[nagdu] Haas anyone ever gotten lost in their own yard?

Tue Apr 7 16:48:49 UTC 2009

Allison, 
Sounds like you handled everything well. 
Joy wrote you an excellent post as well. 
You overcame your panic and you learned something, you did good.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Allison Nastoff
Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 10:08 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Haas anyone ever gotten lost in their own yard?

Hi List,
I had a rather frightening experience last night.  I was wondering if a
similar experience has ever happened to any of you, or am I the most
directionally challenged person in the history of humankind (grin).
Usually, I can brag that Gilbert is a perfectly behaved dog.  He always
obeys me, and when I take him out to relieve, I take him to his
designated spot just off the porch in the grass, he does his business
efficiently, and we go back into the house without incident.  But every
once in a while, and it seems to be when snow has just melted, and there
are all kinds of new currious scents, he will get so preoccupied with
sniffing that he leads me far past his relieving area, and I get lost.
It has only happened twice, but last night was the most frightening
because it was midnight and I was completely alone.  On top of that, I
forgot to put my cell phone in my coat pocket, and I didn't even bring
his harness so he could work me home if I got lost.  Living in the same
house for 18 of my 19 years, you would think I should know the way
around my own yard right?
Anyway, I live in a rural suburban area with no sidewalks and a two acre
yard.  I took Gilbert into the grass, and he peed like he was supposed
to, but then he started walking and sniffing.  At first, I thought he
was just sniffing out the perfect spot to poop, but after awhile when we
started getting farther and farther from the house, I realized he was
sniffing out of naughtiness, not looking for a place to poop.  I gave
him a correction and tried to tell him firmly, "let's go home.  The
trainer did recommend that I have Gilbert on a long leash when he
relieves, but I prefer short leash because on long leash, it is harder
to tell when he is squatting to poop, and harder to find it when he is
done.
I turned in what I thought was the direction of my house, and used an
old trick I figured out when I used to get myself off the school bus and
walk up the driveway.  I slapped my right leg with my hand, and the
sound echoes off the house, thus leading me in the right direction.
What I didn't realize until last night though is that this echoe can
also bounce off trees, so before I knew it, I was walking into a clump
of trees.
A huge weakness of mine is that I am a panicker, so when I realized that
I had walked into a clump of trees, of course I panicked.  I ran in
circles trying to pick up an echoe, and when I did hear one and follow
it, I only went deeper into the trees.  
I tried shouting for help but no one heard me.  I tried waving my arms,
but there was nobody outside, and even if there had been, I now realize
they probaly wouldn't have been able to see me from where I was anyway.
I don't know how long I wandered in panick, but finally rational
thinking did set in.  I realized that I could either camp out there all
night, or calm down and retrace my steps.  I knew I was capable of the
latter.  I told Gilbert to sit, took deep breaths, and realized that I
could hear cars.  If I followed the sound of the distant cars, I would
end up back at my driveway.  I turned around, ducked through the tree
branches and followed the cars.  When I slapped my leg again, I heard
the familiar echoe, and this time the echoe led me the right way.  I
have never been so overjoyed to feel blacktop under my feet!
Last night during the ordeal, I was on the verge of tears, but since all
ended well, I can now reflect back and laugh.  If I made it home alive
in the worst possible circumstances, getting lost on my college campus
will be a piece of cake now.  And I also learned why cell phones were
invented (grin).
Allison and Gilbert

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