me right away. The shelter staff told me he had been left there just three days after I had returned him to his ‘family.’” It didn’t take long for the new pooch to feel at home. Crystal told me a few days later, “He has peed 23 times, only once in the house, eaten too much, and has been sleeping wrapped in blankets on my lap for hours.” Crystal did the right thing and the miracle came back home to live with her.
When not visiting his in-laws in South Royalton, Mark Carlson spends much of his time in North County, CA with his wife, Jane and his Labrador Retriever, Saffron. He is an award writer and an aviation historian, with numerous articles and books including his latest, Confessions of a Guide Dog. Legally blind, he travels and works with Saffron, and is a member of several aviation, maritime, and veteran organizations. www.musketmania.com Originally published in San Diego Pets Magazine
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