So I'm at the Doctor's Office Getting a Flu Shot...

May 27, 2009 -

Really, it's not the start of a bad joke, it's a true story, that involves The Pack. Sorta.

There I sat, perched atop my physician's exam room table, sleeve rolled up to my shoulder, nurse poised and ready to inject my shoulder with anti-flu goodness when I turned and asked how she was doing. "Bad," she said. "I found a dog on the way to work. I don't know what to do he's here, in one of the empty exam rooms."

"Give him to me," I instinctively blurted. My brain hadn't yet kicked my mouth into gear and failed to ask any of the questions a sane person would, like, Is he big? Little? Nice? Does he have any tags? But by the time I thought about it, the aforementioned nurse was flinging open an exam room door and merrily singing "Here he is!" I watched as one very plump, very merry adorable little Dachshund ran out into the waiting room.

"Oh gosh, that's someone's baby," I said as I watched him prance from person to person, presumably looking for his Pet Parent. "Someone's definitely looking for him," I thought. My mind immediately advanced to the panic I'd feel if one of my own pack members slipped away from me. I felt a genuine sense of urgency to find this pet's person and fast.

But I had to get to work first I figured if nothing else, "Weenie Dog," as I quickly took to calling him, would have a better day in my cubicle surrounded by sympathetic pet lovers than he would in a doctor's exam room. I phoned my sister on the way to work and gave her the story. Somehow, she wasn't terribly surprised that I'd gone to the doctor for a flu shot and left with a weenie dog. Not surprised at all in fact.

She called the phone number for Pets911, which was listed the tag attached to Weenie Dog's collar. An automated system gave her a phone number for his Pet Parents, but when she called it, it had been disconnected. My heart sank a little bit, but I still felt so strongly that someone was missing that little guy a whole heckuva a lot and was trying to find him. And I also genuinely feel that we pet lovers are a tighter-knit group than we may ever know, so I believed that all was not lost.

Weenie was happy as a clam to arrive at work, he loved the attention from my co-workers (who also didn't seem *that* surprised that I'd left the doctor's office with a dog). "What are you going to do with him?" they asked. "Everything I'd want someone to do if they had found a member of my pack," I said. And I meant it.

I'd already formulated Operation Find Weenie's Parents in my mind, now I just had to carry it out. My first mission: checking the pets911 site for any lost dog postings or additional contact information for him. No sooner had I logged on and typed in the zip code where he was found did a lost dog posting pop up, complete with a photo of Weenie Dog. I was right, he was loved, he was very missed and someone really, really wanted him back.

I dialed the number on the ad and was talking to the person who belonged to Weenie Dog (whose real name is Oscar) within three rings. "Hi, my name is Catherine and I have your dog Oscar safe and sound," I said. I could hear a great sigh of relief and elation before getting down to the specifics with Oscar's dad. I told him about his pup's great adventure that morning and he offered to leave work immediately and pick him up.

I gave him directions and told him to look for the big PetSmart sign when he said, "PetSmart! My daughter works there." "Of course she does," I thought. One e-mail later and ol' Oscar was reunited with a familiar face and on his way home.

Oscar was by far the shortest-term temporary member of my ever evolving pack. And I was happy for it and for him. And even happier that I get to be a part of what I swear is that mere one degree of separation between all of us who love pets.

--Cat