TL:DR/ We rescued a dog and it was a faff, like being in a convoluted video game mission.
This afternoon me, Mrs B, our Son and his Girlfriend went out in the car with our dog, Daphne, to take her for a walk at a local beauty spot. We live in a little village in a rural area.
About 5 minutes into the drive we spot what looks like a baby fox on the verge of a small lane, which as we get closer is a dog, with no collar, looking scared. We pull up and decide to rescue it.
Girlfriend claps her hands and announces "side quest!" excitedly. (Both Son and Girlfriend are gamers).
We take Daphne's lead (leash) off and grab some dog treats. The loose dog is wary and runs off. We managed to locate it in some bushes and coax out with treats. Once the lead appears doggo backs off again so we hide it and try and gain trust. Eventually, whilst distracted the lead is on.
As our car is full, we're wary of trying to put this scared pooch in with us or in the back with Daphne, so decided Mrs B would walk back the 20 minutes to our house where we can regroup and formulate a plan. I drive back with Daphne and kids to wait.
Upon arrival I realised we needed a lead to get Daphne out safely so I go in and look for the spare. I then remembered Mrs B had been using it while up on scaffolding outside our house (we're painting the exterior), for hoisting buckets between levels rather than carry up ladders.
So now I am scrambling 2 storeys up on scaffolding, looking for the lead to get Daphne from the car. Got it. Release the hound!
[The picture attached is of the section of scaffolding where the lead was found]
I then realised Mrs B would have to walk past the farmyard along the lane, the one where the farmers dogs attacked Daphne a while ago (we never walk there now but there's no way round in this case). So then I had to run back to head them off and provide extra protection for our new furry charge should we need it.
Met them just by the farmyard, dogs were barking but not visible, we hurried down the lane into our village. We reached 100 yards from our door when a car pulled up, wound the window and the passenger, who has a dog on her lap asked, "this is going to sound odd, but is that your dog?"
Achievement unlocked! Side quest completed.
We then all bundled back into our car to continue our Sunday dog walk level.
P.S. the dogs name was Ben, which is a nice coincidence as it's the Fediverse favourite Ben's birthday today 🥖🐒
