Saturday morning we awoke to the sound of our doorbell.  Ding dong.....ding dong....ding dong....ding dong.  WOW!  Jerry, someone's at the door, hurry!  Jerry stumbles out of bed and walks to the other end of the house to find out what's going on at such an early hour.  I hear words and then the door shut.  I got up, brushed my teeth, looked out the window...nobody...checked my web-stats, reviewed the latest happenings on Active Rain and still no sign of his return.  I thought to myself he's gotta be foolin with the dogs.

About 45 minutes had passed since he had answered the door and finally he came back in.  He walked into the office and said.  Tuffy's gone.  What do you mean he's gone?  I drove the whole neighborhood with Fergie our next door neighbor and we can't find him.  We found Dually (who's blind) but Tuffy (who's deaf) is nowhere in site.  UGH!  Tuffy's hearing has gotten significantly worse over the last year and we've never been faced with having to find a deaf dog.  Not to mention he's a bit of a water nut being the half Labrador that he is and there's a pretty big lake at the other end of our street...which I'm sure is inhabited by alligators...yeah, they really do exist here in Naples. 

I ran to my closet and put on a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt and hopped in the car wondering just how you get the attention of a dog who can't hear you.  Knowing that he couldn't have gotten far ( I don't think) since this is a new neighborhood for him, I started driving the streets.  Within a short minute or so I came upon a guy walking briskly talking on his cel phone.  (Isn't it funny how people exercise while they're on the phone these days?) I hated to interrupt his conversation but...excuse me sir...have you seen a dog?  He replied, yep he's about 4 streets down by the lake...BINGO!  I thanked him did a u-turn with every sophistication of a tenured Realtor and hauled bootie down a few streets, parked the car and me without shoes, ran towards the lake. 

I came across another walker...have you seen a dog?  This sweet lady replied no, what's he look like?  I gave a fast description, she said she'd keep an eye out and then I hurried along in front of her.  2 seconds later, 2 more walkers...have you seen a dog?  Yep, he's up the walk just about 3 houses up.  COOL! Still running on the "walking" path and hoping I made it to him before hearing him diving head first into the alligator infested lake, I met 2 more walkers who said, if you're looking for your dog he's in the backyard of the house right there, as they pointed.  THANKS....as I hurried towards that direction.

By the time I got to the backyard I heard Jerry say in a stern voice, "TUFFY...GET OVER HERE"  I couldn't see him but from the sound of it...I felt like Jerry was within "catching" distance.  By the time I walked back to the car, I had stepped on 3 stickers and was completely soaked due to the dew on the shrubs I had cut through. 

When I got back to the house, Jerry was standing in the driveway, arms crossed staring at a wet, smelly, breathless dog who was holding a "sit down" in the back of the Hummer.  I said, you better get him out of the car before he stinks it up....Jerry's response...too late...and he won't come out anyway (because he knew he'd get a spankin if he got out before mom got home...I suppose).

So after a few minutes and a few pats on the head, he finally gave in and with a little assistance got out of the car.  Without even a proper plan of attack, Tuffy had introduced me to 6 neighbors that day. 

Later that morning Jerry shared a story about the neighbor who's yard Tuffy had broken into.  The man said...I've been calling your dog for about 30 minutes but he just wouldn't come...Jerry just embarrassingly replied.  I'm sorry sir, he's deaf.

Moral of this story...get out!  Walk your dog...you just might even bump into a future client! :)

This is Tuffy...he LOVES the water.  He also likes fishing at the dog beach.

This is Dually...he actually has caught a fish before but it's not his favorite past time...besides he's almost completely blind now so he couldn't see one if he wanted to.  He prefers his football that makes a farting noise when he bites it...that's what you get when the "dad" shops for chew toys.

This is Trouble...aka Fatty since his Dr. last year officially tagged him as OBESE!  Fatty likes to eat, sleep and make me laugh!