DOG JAIL

The past few weeks have been some of the hardest times Devin and I have lived through.  We have a great family and a wonderful daughter that has helped us with our struggles.   We hoped that December would bring a brighter and more hopeful month.

I'll just start by saying....December 1st wasn't so bad...till we were going to bed.  

This is my dog Aspen, or at least I used to refer to her as my dog.    Now, she's Devin's

ASPEN a couple months old

I picked her out when she was a pupply, Devin and Kodi help out but I am the one that takes care of her 

(for the most part)  

I've never had my own pet before.  Kodi LOVES her.  We named her Aspen after a little girl at Kodi's old sitter who was terribly mean to Kodi. (yep, this was my idea...at least this way hearing the name makes us think of our dog, not the mean little brat in Springville)

It has been below freezing conditions out here during the night.  (for example:  it was -4 degrees this past Monday night)   We've been letting Aspen sleep in the garage on cold nights, but when it started getting this cold, we moved her kennel to the basement.  She is great and sleeps all night, she doesn't make a noise until I take her out when I leave for work each morning.

On December 1st, Devin went out to bring her in for the night and she was no where to be found.   Her pen was open and apparently (from our limited investigating skills) she had jumped against the door of her chain link dog run until she had loosened the latch and was able to ESCAPE.   Trying to be good pet owners, we never letter her out of her dog pen unless we are outside with her.  So, as you can imagine, she must have bolted like a bat out of hell at her first sign of true freedom.  Devin drove the streets of our neighborhood and I sat on the porch calling her name and whistling till well after 10:30PM.   We couldn't find her.  I dropped Kodi off at school and drove the neighborhood some more before work- she was gone.   We found out later Wednesday that someone on the next street to the south found her and called animal control to turn her into the Utah County Animal Shelter.   Kodi didn't know she was ever lost, I didn't tell her before I dropped her off at school.  I still can't believe Aspen made it through the night - it was cold!  I picked Kodi up from school to drive to the animal shelter to claim her and Kodi said, "I can't believe Aspen is in DOG JAIL."

So after paying $85 dollars in impound and licensing fees (bail), and a "dog at large" citation...we got her home.  She slept from the time we got home till we left for work this morning.  Devin says he is going to figure out a way for her to earn/pay us back the money.   I think if she takes off again, we won't be picking her up.