Hi again everyone!
What a rollercoaster life we have with this dog… I do sometimes wonder how he has managed to stay alive this long!
This time he decided to go for a little walk –on his own.
We had a friend visiting from Finland a couple of weeks ago and after a lovely walk in the park decided to chill out on the top floor terrace before going out. Miihkali had had a little swim in the bond so we left him downstairs to dry out. I went to have a little nap since I had got up before 5am and felt tired.
About half an hour later, through the sleep I heard someone say “No cant find him anywhere… oh God the front door is open!”
I can’t remember much of what happened after that but apparently none of the guys had seen anyone moving as fast as I did! I ran outside calling Miihkali, looking around but couldn’t see him anywhere. My heart was beating so fast, I felt the shivers going up and down my spine as I became more and more aware I may never see him again. It is all blurred but I will never forget that feeling. Miihkali is not worried about the traffic whatsoever. If he wants to get across the road he will without looking, even if there was a massive lorry speeding down his way! He has already been hit once and almost lost his eye in that incident and although he was upset about it didn’t change his attitude towards cars or traffic.
I kept calling him, asking people if they had seen a big black dog but nobody had seen it. Within half an hour he could have got anywhere, and I had no idea where to start searching.
Then my mobile rung. It was an Ipswich number and I knew it was about him. I remember answering and I was actually shouting my name down the line scared to hear the bad news.
The caller was one of the receptionists from Orwell’s vet surgery around the corner.
“Hello, have you lost your dog?” She asked with a friendly and happy voice. As soon as she started to talk I realized it couldn’t be anything too bad. She said Miihkali was fine and had been dropped off by a member of public. I rushed to the vets and when I got in and saw him I just collapsed on the floor sobbing and hugging him. God knows what the vet and receptionists were thinking… Miihkali was ever so pleased with himself, he wagged his tail looking at me as if to say;
“Oh mummy , didn’t realize you were here too! Great place, biscuits and lovely ladies looking after me!”
He had no idea what sort of a panic he had caused.
I found out that he had been wondering near the park on one of the busiest roads in our area, it happens to be the same road he got ran over before! He had been sailing there in the middle of the cars when a lovely lady spotted him and went to fetch him off the road. She called her relative who was driving a truck in the area, and came to pick him up as she was unable to take him to the vets. Miihkali jumped into the van happily as ever and was taken to the vets.
I still don’t know how this fantastic man managed to get him to our own vets, as there are a couple in that area. If he had been taken anywhere else nobody would have got my number as the microchip details were still registered in Dublin, including a mobile number that doesn’t even exist anymore! Because he was taken to the Orwell vets they were able to scan him there and found out he was registered with them, so had all the updated details! Miihkali never wore a collar in the house so there was no tag either.
Now all the microchip details have been updated and he DOES wear a collar in the house and everywhere at all times. I just remind everyone to microchip their pets and also make sure the details are correct, it may save your pet’s life! Having him chipped with a wrong address or phone number will not help anyone…
I called the guy who dropped him to the vets to thank him, it really was very kind of him and the right thing to do. And of course the lady who saved him from the passing cars, I dread to think what could have happened if she hadn’t been there.
This was indeed a happy ending and a very good example of how important chipping can be.
We haven’t really got much other news at the moment. I changed Miihkali’s diet as he kept shedding loads of hair for almost 3 months and there was also lots of dandruff and his skin got flaky and very itchy. I though he may be allergic to wheat so stopped giving him anything but this new Arden Grange food. It also has 18% fat in it, and after 3 weeks it has made a difference to his skin. I gave him Yumega Oil for almost three months, and although it worked fine first, it didn’t really have any effect after the first weeks so decided to stop buying it. It really seems to take a couple of months to confirm whether a product works or not, so fingers crossed this food will remain as good as it is at the moment!
