gotshoo?

Mrs. Shoo giving me her best fishy face.

Clancy is a special dog. I don’t know if it is a short bus kind of specialness, or a sweet cuddly attention whore kind of special. He’s our dog. We love him no matter what. Sometimes.

Saturday, I was getting the bikes ready to hit the Lost Bridge Trail. Mrs. Shoo was getting the required water bottles and locking the house up. It was a beautiful day and we were both psyched to hit the trail as it was our first official ride of 2008.

“Hey honey, I don’t think we have enough excitement in our lives. Can you make the dogs do something crazy?”

Mrs. Shoo is walking towards me when I hear her yell, “Clancy” as the dog with a mutated greyhound gene runs past at full speed. Nothing unusual as Clancy has gotten out before and it’s a small chore to get him back home. Usually. Today was different, he had the big prize in mind. He wasn’t going back easy.

At first he runs a few houses down, stops to smell a bush and pee on it. I am walking at a quick but medium pace because the minute you start charging after him, he books it. The dog must think it’s a game of chase because his tail is wagging and he’s got that look, ‘You’ll never catch me, suckers!’

As soon as I get within 20 feet he looks back and starts heading towards one of the busiest streets in Springfield, Wabash. Mrs. Shoo is behind me yelling at Clancy to come home, but every word must have antagonized him to run faster and further.

By this time Clancy is on the sidewalk that runs parallel with Wabash. I hop a fence to cut him off. Mrs. Shoo runs the pattern for the interception. As soon as I get close enough, Clancy dashes directly towards Mrs. Shoo. Were both thinking, this is it, we’re going to get the dog home.

Not a chance.

Clancy makes a dash right into oncoming traffic.

I don’t know what Mrs. Shoo was thinking, but I was just in disbelief.

The good Samaritan drivers must have been out Saturday because all four lanes stopped. Mrs. Shoo hi-tails it across the street as Clancy has decided that he’s going to check out the Inter Urban bike trail. Meantime, I am still standing in disbelief. Not only did the dog get across unharmed but Mrs. Shoo is sprinting like there is no tomorrow. I finally snap out of it and make an executive decision to get the car and pick them up.

Mrs. Shoo tells me that Clancy almost got hit by another couple of cars and almost took out a biker. His stopping point. A dog in a backyard. I pick the two up and Mrs. Shoo is happy and pissed at the same time. Her words, “I am happy Clancy didn’t get hit because I would have killed him if he did.”

Yup, he’s special alright.

 Taken a few minutes before these feet were in hot pursuit.