This past weekend, I was outted for being a bad pet owner...

Picture it: I'm sitting in church waiting for my daughter's singing performance to begin. I check my phone one last time and there's a notification from my Next Door app that says "beautiful dog." Now, I get these lost or found dog notifications all the time. And, if you check the local Facebook pages dedicated to pets who have wandered off, you'll see how big of a problem it is. But, immediately, I knew what beautiful dog this particular this happened to be.

Our family enjoys the company of a senior Akita named Kodi the Bear. Akitas aren't normally friendly dogs but Kodi is the sweetest dog you'll ever find. He has fur so when you snuggle him, it feels like you are snuggling a big soft stuffed animal and he gives little tiny kisses.

We live in a neighborhood where everyone has about five acres. We moved from a neighborhood where everyone had about half an acre so Mr. Kodi the Bear would get to play with neighborhood dogs whenever he felt like it. Many days our Business Manager's dogs would let themselves into my house and help themselves to a snack much like the Bumpass' dogs... I can't complain; my dogs did the same thing. Kodi learned quickly how to open back doors by himself. This has been a problem ever since. These days, Kodi misses his dog friends and when it gets warm outside he will open the front door and sneak off to find some action.

Normally, he trots across the street to Jim's house to visit Lucy where he's warmly welcomed. Again, we live at the end of a secluded road in the country so it's not a huge deal but not ideal. We bought an electric fence - he blows though it like NBD. :o/ We try to remember to lock the doors but sometimes, we forget. And he only does this periodically which makes training impossible.

Well, this weekend, he opened our front door and snuck out to a new neighbor's house. He popped down, gave them a hello, and then came home but not before "FOUND DOG" went out over the internet. GAH... Even bigger GAH - he had no tags on.

His ID tag must have fallen off this winter because I can't find it anywhere. GREAT. So, I'm off to get a new one made for one Mr. Kodi the Bear. In the meantime, he will be wearing his Rabies tag. It is IN State law to have your dogs vaccinated for rabies so if you stick that on their collar, if your dog is found he or she can be identified by someone who calls your vet's office.

It could have ended badly. But, in the end it's a good reminder to check your dogs' ID tags and make sure your dogs' shots and vet records are up-to-date.

Ashley S
Ashley S
loading...

More From WGBF-FM