White Dog continued to sit on the fainting couch. "Where is Puff? Show me, Baby Girl." I looked to Sachi and then the others, "Come on you guys where is she. We can hear her but..." Steve had his flashlight and was looking under and behind even the most impossible places. Every couple of minutes, Puff would utter her "Help me I am stuck" trill (she does not really bark much any more, it is more of a soft moan). I was starting to become alarmed.
Zsofia came in and sat on the huge dog bed stuffed under the far edge of the couch next to the wall. "Did you pass on your Houdini magic to Puffers?" I asked her. "Where is she!" Zso stood up on the bed and looked through the narrow crack between the leg of the couch and the wall itself. "Nice try, Sweetie," Steve told her "but I already looked under there four times. She is not there."
Something in every pup's focus on that area finally clicked. "Pull the bed out," I said to Steve. It was not an easy task; the big fluffy mastiff sized bed is wedged under the seat quite a way back but Steve wiggled and pulled at it. And as he did we heard Puff sigh again. "She 's there somehow!" he cried muscling the last of the mattress out.
There she stood, not behind the dog bed as we thought, but rather, stuck between the wall and the sofa end. The curved feet of the couch when snugged up against the complicated old-fashioned baseboard moulding leaves a gap between the wall and the actual sofa of less than six inches.
As part of the aging process our Little Old Lady sometimes seems to seek out impossible places to just stand in...like the vegetable storage or behind the bathroom door. Somehow she was attracted this night to that sliver of comfort but then could not get out. She was hidden from Steve's searching by the dog bed and was too far back in the nook to be noticed standing there.
Steve gently extracted her and held her close. "Baby Girl," you had us all worried." he told her before handing her into my arms. I cradled her and brushed the dust bunnies off of her legs. I looked at White Dog, "Not a word about housekeeping. None of you! Thank you all for helping but you must remember we humans can be pretty dense. Next time do not be so cryptic... loud bark, a point, a wagging tail would be much appreciated."
Steve petted Puff's head. "Not that we WANT a next time."
3 comments:
Gussie seems to be getting disoriented occasionally too. Teka is not into hinting. She tells us where he is hiding. The same way she tells us when either of them have peed on the rugs. She barks and she points. Not one for subtlety is our girl
Ah yes....the black hole behind the sofa....we have one here too
Andy is sure glad everything came to pass with all parties involved being ok. He sends belated nose pokes to Puff.
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