Sebastian’s Adventures
A Happy Ending
Karin Matey is the author of ‘Sebastian’s Adventures: ‘Diary of a Champion’ and ‘My American Horse Family’. For more information, please visit her web site at www.karinmatey.com or contact her by email: karinmatey@outlook.com.
One Sunday morning after I finished my barn chores, I told my horses that I am off to visit a good friend of mine in another town not so far away. I usually stay with her for a few hours before driving back home. Before I left my horses, I promised them to be back home soon and then we would spend the rest of the day training together. As usual my friend was so happy to see me and after a great visit I said goodbye to drive back home. After I left her house and drove away, something caught my attention, and as I looked through my back mirror I saw two dogs. The dogs continued to run up to every car that came in their direction. Most drivers did not stop or slow down. It seemed that everyone was in a hurry to get to their destination. I also thought about speeding up and just driving on to get back home to be with my horses, but something prompted me to slow down and observe the two dogs that were slowly but definitely heading towards a main route, a very busy road. If the two dogs were to run into the busy road there would be a great chance that they would get hit by an oncoming car or even get killed.
By now I was just creeping along at the speed of five miles an hour waiting for the dogs to come closer to my car so I could get a good look at them and find out if these animals were lost or if someone had abandoned them. I could not drive on before I knew for certain the two dogs were safe and not going to run out to the busy road. Finally I stopped and waited for the dogs to approach my car. I rolled my car window down just an inch and soon the dogs had arrived and sniffed my car over. I got a good glimpse of them and even carefully stuck my hand out of the window as I felt they were harmless and friendly. One dog was quite big and the other dog was smaller. The bigger dog seemed more adventurous and the smaller one was quiet and hesitant. Finally I got my courage up and stepped out of the car. Both dogs approached me and after the ice was broken I realized that my instinct was right that they were lost but I couldn’t get close enough to check their tags. So here I was on an unexpected mission helping two dogs find their owner and bring them back home. I had no idea what to do next.
As a car approached I waved for him to stop and he did. I asked the gentleman if he lived around here and if he had ever seen these two dogs before. He said he did live here but had never seen them, and offered to drive to the next few houses and ask if anyone was missing their dogs. I thanked him and opened the backdoor of my car to get something out and to my surprise both dogs jumped into my car. One settled in my passenger seat and the other in my back seat.
Soon the driver came back and told me he saw a house with a door open and believed that the dogs had run out of the house while the owner forgot to close the door. With new hopes of finding the dogs’ owner I followed him with my new passengers to the house with the open door. As we arrived at the house, I let the dogs out of my car so they would be able to get back into their house. The gentleman went as far as saying let’s put the dogs into the house and shut the door. But I certainly thought better of that, even though he was just trying to be helpful. That seemed a strange thing to suggest doing. The dogs did not try to go home to the house either. To my surprise, then, a man came out of the house and I asked him if he was missing two dogs. He said no, so I was glad we had not tried to put the dogs in his house! He told me that the dogs were not his—but he had seen them wandering around in the neighborhood all day.
We were back to square one. The driver who had stopped for me suggested leaving the dogs with him and he would take care of them, but to me that seemed another non-starter of an idea. That gave me a funny feeling. I wanted to be sure they got home not just pass them off to a stranger. I heard myself say, why don’t we call the police station, so he called the police, who said to bring the dogs to the station. But I was told that the police had said nobody had lost any dogs that they knew of. By now the dogs and I had become friends. The little dog lay down with his head on my passenger seat, and I felt he was really worried about what would happen to him and his friend, while the bigger dog in the back seat of the car seemed all smiles and ready to go on a new adventure. Taking them to the police seemed a logical thing to do at this point. My “friendly” helper said he would take them to the police station, but no.
Soon the dogs and I drove off waving goodbye. I felt it was better for the dogs and me if we didn’t accept any more help. For a minute I thought about my horses and the time I wanted to spend with them but I knew they would not mind knowing I was helping my new friends find their owner. A shiver ran through me thinking of what would have happened if they had run out to this busy road I was now on. Before I approached the police station, I decided not to leave the dogs there but instead to leave my address and phone number so the dog owner could contact me and come and get their dogs. Then the thought crossed my mind, what if there was no owner looking for these animals, as our “helper” had said. Would I be ready to keep them and care for them? I really did not need two more dogs given the animals I have already but I knew I would find a way to keep and care for them if needed. I didn’t want them to wind up in a shelter. I remained hopeful that the owners were looking for their lost family members. Maybe the police would have an idea, but I didn’t think I would leave them there.
When at the police station I found no one there and the doors were locked! That was disappointing. I went back to the car to make sure that I had left the windows a little open so the dogs could breathe and not get too hot. I supposed I might have to head home with the dogs in the car and call the police again when I got there. Just as I was getting ready to leave the police station a vehicle drove into the parking lot fast and parked right next to my car. A couple got out and asked me if I had their two dogs, as the police had notified them that they were found. The couple told me that their dogs had wandered off and that they had been looking for them for hours fearing the worst. Perhaps after we called them, the police officer had an idea whose dogs they must be and went to tell them. I told the couple that I had spotted both dogs on my way home fearing they might be heading for the main thoroughfare. The woman hugged me and was clearly shaking. She had worried someone could have taken them, or worse they could have gotten hit by a car. I told the woman that when I spotted the two dogs I knew they needed help to keep safe. The dogs obviously knew these people, whose relief was plainly clear on their faces. I knew they were the owners. When I opened my car door, both dogs jumped right out of my car and straight into their owner’s car!
As I stood there watching them all drive away, I was so thankful that I’d listened to my instinct that Sunday afternoon and stopped to help. I was glad I had kept the dogs with me until I found their owners, and not only listened to the friendly advice. At each step everything had worked out perfectly. I then drove home to spend the rest of the afternoon with my horses knowing the two dogs were safe and sound and back home with their family.
