How I lost Auggie yet again...

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

...well, almost. You do need to start a story with a catch phrase, right?

Auggie is fortunate enough to be in touch with his real brother Jack. They went together to the same socialization class when they were just tiny-tiny skinny-butt puppies and they also met a few times for a local doodle romp.

And yes, they looked like twins. They only way to tell them apart was by the color of their collars.

Later on we realized that we are also using the same daycare from time to time. So I would let Jack's "mom" know when Auggie would be at the daycare so that they could have a play date together. It was great. The daycare folks always let me know that the little bros seem to recognize each other and played together most of the time.

A couple of months back there was an incident when two dogs' collars got tangled, so the daycare changed the policy. You would sign in, drop your dog off, and keep the collar and the leash. Great, I was all for it. Anything to make my babies safe.

On Wednesday, I took Monty, my therapy dog, to visit with our university freshmen during their finals. Since I did not want to leave Auggie home, I decided to take him to the daycare for the afternoon. So I messaged Debbie, Jack's mom, to let her know. She was also busy that day and she actually dropped Jack off at the daycare that morning.

I got there around 2pm and since I have not seen Jack in a couple of months, I peeked into the daycare after dropping Auggie off. Yup, there was the twin laying in the middle of the room resting. Still looked just like Auggie. Then I went about our business with Monty. Three hours later we were done and off we went to pick up Auggster. As I was turning into the driveway of the daycare, there was a Jeep coming out. And I thought: "Hm, I think Jack's parents drive Jeep." And sure enough, I recognized the dad driving the car. I've only seen him once at a socialization class last summer, but I was pretty sure that was him. Darn, too bad that we missed each other. Would have loved to say hi.

I park, grab Auggie's collar and leash and head to the daycare. Auggie sees me and runs to the gate. The daycare folks hand him off by saying: Jack's dad just picked up Jack. And I said, "Yes, I think I saw him driving off just now."

Then they pause and say: "Yes, that was him...he almost left with Auggie."

He actually LEFT with Auggie at first. The daycare people gave him the wrong dog. But he was back after a couple of minutes. I laughed since I thought it was funny at the time. Then I took Auggie and headed towards the car. I was pretty sure it was Auggie, but I just could not help it and stopped to look at him. I put my hands on his head, looked at his eyes and a lower lip (which he scraped about a week ago and it was still a little pink). Yes, that's my Auggie. I loaded him into the car and off we went.

As I was pulling out of the daycare driveway, my phone buzzes. I stop to read the message. It was from Jack's mom:

"Geez, Earle almost brought Auggie home. I'm so sorry. You do have Auggie, right?" (there was no way her husband made it home in such a short, time so I think he must have called her about the incident)

I replied: "Yes, I definitely have Auggie. No worries."

After I got home, I learned the whole story. This is how it unfolded:

Jack's dad Earle is supposed to pick Jack up from the daycare. He drives in, knows that Auggie is in there as well. Comes to the daycare gate and there one of the two puppy doodles running towards him. So he hands the daycare staff the collar and the leash, they put it on the puppy and open the gate. The puppy is all excited to see Earle and jumps all over him while the other one merely observes the situation from the daycare yard. So Earle walks off with the puppy towards the Jeep. Suddenly, he notices that the puppy is slowing down and does not want to jump into the car, like he always does. "Hmmm", goes Earle, "maybe this is NOT Jack." So after a couple of minutes of thinking and investigating he returns with the puppy to the daycare and asks for the other doodle pup.

I've always complained that I don't understand why Auggie can be such a jumper and then just drag his feet when we approach our car. He would not jump into the cargo area no matter what I do. I have to place his front paws in and then hoist his butt all the way in. Now I'm thankful for that. Apparently, that's the only thing that tells him and his brother Jack apart. Jack puts his front paws into the car and waits for his butt to be lifted.

Poor Earle felt so bad. After I told my DH the story, he laughed...and then added that he was not sure he would be able to tell them apart either. OMD! Those men!  I'm 100% sure I would be able to tell Auggie from Jack pretty fast, and I'm sure Jack's mom would to. Monty would have known something went awry as well. 

But here is the thing: This was a pretty funny situation for me. I can't blame the daycare people, the two dogs DO look alike without collars. There is no way they would know who is who if they don't see them on a regular basis. Only I know that Auggie's head fluff starts in the middle of his forehead and that he had a pink lip at the time and that he has a clump of black hair on his butt. Who else would know that? I'm not convinced that my DH would be able to tell the two twins apart either. Not that I don't trust him, but seriously, he's a guy. We all know what observing abilities men have, right? Kudos to Earle for recognizing early that he was given the wrong dog. It got me thinking, though. What if Earle did not know that Jack's brother was there? What if you go pick up your dog thinking he is the only one of the kind there? If I was given the wrong dog that looks EXACTLY like mine, I would just think the dog is tired and is behaving strangely. I don't think it would even occur to me that perhaps I don't have my own dog with me.

On another note, this would have not been funny at all if the daycare gave out my dog to a complete stranger. I don't even want to elaborate on that. It was not the case here and all the parties involved had a good laugh.

So yes, your dog might have a twin somewhere out there. It's the little differences in them we should celebrate for a reason.

Auggie is home safe and sound, terrorizing his older half brother Monty as if his near abduction never happened. And since he can't wear a collar to the daycare, I might need to do something else to be able to recognize him.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Oh that picture is hysterical!  I wonder about telling dogs apart- there are so many doodles that look so much like Quincy that I could see that happening.  Maybe some nail polish on one of his toes the next time he goes to daycare LOL  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, Jarka! Great story, even though it is scary to think that your dog could be given to the wrong owner! That last photo is hilarious! I don't think grey is Auggie's color! 

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Glad all's well that ended well.  We know first hand how difficult it can be to tell "twins" apart.  Sedona attended puppy kindergarten with her littermate, Rosebud.  Although not identical, they looked VERY similar.  Several times during a session, the instructor would give the puppies play time and more often than not Sedona and Rosebud played together.  At the end of each play session, when we were told to retrieve our puppies, I had to check collars to make sure we had Sedona.   

Love Auggie's new hairdo!! 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

What a story, pretty incredible and thankfully all is well. I'm just trying to think if they can't wear collars what you could do to identify your pup? A little shaved patch on the belly? or something similar? You would have to shave a particular shape and then photo it and give it to the Day Care people for their records.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

love the pic! how scary would that have been if you didnt know jacks owners!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

We would love that, Jen! This was not scary for me since we all know each other. I'm not worried about the daycare giving my dog to somebody else. There's just not too many twins out there.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Omd....scary......really scary to me.......I will be coming to CO as soon as I am stable but for sure by the end of June......I hope we can hook up and I can see my favorite therapy dog Monty and meet Auggie!!!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Love the wig.  Glad your story had a very happy ending!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Scary, funny story Jarka. There's got to be a way for the daycare to be sure which dog goes with what person. 

[Star and Goldie]

This story is funny but also kind of alarming. I am so glad that you actually know Jack's parents so you can have a laugh out of it but I hope it does make the daycare think of their policy. How are the going to correct the way they release the dogs to ensure there are no identity mix ups? When I take my daughter to Sunday school she gets a sticker with a number and in order for her to be dismissed I have to show my matching sticker. Sure dogs can't wear stickers but if they aren't allowed to wear their collars to identify who they belong to- what will they put in place? I'm sure the twin dog look doesn't happen often but all it takes is one time with the wrong person... in my opinion...