Country Chicken Girl: A Happy Dog Story!

This is a story of our friend Dan, aka Dan the CSA Man. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. If you don't know what that is, just google it. But like I said, this is a story about Dan, not the CSA, and Dan's dog Jesse.

A couple of weeks ago, Dan called me on Friday night explaining that he would probably not be at the winter farmer's market on Saturday. He and his girlfriend, Danelle, had been hiking on Friday with Jesse in Carter Canyon. Jesse was hiking along like most normal dogs do, running a head of Dan and Danelle and then coming back to where she could see her people and then running a head again. Towards the end of the day the wind started to pickup and the next thing that Dan and Danelle knew, Jesse was missing. They called and called for her, but the wind was just too strong and they figure Jesse could not hear them. (Have ever tried to yell at someone in the wind in hopes that they could hear you? It is a lost cause, especially if the wind is blowing towards you and they are in front of you.)

The daylight quickly faded and Dan and Danelle had no choice but to hike back to the truck without Jesse. They figured they would head out at daylight and backtrack where all they had been with hopes of finding Jesse.

When they returned home, Dan called me to tell me that he porplably would not make it to the farmer's market since he and Danelle would be heading out at daylight to try to find Jesse. I told him how sorry I was that Jesse was missing and wished them luck in finding her. And being the mother that I am, I told him all the other things he should do to report a missing dog, although I am sure that he already knew.

After we hung up, I told my man Dan the situation. We both felt awful for Dan and Danelle. We're animal lovers and there aren't too many situations sadder than a lost pet.

From here on out, to make the story less confusing, I will refer to Dan the CSA Man simply as Dan and my man Dan as Danny.

The next morning Danny, my man, took off to take care of the cattle and I stayed behind to go to the farmer's market. Around 10:30 in the morning I get a text from Danny that said "You'll never guess what I found this morning!" After I read it, a picture text comes from Danny of a new born calf and this message "Sweetheart had her calf!" "Wow!!!" I thought! We were under the impression that Sweetheart was open since she did not calve when the rest of the cows had thier babies in May and June. She must have gotten bred really late!

Then I got the most shocking text from Danny which said... "AND I have Dan's dog in the cab with me!"

"WHAT?!?"

I had to read that last text again. How could he possibly have Dan the CSA Man's dog in the pickup truck with him? They lost Jesse in Carter Canyon, which is at least 15 miles from where the cows are located.
I promptly called Danny on the phone and asked him where he was and what in the world was he talking about. The conversation went something like this...

ME: What do you mean you have Dan's dog in the truck with you AND I can't believe Sweetheart had a calf!

DANNY: When I got here, I saw a dog laying down in the corral and was wondering where she had come from. Then I thought that she MIGHT be Dan's dog, but highly doubted it.

So Danny stopped the truck and called to the dog. The dog wasn't wanting to come to Danny so he decided to call Dan and ask him what Jesse looked like. Dan described his dog to Danny. It was definitely the same dog. The cell connection was a little spotty since Dan was still hiking in Carter Canyon so Danny told him to call when he had better cell service. Before they lost connection, Danny asked Dan what the dog's name was and Dan told him Jesse.

After they lost service, Danny called to Jesse and she came to him, but was still a little timid. Danny opened the door of the truck and asked Jesse if she wanted to get in and she jumped right in with him. Jesse rode around with Danny as he checked on the cows and worked on the fence. Dan called again when he had better service and Danny told him the good news that he had Jesse in the truck with him and that she was safe and sound! Dan and Danelle had split up while they were looking for Jesse so it took them a little while to meet up with Danny and Jesse.

Danny said Jesse just rode around with him tending the cattle and fences in a quite manner.

As soon as Dan's truck was in sight, Jesse spotted it from inside the cab and grew more and more excited as it approached. She went from quietly sitting in the passenger's seat to standing and wildly waggin her tail! When Dan got to where Danny was, Danny let Jesse out of the truck. She started to run towards Dan but then cowarded a little as she got closer. I am certain she thought she was in a little trouble. Dan told her it was okay and got down on his knee and Jesse ran to him and covered him with doggie kisses. It was probably hard to tell who was happier to see one another, Jesse or Dan!!!

We figure Jesse found her way to that set of corrals because Dan has been helping Danny work over there putting up fence and other jobs so Dan and Jesse had been there a few times together and just recently before this incident working on the corrals. Jesse probably had to of trekked least 15 miles cross country to get to the corrals. I am certain once she got there, she decided to stay put because she recoginzed the place and the smells.

It was especially a blessing that Dan had even called us Friday night and told us that Jesse was missing or Danny would not have even given Jesse a second thought when he saw her. He would have just figured it was some local farm dog out running about.

We're still amazed at Jesse's trek and are still talking about it!