Liam has very little interest in his own toys anymore. He is, however, very drawn to electrical things…chords, cell phones and especially our laptop.

Turbo is somewhat of a gypsy not to mention escape artist. If there’s a way out of confinement he’ll find it and go off exploring. He did exactly that in the middle of the night on Saturday. The wind had pushed our make-shift chicken wire fence gate open. Being that it was dark, Mike didn’t notice it right away. He came back in a panic, grabbing his jeans and, with Liam in tow, we took both cars and spent most of the early morning trying to find him. Make a long story short, some kind hearted person from Woodland Hills estate found him around lunch time the next day and gave us a call. For those who don’t know where we live, Turbo would have had to cross a couple of major highways (for B’vill anyway) to get to that area of town.

We got Turbo from the shelter a few years ago. It was about a year after we bought Chani who was still a puppy and very energetic. We had discussed several times about getting a second dog to keep her company and because there was just something about having two dogs that she seemed so nice and balanced. Chani was a birthday gift for Mike and she has always been sort of his dog. Turbo…well, he’s definitely mine. The minute I met him, I felt something very kindred about him. We have a lot in common. We’ve both got anxiety issues and we’re both a little gypsy. I’ve always had a thing for strays in general, be man or beast, and Turbo has this quality about him, something in his eyes that says “love me love me don’t leave me alone” and I’ve always pulled to that sort of thing. However, despite how dear he is to me, he can be an amazing pain in the ass sometimes. He demands a great deal of attention. He has this annoying habit of standing right at my feet, following me around everywhere I go, and climbing on me every time I sit down (had a boyfriend like this once).

I’m not sure but I think this may be one of the reasons Mike does not particularly like Turbo. There may be a kind of alpha battle going on between them. Whatever it may be, Mike has been known to avoid Turbo’s pleas for attention on purpose. He was quite vocal about it on Saturday afternoon, only a few hours before Turbo disappeared. Turbo is very gentle and is very good at sitting. I’ve worked with him as much as possible to show him that I will gladly pet him if he refrains from climbing or jumping on me. So he walked over to Mike and did a very elegant sit right in front of him, tail still wagging, ears flopped back. Mike just stood there. My mom kindly brought Turbo to his attention and Mike responed with “I’m not going to pet him. I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me.” I’m not entirely sure where this came from in Mike. He has a rather dry sense of humor which is, in fact, one of the things I’ve always loved in him. However, there are times when he says things that are meant to be taken in jest that will instead inspire contrary impulses in me, like wanting to hit him hard over the head with a kitchen broom yelling “Just pet the damn dog, you jerk!”.

So after we spent the morning searching for Turbo, after it became clearer and clearer that we may never see him again, I asked Mike about what he had said and before I could even finish my question he said “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that all night.” I, in turn, felt just as guilty since I have spent many a day recently letting out my exacerbation and stress on Turbo because, well he happen’s to be right there at my feet. It was hard not to imagine Turbo jumping at the opportunity to leave his home on purpose, a little like a disgruntled teenager. “Yeah, whatever, you guys don’t care, I’m leaving.”

I also sort of wondered whether he might have been wanting to leave for a long time. When we picked him up from the shelter we were told that he had already been there twice before, that he was obviously a wonderer at heart or just neglected so bad that he had no choice but to wonder. Sometimes I just wish I could get inside his head and learn his story. I can sort of imagine him growing up out in the country somewhere. Mike was raised in the country and had country dogs growing up. When I would go up to stay with him at his parent’s place I was always amazed to see his dog and the neighbor’s dogs just wondering around, no leash, nothing. They were fed once a day early in the morning and would just wonder off, usually not seen again until the sun went down at the end of the day. What a wonderful way for a dog to live. Our dogs? I’m a suburbia girl. Our dogs eat small portions of food three times a day because the American Vetranarian’s Society recommends it for easier digestion. If they’re depressed, they take doggy prozac. If they go somewhere outside of this house, it’s either on a leash or in a car….with a seat belt. Yes, my dogs have their very own seat belts. If I were Turbo, and if I were raised in the country, I would have a very difficult time adjusting to this type of lifestyle. I can just imagine what goes on in his head “You psycho lady, what the hell? Seat belts?!”

Who knows what he was thinking when he discovered that gate wide open and wondered off. I’m just glad he’s back. I think he’s glad he’s back too, at least right now. Zeus almighty decided to unleash the mother of all lightening storms on us tonight. I’ve pretty much been up with both Chani and Turbo since 2am. I think he was up pacing the house before that but luckily I was fast asleep and couldn’t hear them. I was suprised to discover Chani trembling too. Usually she’s pretty indifferent to storms. The only way I seem to be able to calm them down is to turn on a bunch of lights in the house and turn the t.v. on., thereby drowing out all the lightening and thunder. I guess, in some ways, this is probably ridiculous. How many of us out there create a special environment for their dogs so they can sleep through a thunderstom.