Who is Doggy Dundee?
- Chase and Claire (aka Doggy Dundee)
We’re a team. Some folks know Doggy Dundee (a.k.a. Doggie Dundee) as Chase and Claire Krulikowski. Chase is a joyful, “Master” dog and Claire is an author and copywriter/editor.
We live in Talent, OR. where, one day, we suddenly started finding lost dogs – lots of lost or “without-owners-with-them-at-the-present- moment-hungry-and-confused” dogs. Somehow we always managed to entice them to let us help ‘em. We can’t turn away from a furry life (especially canine) in trouble even when we’ve got to hurry and get to work on time (can a life be cast aside in the name of commerce? Surely, there’s always time for compassion?) and started to prep for our daily walks, stowing an extra leash and tasty treats in our (well Claire’s) pocket. By the way, do you recall the 1986 movie, Crocodile Dundee? Check out the video just for fun!
Chase first spotted me when I was wandering through the back room of the Jackson County Animal Shelter as a volunteer. She was there with her twin sister and was just 12 weeks old. What a pair! Unfortunately, I had things going on at the house/in my life and told folks who were pushing me to adopt them quick that I just couldn’t do it that minute. When I returned for them, though, they’d both been adopted. Grrrr…Bitter disappointment, but I told a co-volunteer, “If they were meant to be with me, they’ll be back.” She looked at me like I was nuts: “Who’s gonna return cute little puppies, Claire?”
A month later, it was the end of May 2004, I returned and asked the front desk, “Any puppies?” The staff person was doing five things at once and answered, “One just got returned; hasn’t been back in the kennel more than 20 minutes. Don’t even have the paperwork done yet.”
I raced into the kennel and there was one of the pair – complete with that slight but tell-tale “white paint stain flecks of fur” on her head. When I stepped into the cage, she leaped on me and crawled up and onto my head – I couldn’t get a hold on her.
That was Chase! We’re soul-mates and have been together ever since. She’s the reincarnation of a previous dog pal of mine, Fable. (more on that in a future daily post). Chase just turned 5 years old on January 28th – same Aquarian birthdate as me.
The Tale of Daisy Mae
Daisy Mae - Safe at Last!
The dog that started it all! Doggie Dundee first spotted this Heeler X on a mid-week 6:30 a.m. walk in the early summer of 2008. The wily, cautious dog was behind a hedge licking the last tastes off a tossed aluminum foil wrapper. Kept it’s eyes on us and wouldn’t let us get within 20 feet. I started calling this cautious one, Amigo. Managed to entice it to follow us with some short whistle bursts and a steady stream of talking good wishes, but it stayed far behind from us. Would even follow us home and snatch some food left on my driveway, but wouldn’t get “up close and personal.”
The pooch was a constant in our life for five days – bribing the pooch to follow us with treats on our morning, our after work-late afternoon walks plus late evening strolls. It would get close, but not close enough. The folks at work heard the stories every morning when I came into work. But it took 5 days and nights of commited focus before I contrived to trap the pooch in my house. Left the door wide open very late into the night after our enticing walk, placed a bowl of food in the middle of the livingroom floor and kept playing with Chase in plain site inside the house. Amiga sat outside but finally,snuck inside to munch the canned food, and I snapped the door shut. Talk about shocked. Started looking around in panic for a way out, but realizing it was over, he crawled over to me, I knelt down and the dog fell fast asleep on my lap. Well, turns out Amigo was really Amiga.
What happened to the pooch? She was renamed Daisy Mae by the Jackson County Animal Shelter and was adopted several week later. Daisy Mae is TOTALLY devoted to her new owner and looks and plays like a million bucks! I see her sometimes at the Ashland, Oregon off-leash dog park. When I let loose our familiar whistle, she looks around, then comes charging straight at me for another grand reunion.
Nancy
Nancy
The woman who instigated this blog! Nancy Bolton-Rawles and I both worked as Website Copywriters for an Internet retailer. She was one of those who lived through my Daisy Mae tracking expeditions, which were soon followed by tales of other dogs.
“You’re like some kind of Doggy Dundee!” Nancy exclaimed one morning.
There were many other lost dog stories. Seemed like every week or two the staff could count on my walking in tired (and oftentimes dishevelled) but filled with satisfaction for a job well done whilest telling another lost-dog-found adventure.
It must have been after the 4th or 5th dog adventure (other than Daisy Mae, of course) that I walked in (a couple minutes late) only to be greeted by Nancy’s cheery, “Another saved dog, Doggy Dundee?”
She preceded to harass, cajole and persistently insist that, “You need to start a blog and tell everyone these stories !”
So, herein lies those tales …and more…
Hire Nancy! Nancy’s technical site-building skills was instrumental in setting up this blog. Starting out, I felt like Crocodile Dundee must have felt after leaving the Australian Bush and reconnoitering his way through Manhatten for the first time, but Nancy’s expertise (and patience) enabled the site to come to fruition and work so well. Contact her through her website, www.nancybolton.com. Also, feline lovers will enjoy her Katmandu blog.
Header Photo Credits
Isn’t that a great shot of dogs running exultant and free at an off-leash dog park? The dog park photo used in our header was taken by Ms. Aaron Honey at the East End Dog Park and can also be seen on this website. We appreciate her talent and the permission for use granted by Marsha Boggs at LASWA – the Los Alamos Sport and Working Dog Association (New Mexico).
The Doggie Dundee photo included in the header (and some elsewhere) were taken and edited by Nancy Bolton Rawles. What a gal pal – Hard to believe she shares her house with a cat!
Blog Directories
Doggy Dundee is featured on a few blog directories. Giving several a listing here:
