There’s really something to be said for noticing the little things in life, isn’t there? That’s what this column is often about. It’s even sweeter when it’s little eyes noticing the little things. It’s even sweeter yet when those little eyes notice the little things that end up making big differences!
Every day, four-year-old Baylee Craig walks to the mailbox with her mom Blaire to pick up the mail. Recently she’d noticed that a poster of a lost elderly dog had been put up along their route. Each day she had a look at the poor pooch on the poster and wondered where the dog was.
On the evening of Friday, May 28, Baylee was out front playing in her driveway with her family when she spotted a dog on their driveway.
The little girl knew exactly who the dog was, thanks to the poster on her mailbox walk.
It turns out Cal, the 12-year-old miniature schnauzer, had gone missing from the 5000 block of Langtree Road some 10 days earlier.
This is where networking takes over.
Blaire posted on her neighbourhood’s Facebook page that they’d found the dog and were trying to catch it.
By chance, her cousin’s sister-in-law was friends with the owner.
The pet, who is hard of hearing and often a little shaky, was just a couple of kilometres from home and not long after young Baylee found him on her driveway, Cal was reunited with his owner, who’d all but given up hope.
“He wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” said Candice Campbell, Cal’s grateful owner. “She definitely saved his life!”
Baylee is pleased to be of service.
“She tells people she helped find him and is a hero,” Blaire said. “It’s pretty cute.”
It’s the second time, at least, in the last month, that a dog has come out lucky in the end.
Did you hear about Stanley the four-year-old Western terrier poodle? Back in early May, his owner Amanda Willner was rushing out of the house to an emergency not knowing Stanley had followed. In her haste to get to the emergency — a true emergency: her friend had crashed her car and was upside down in a river — she didn’t realize the dog was under the vehicle when she put it in gear.
The full-sized truck ran over poor Stanley and he bolted into the bush in the Mountain Road/Koksilah area. Again, thanks to networking on Facebook, more than 100 people looked for the dog but couldn’t find him. Severely injured, almost 24-hours after the accident, Stanley came home and his owners rushed him to the emergency vet in Langford.
Diagnosed with a fractured face, internal bleeding, some air in his chest cavity and minor liver damage, the jumping athlete struggled to walk and was in pretty bad shape.
But Stanley, and his owners, they’re tough and progress has been slow but steady. Stanley is just fine.
“He is doing great. He is back to doing everything he loves, which is amazing,” Willner said.
Stanley’s remarkable recovery took roughly four weeks — a week or two sooner than projected.
“He is a very active guy, and younger, so I think he bounced back faster,” she added. “He is back to chasing squirrels and my chickens now.”
And her friend? She is OK, too.
“Honestly I don’t know who was watching out for all involved, but it’s a miracle,” Willner said.
We’ll take a four-year-old hero and a pair of miracle pooches any day!
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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