Cornered Office
with Mir Kamin
I'm a freelance writer and mother of two working from home, which theoretically means I can set my own schedule so as to best accommodate my family. In reality, "flexible hours" often equals "working too much." Yes, I'm my own boss; no, that doesn't mean life is easy. It's hard to leave the office when you live there. But I love what I do and feel very lucky. And not just because I get paid to work in my pajamas.
To learn more about Mir, check out her profile on Work It, Mom! or visit her blog at http://www.wouldashoulda.com/
Lost: One dog, and all my productivity
Categories: A mother's work is never done, Head hitting brick wall, My boss is an idiot
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Although I enjoy hanging around with my family and friends, I am, by nature, a rather solitary person. Loneliness is a common freelancer’s lament—long days in the home office, all alone, can start to feel like a lifetime in a cave—but for the most part I relish the quiet.
But I got to thinking that a dog would be awesome, because I’m here all the time, and it would give me some companionship during the day and the kids would be delighted to have a pet again (we haven’t had a dog since they were very small), and it all seemed like such a good idea. So the husband and I did our research and drove out to a rescue in the country and agreed to foster a particularly timid dog for two weeks. In two weeks we would see if he would come out of his shell and maybe be a good fit for our family.
Within three hours of getting him home, he bolted through the slats in the gate. That was four days ago, and the good news is that the dog is fine; he’s lounging around our neighborhood and when he’s not somewhere we can see him, the neighbors are calling to report he’s in their yards eating their cat food. The bad news is that no human can get within 10 feet of him.
The rescue isn’t returning my calls, and my local Animal Control office lent us a live trap but can’t do much more than that. A couple of nights ago we actually caught him in the trap and brought him back to the house…
… where he promptly slipped out of his collar and took off again.
Go ahead. Ask me how much work I’ve gotten done since this dog came home with us.
I have work I need to do. I’m still behind from the last bit of travel I did, and I have plenty to keep me busy. But I keep looking out the window. And fielding calls from the neighbors. And checking and rechecking the two (yeah, we went and got another one) traps we’ve set for him.
And all of that is aside from the crushing guilt I feel over having bungled this. Instead of the “surprise! we got you a dog!” announcement I was looking forward to giving my kids, they’ve become embroiled in The Hunt as well, and every morning they ask me if he’s been caught. At this point, the kids understand the dog will go back to the rescue if we’re able to trap him, but they’re still worried about him. As am I. Though it certainly looks like he can take care of himself; four days of scavenging in our neighborhood and he’s swaggering around like he owns the place. As long as you don’t get near him.
I can’t keep saying, “Well, I’ll get that done once the dog is safe.” As much as it pains me, I don’t know when or if that will happen. And in the meantime, I need to get to work or I’m going to have bigger problems than a lost dog.
While I was sitting here typing this, I watched him out my office window. He managed to spring the trap and run off.
*banging my head on the desk*
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I am so sorry, Mir. What an awful situation. We adopted a dog a few years ago. He was very sweet. After the adoption, we found out he had been adopted before and returned to the shelter. No one told us that. His disposition got more surly. He would bark and lunge at my husband. We took him to obedience class and had private time to work on his aggression. One day, he perceived a threat from my husband and bit him. We were starting a family and couldn’t keep him. I called the shelter. They would euthanize him, but would not let us be with him. I called other rescues and they would do the same thing. In the end, we brought him to the vet, paid the charge and held him while he was euthanized. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. We went home, got into bed and cried for the rest of the day. Whoever breaks the trust of a dog is an incredibly mean person. Please realize it was nothing you did. Try again. It is totally worth it.
ramseyquipp | August 12th, 2009 at 6:00 am
I suppose they won’t let you sneak tranqulizers into the bait . . . sigh!
ramseyquipp, you made me cry.
We’ve been in painful situations with rescued critters ourselves, so I know the stress that entails . . but not the additional stress of the work you’re missing! Good luck to you, sweetie.
Brigitte | August 12th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Thanks to you both for the kind words. We had a huge storm last night and this is the first morning we haven’t seen him around the neighborhood. I hope he’s okay.
Mir | August 12th, 2009 at 7:19 am
I am sure he is ok.-holed up somewhere dry. I keep checking in for updates on him. I can’t wait to hear about your happiness with you next dog!
ramseyquipp | August 13th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Our dog growing up slipped the fence and was in the wild for over a week. We found him a mile away, near school where the custodians managed to help trap him.
He had the best day of life with kids sneaking him the food they didn’t want off their trays…
But my mother was truly aggravated I’m sure looking back. He was already an established pet and didn’t hurt or bite anyone so there was no taking him back to the shelter or euthanization.
ramsey - I’m curious as to what would make a dog more surly over time; seems there may have been a genetic issue there.
Mich | August 14th, 2009 at 1:03 pm