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PERKY POM HOME AGAIN AFTER BEING STOLEN Chorpus Christi, Texas The Chorpus Christi Caller Times reports that "King", a punchy little Pomeranian allegedly stolen from a yard in Oklahoma City last October was spotted causing a spectacle in the Coastal Bend area of Texas. On Jan. 9, 2001. Alonzo Gutierrez and his 13-year-old daughter Megan were returning home when they saw an unusual sight: a big, blue van following a little, lanky boy chasing a tiny, tan dog. "He jumped out of the van and chased the dog," explains Mr. Gutierrez. But the boy could never get close enough to the elusive Pomeranian. "The dog kept going." The Gutierrezes were further perplexed when they saw the boy and the van simply give up the chase and pull away. That's when Mr. Gutierrez and Megan decided to try capturing the dog themselves, which turned out to be a surprisingly simple task for them. The little dog practically leaped into Megan's hands. Remarkably, the dognappers (who had lured the dog from his Oklahoma yard with a trail of jerky treats) didn't think to remove his collar, which clearly stated King's name, place of origin and phone number. Well, almost his phone number; one final hitch was that a single digit of the number was illegible, prompting Judy Gutierrez, Alonzo's wife, to begin dialing the 10 possible combinations. She soon reached the Dye residence in Crescent, Oklahoma where King's family had—after three months of posting notices, running local ads, calling lost-pet hotlines and saying prayers—practically given up hope of finding their 11-year-old pet. King had been a part of the Dye family since he was a puppy, says Shirley Dye and J.L., her husband. They told the Gutierrezes that King had been stolen from their daughter's yard in Oklahoma City while they were on vacation last year. They never expected that King would show up in another state. "When I told him we were in Corpus Christi, Texas, he was really floored," said Judy Gutierrez. Two days later, the Dye family showed up with camcorders whirring, cameras snapping and enough tears to drown the little escapist. "We were all crying," said Judy Gutierrez. "It was really beautiful. The lengthy odyssey took some minor tolls on King, who had lost 4lbs. (out of 10) and had to have two loose teeth removed. But the drama may well have been worth it. After all, what 77-(human)-year-old can boast about that sort of excitement? DogsInTheNews.com 20-LB. POMERANIAN SAVES DROWNING MAN New Westminster, B.C. (Canada) Keith Thorp, 66, from Queensborough, was walking down the dock at midnight, May 23 when he slipped and fell into the Annacis Channel (Fraser River). Mr. Thorp was unable to haul himself back up, reports the Vancouver Sun, and in the dark, secluded and chilly waters he didn't stand a chance of staying afloat for long. After half an hour of calling for help in vain, the man began to lose hope. "I was almost unconscious," he says. "I was beginning to think I couldn't hang on any longer in the cold water." Enter: "Hunter the Cookie Monster" (wow, what a great suggestion for the Dog Net's Dog Name Generator). Hunter, a fluffy little Pomeranian/Corgi mix was the only one around to notice Mr. Thorp's distress. The 11-year-old pooch went right into action. Now, before that night, Hunter's most famous trick was something called the "whirlwind". When he gets excited, Hunter tends to whirl around in a circle yapping his head off. Hunter ran to the nearest neighbor, Mike Saunders, and put on the yapping show of a lifetime, startling Mr. Saunders awake in the middle of the night. "I didn't understand what he was talking about at first," said the neighbor. "Then I caught on that something was wrong." Mr. Saunders followed Hunter back to the dock where Mr. Thorp was still clinging to life. He successfully pulled the man out and had him transported to the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. Mr. Thorp was released the next morning in good condition. The next day and ever since, Mr. Thorp (a former singer on a ship) has been singing the praises of his fluffy friend of seven years, Hunter the Cookie Monster. "He's my little buddy," the man says. "I don't know what I'd do without him." And there's no doubt who the real talent is between the two of them and their "amazing whirlwind" act. Mr. Thorp says as he sips on a mickey of Canadian Club: "All I did was fall in the river." DogsInTheNews.com |