NewlyNested: Tango Without Cash

.

a blogumn by Debra Goykhman

The first article I ever wrote for Fierce and Nerdy was about Tango & Cash, my doggies that I adopted from the Rancho Coastal Humane Society (RCHS) when we first moved to San Diego.  Now I have returned to the rambunctious duo after we had a little scare last week.  My husband and I traveled to Philadelphia for my sister-in-law’s wedding.  While we were gone Tango & Cash decided to go on a little adventure of their own.

During our second evening in Philadelphia my husband received a call from our dogsitter and I could tell by his “wows!” that it was not good.  An instant overprotective mommy feeling took over my body and I found myself hysterical, questioning, “what has happened to my babies!”  When he hung up I remember him trying to say, “stay calm,” but that was already not going to happen.  Now, before I tell you what happened I have to say it wasn’t the dogsitter’s fault.  We live in Southern California and most people by the coast don’t have air conditioning.  While the dogsitter was at work– she is the kennel manager — Tango & Cash decided to jump through her screen windows and hunt some rabbits in her neighbor’s yard.

What happened after that is only theory.  What we all knew was Tango came back to the sitter’s front door by the time she came home and Cash was nowhere to be found.  This is unusual because the two are inseparable.  If you take them away for a minute when they reunite you can hear the violins playing and sniffles from the balcony.  The theory is that they decided to also start jumping fences and Tango (the small but dominate one) couldn’t keep up with Cash.  When the sitter asked Tango to find Cash he would just go back in her house and whimper.

As it grew dark in California and even darker in Philly, I was ready to abandon the wedding and fly back to find him.  Of course no one else thought this was a good idea, so instead I posted on the internet as best I could, offering a reward if Cash was found.

When we woke up the next morning there was still no information about Cash.  I only received some very supportive emails from random strangers on the internet and past employees of the kennel where our sitter works.  Then by noon Eastern Time my husband received a phone call from someone who had found Cash at the bottom of Sunset Cliff in Ocean Beach.  Cash was trying to not be swept away by the tide, but having trouble because he was exhausted and out of it.

Cash is fine.  The likely scenario is that he smelled his favorite place on earth (the ocean) and tried to go there, but when he arrived fell down the cliff.  He had amnesia for a day and cut up pads.  With rest he has made a recovery, but still has to let his pads heal more, so the worst part of it is he can’t run now, even though he is crying to go out when Tango does.

My last blog I wondered when mommy hood was right for me.  Now with the dogs running away I’m wondering if I could handle the emotional roller-coaster of raising a human being.  I’m bad enough with dogs!  Now with my boys being even more rambunctious than before, what is a girl supposed to do when she wants to travel again?