Sanfran’s Journey
Sara had 2 very loving and large dogs that were her best friends. Their names were Ukiah and Sanfran and both of them were boys that were named after beautiful cities in the state of California. When Sara was a sophomore in high school her 16 year old dog, Ukiah, died from a brain tumor on Memorial Day weekend. He lived a long happy life but it was so sad and very hard to say goodbye for her family and for his life long friend Sanfran who was lost without his furry best friend. Sara’s family was very worried about how lonely Sanfran had become and how much Sanfran was moping around.
Sara could tell he was very sad and hated the thought of having to leave him the next weekend to go out of town for her soccer tournament. She did not want to board him at the kennel because he was already depressed so she asked her neighbor friend who was her same age if she would like to make some extra money and take care of Sanfran while they were out of town for the weekend. Sara thought he would be more comfortable at home and her friend agreed to do so.
While Sara was playing forward in her first game of the weekend her neighbor had sent a text to her phone that said that her dog had ran away from home! Since Sara was playing her game she had her phone was away so she did not see the message until after they won their game. When she saw the message Sara began to panic. She called her neighbor and asked her to explain what exactly had happened. She said that she let Sanfran outside in the front yard to go potty and get some sun while she was inside my house going to the bathroom. When she went out front to let him in she said he was just gone. Sara could not believe what she was telling her. Sanfran had never left her yard before. Sara asked her friend to go outside and look for him. She said she called his name earlier and he didn’t come, so Sara asked her to go search for him but her parents would not let her leave the house because they were in the middle of her grandma’s family birthday party. Soon Sara’s entire family was starting to panic and make telephone calls to everyone that they knew that could help look for Sanfran for them while they were a 3 hour drive away.
After many phones calls made by Sara’s friends and family on the soccer team Sara thought she had half of the city looking for her puppy. Sara had to start her second game and it was very hard to play or concentrate because she kept worrying about Sanfran. It was hard for her to score goals because she couldn’t see through the tears in her eyes and her stomach was in knots. She kept looking at her parents for some kind of sign but they would just shake their head no as they stayed on their cell phones calling everyone they knew. All of a sudden Sara looked over her my mom and her best friend’s mom Kathy were jumping up and down with one cell phone to each of their ears. They were shouting words like YES and THANK YOU. Sara was so excited she kicked in three goals in a row so the coach would pull her out to rest so she could hurry up and go to the sidelines to find out what was going on with Sanfran. It sounded like he may have been found.
They explained to Sara that Sanfran was seen by her best friends Aunt Lisa on a very busy road with a lot of traffic and that is who the mom’s were talking to but he would not come to her when she called him. Then the chase began. Sanfran is typically a very lazy dog and does not run very much but on this day he ran for hours. They had 10 people off and on taking shifts chasing him through the neighborhoods and around Sunfish Creek. No one could catch him. Sanfran picked up a friend from two neighborhoods over from his own to join him on his run, a Black Lab that looked very much like his friend he lost last weekend, Ukiah. According to Sara’s friends the two dogs appeared to be having a lot of fun together avoiding being caught. They went swimming in Sunfish Creek and rolled in the tar pits on the side of the creek. The parents of the young Black Lab finally caught him. Sanfran still would not come to anyone but yet he followed his new friend and owner home. Finally he was cornered in the Black Lab’s owner’s garage. By this time Sara had played in four soccer games and was so mentally and physically drained that she felt like she was going to pass out. As soon as she found out that Sanfran was safe she came completely back to life. Sara was so happy that she could have kicked in a hundred goals or played four more matches.
Sanfran and his new friend were very dirty. The owners of the black lab and Sara’s best friend’s Aunt Lisa were communicating with her and trying to decide what to do with him. They said he was too dirty to put into anyone’s car and take him home so he needed a good soap scrubbing. They told Sara he was covered in tar and mud and they were scrubbing him for over an hour. Sanfran loves to get baths so he was enjoying all of the attention and now Sara was very happy for him. All the pain and fear that she had went through for a long 6 hours had now turned to joy and happiness. I knew that my puppy was finally going to be alright. Then Sara got another call from her best friend’s aunt Lisa. She was very worried because Sanfran had been hurt really badly. While they bathed him he would not stand on his back left foot and when they tried to clean is back left leg he cried very loudly. Now Sara’s emotions were back to worrying again. What could possibly be wrong with him? Everyone offered to take him to the vet but it was late on a Saturday night and everyone had already gone through so much trouble for her that she asked her best friends Aunt if she would just keep him at her house in a crate for the night and they would pick Sanfran up on their way home tomorrow. She agreed and Sara’s family was very relieved to have Sanfran safe and sound in a home that he will be cared for, fed and watched.
The drive home to Bethel from Columbus that Sunday evening had seemed like an all day event to Sara. Her soccer team had won the bid to Nationals so they met their goal for the season at this weekend’s tournament but all Sara could think about was seeing her dog. When they finally arrived at Sara’s best friends Aunts house, Sanfran was so very happy to see his family but he also seemed to be in a lot of pain. He would not stand on his back left leg and he cried when Sara touched it. They took Sanfran to his vet on Monday morning and they had some x-rays taken. It appeared that Sanfran had torn all of the ligaments in his knee joint during his run Saturday. Sanfran will have to have surgery to put screws and wires in his leg so that he can use his leg again. Sanfran had his surgery on Wednesday and he got to come home on Friday. Soon he was back to the lazy Sanfran that they left that Saturday morning.
Sanfran’s Vet said that all of the running he did was too much for him because he was so out of shape and over weight from being lazy. The vet also felt that Sanfran could be depressed from losing Ukiah and was running the neighbor to try and find him. Sara had to put Sanfran on a diet and cut out all people food and snacks. Sanfran’s healing process was very long and painful for him but after 9 months he finally got a clean bill of health. Sara’s family no longer will ask anyone for help with Sanfran when they go out of town for all of Sara’s soccer tournaments. They now always drop him off at the Animal hospital where he had his surgery and they treat him like a King. He gets to sit in the office with the clerks. They give him diet treats all day and they tell him he’s in heaven. Sanfran is now 13 years old and spends almost every summer weekend at the animal hospital with his other family when Sara and her family are out of town so Sara never has to worry about him again. She knows he is very well taken care of and in good hands. Sara loves her Sanfran very much.
