Puppy in Peril

This was the little guy who needed help.
(I took these photos about a week after the incident.)

There were two Viszla puppies...

...and two Beagle puppies.

A few days after Matt left Hungary, I went to the Steiner family home to eat lunch with Csilla and David (their son). Upon arrival, Csilla informed me that their next door neighbors had four puppies in their backyard.


First, you must know that Hungarians have brick or cement walls separating their back yards from one another. They also have metal fences that run around the entire perimeter of their properties.


Naturally, being the animal-lover that I am, I wanted to take a peek at the little puppies, which Csilla said I could do if I climbed up on a stump of wood to look over the brick wall. I did so, and was delighted to see these adorable little pups bounding around the back yard.


But then, I was horrified to see that one of the puppies had his head caught! A piece of metal fencing was laying loose in the backyard, and my guess is that the puppy stuck his head through it when it was propped up, but then the fencing fell over when he tried to pull his head out.


It was such a sad sight! This little guy was in such distress and crying and howling. He was struggling so hard against the fencing that I was truly afraid he was going to hurt himself, especially around the neck.


Something had to be done quickly! I called Csilla and David over to come look, and then they went next door to the neighbor's house to tell them. (They had never met this neighbor before since the Steiner family is very new to the neighborhood). Csilla and David returned saying that no one was home. Oh, what to do!?!


We couldn't access the neighbor's backyard because of the metal fence around the property. Csilla didn't know the name or phone number of the neighbor, so she started to call people to see if anyone knew this couple and how to get a hold of them. Eventually she found someone who knew the cell phone numbers of this couple, but was unable to reach either of them.


By this point, almost ten minutes had passed and this poor little puppy was more panicked than ever. I couldn't stand it! I decided that I must help the little guy. I needed to get myself over the brick wall which was about 8 or 9 feet tall. Thankfully, however, there was a tree growing in the Steiners' back yard right next to the wall.


I am, by nature, a tree-climber. It's a habit that has stuck with me since childhood. If I see a tree I can climb, then up I go. So this seemed to be the perfect solution! I climbed up the tree, got on top of the wall, and jumped over.


Instantly, I was bombarded by the other three puppies who were oh-so-excited to see me. But I hurried over the the puppy and freed him quite easily from the fencing. The metal fencing was heavy, so there's no way the puppy could have freed himself.


He was so happy to be free, and in a matter of seconds, I was down on my knees being jumped on and licked and nipped by four puppies. It was pure joy!


I must admit that I was really happy to have the excuse to pet and play with the puppies, but I only did for a couple of minutes and then I got up to try to find a way to climb back over the wall again. It was just then that I saw a car pull into this neighbor's driveway.


Apparently someone had reached the wife to inform her of the puppy's problem, and as she was getting out of her car, I saw Csilla running down the street towards her to tell her what had happened and to basically introduce herself.


I didn't know that Csilla failed to mention that I was in the backyard with the puppies. So the woman came, and there I was standing in the puppy pen with a sheepish look on my face. All I could say to her (in Hungarian), really, was, "I'm sorry, but I don't speak much Hungarian" and then basically showed her what had happened to the puppy and how I had freed him.


Thankfully, the woman was very kind and seemed grateful that I had intervened. She kept thanking me and didn't seem at all upset that I was essentially trespassing!


I knelt down once more to say goodbye to the puppies and then left the puppy pen with the woman to go back to meet Csilla and David. What an interesting way for these two neighbors to get to know one another!


It was certainly an unforgettable and interesting event. I was just so happy that the puppy was okay and well!


I am a puppy hero. :)